Chile Ristras in Old Mesilla, New Mexico

Even in January, the ristras are still beautiful. There are numerous long ristras hanging from the lamp-posts in Old Mesilla, much to the delight of locals and tourists alike.

 

Fun Despite COVID

Well, the governor has locked down the state again, which is very sad, I feel. But there is still some spirit and levity to be found.

This is a funny little billboard on Highway 28, which runs through the gorgeous Stahmann Farms pecan groves I've shown and mentioned before. I love the little pecan mascot!

Come visit or retire to Las Cruces and get in on the fun!

Hidden Gem of A Neighborhood: The Area Around the New Hospital

There are now three hospitals in Las Cruces: Memorial Medical Center, which is the oldest one by far; Mountain View, and now Three Crosses.

Memorial Medical Center is at the corner of the Telshor neighborhood and University Avenue. Mountain View is newer, located up Lohman on the way to the Sonoma Ranch neighborhood.

Three Crosses is brand new. Its opening was delayed due to COVID, but they had their grand opening a week ago in October 2020. Its location is on an old, defunct golf course that is the bottom of the hilly Triviz/Arlington area -- our hidden gem of a neighborhood.

With the opening of Three Crosses Hospital, I would hazard a guess that property values will rise sharply in the area. Some of the houses are nice enough for medical professionals to consider, with most being solidly middle-class homes. They have a nice view of the valley. The neighborhood is near the much older Madrid area, which is not as desirable a place to live, in my opinion. The neighborhood features mature landscaping, wide streets, and good construction. 

If you're considering moving to Las Cruces, take a look at this neighborhood! 

Our blog will be on a Monday - Wednesday - Friday schedule for a bit, due to the busy autumn season. Always so much to do in Enchanted Las Cruces!

Cruce's Historic Mesquite Area

There are several distinct neighborhoods in Las Cruces, and we have talked about a few of them. One that absolutely must be mentioned is the very old, formerly very modest, Mesquite area northeast of downtown. 

Much of the Mesquite Historical Area is undergoing gentrification of a modest sort. There are also some conversions of the small houses into shops. There is a stone coffee house and an art gallery that were homes in disrepair, now quite busy and looking very cute indeed. Some of the homes are very tiny, not much bigger than a short singlewide trailer, although they are site-built. Others are larger, but none are very large. I did see several two-story houses among the bigger homes, and some very small newly constructed homes.

Some of the Mesquite homes proudly display the the Historical Society's plaque, also found on the old-style street lamps. Houses with stoops are rare in the Southwest, but there are quite a few in the Mesquite area.

Don't confuse the neighborhood name with the nearby small town on the way to El Paso!

Would you like to live in a renovated historic bungalow? If so, consider the Mesquite area when you...Retire to Enchanted Las Cruces!

Layers of Our Ag: Onions

The fertile Mesilla Valley is known for its green chile and pecans -- and onions! Huge onion fields, with both short-day and long-day varieties, are planted throughout the valley. Red onions and short-day yellow and white onions are harvested in summer, but long-day onions aren't ready until September. When a field is harvested, it takes several days, and the nearby areas smell like a delightful French Soup! This particular field is at the edge of the historic town of Mesilla, directly south of (and touching) Las Cruces.

Come enjoy our local sights and smells, in Enchanted Las Cruces! Make our home...your home.

This Roadrunner is Nothing But Trash

Perched on a mesa high above the Mesilla Valley, overlooking its habitat, a giant roadrunner sculpted entirely of trash is a local and beloved landmark. At 20 feet tall and 40 feet long, it has nothing to fear from any coyote. 

"TrashBird," also known as the Trash Roadrunner, is located at a rest area on the south side of I-10, the interstate highway that runs east-west through Las Cruces. It's east of the Picacho Avenue exit, between mileposts 134 and 135. Trash Bird is accessible from the eastbound lanes, but is visible from I-10 westbound. It's seen by many visitors and travelers and is a good place for an expansive view of the Mesilla Valley. 

Olin Calk is the local artist who created the sculpture in 1993 and refurbished it in 2012 before it was placed at the rest stop.

Who knew trash could be made into something so unique and so beautiful? By the way, in Las Cruces, you'll see many real roadrunners. We have one who visits our yard frequently, and uses the bird bath under one of our pines. You can almost always see one if you dine outside at Rudy's BBQ, too. 

Thanks for visiting your NEW retirement destination, Las Cruces, the City of the Crosses (and Giant Roadrunners).

The Tiniest Store in Las Cruces

Because of its age, Las Cruces has a variety of strange and unusual buildings. Sunday drives around town are always interesting because of this. On one such drive, we discovered this tiny religious store, City of the Crosses, at 307 S. Main Street. Built against the back of another business, it is barely the size of a den, and it takes its name from the nickname for Las Cruces.

If you choose Las Cruces for your retirement, you'll love the light traffic. It's one of the plusses of the area. Driving is easy here! Not only is there little traffic, but weather conditions are almost always mild, even in winter. It's enjoyable to be out and about on our sunny winter days.

Thanks for dropping by, and see you tomorrow. Leave a comment if you have any questions about Las Cruces, the City of the Crosses.

Las Cruces, the Apple of My Eye!

 

Who would've thought that apples grow well in the desert of Las Cruces? Did you know that at the turn of the previous century, Las Cruces was known for its excellent apples? Apples from here were proudly displayed in 1899 at the World's Fair in Paris -- where they won second place! In the 1800s, apples were an important crop here. In fact, they were the number one crop economically.

There's always something to do or see in Las Cruces, and one thing not to miss is the you-pick apples at U-Pick Mesilla Valley Apple Orchard off Shalem Colony Trail. 

Sometimes I get a little homesick for things back East, up North, or down South! And apples in autumn is one of them. It was such a balm to my heart to discover this wonderful fourth-generation apple farm that features three different kinds of apples: Common delicious, Red Delicious, and Jonathan apples. Get out there fast and pick fast to get the Jonathans! But there are literally tens of thousands of pounds' worth of apples in the orchards. It's a wonderful way to remember "back home" and a wonderful way to build memories here.

Even during these "COVID" times the apple farm is open for picking, by appointment! You just text them. So wonderful to see it open at all! Last year, the whole orchard smelled so sweet and good, and everyone we encountered was friendly and nice. It was heartwarming to see the children proudly picking their apples, and retirees such as ourselves out in the cool air, enjoying the morning! So 2020 will have to be a bit different, but join me in a hope and a prayer that COVID disappears and 2021 will bring crowds out to enjoy apple pickin' time together!

Beauty All Around in Las Cruces

 

There's a special feature of many homes in Las Cruces and the surrounding area (Mesilla, Mesilla Park) that other parts of the country don't have: EBID rights. What? Elephant Butte Irrigation District water rights! For low fees, property that comes with EBID "rights" can purchase water from the Rio Grande. The water gets to these homes via many large and small "ditches" with "gates" and pumps along them. When it's a certain neighborhood's turn to get the river water, a "ditch rider" drives along the right-of-way along the ditches and opens the gates, times the water, and then closes the gates. While the water is flowing, the properties along the ditches open their gates, or sluices, and the water flows into their yards. 

This is magical water! Anything it touches, it replenishes and makes grow luxuriantly! Roses, apples, pecans, pomegranites, orchard grass, vegetables -- ANYTHING -- grows so beautifully with river water.

The mountain ash tree shown in this post and full of berries is located in the Garcia Park Botanical Garden, maintained by NMSU. It's right on a ditch and the plants receive all the good Rio Grande water they can drink! 

Of course, homes without EBID rights can also have lovely landscaping. Most landscaping away from the EBID ditches feature xeriscapes, which highlight native and desert plants and different types of rocks and gravel instead of lawns. But some people have lovely lawns and they shimmer like an oasis in the sunlight. 

The home we bought doesn't have EBID rights and is up too high from the valley to be near the ditches. But we have several mature trees that are gorgeous, and have put in some grape vines, too. And we have many flowers growing in galvanized stock tanks in our front courtyard!

Houses with EBID rights are very special. If you love gardening, consider trying to buy a home that comes with EBID rights when you retire to beautiful Las Cruces!

Hidden Neighborhood of Whispering Pines

 

Last week I posted about the quaint and old neighborhood of Mesilla. Today I want to make sure you know about a very unusual neighborhood slightly North of the main part of Las Cruces. It's off U.S. 85 and it is just like entering another world far from the desert if you go for a nice Sunday drive out there. If you can get a house to buy out there, you're even luckier!

Tall pines are in each yard in this neighborhood. This cools it and scents the air delightfully. Shade abounds, and shade is a very desired commodity out here!

The homes themselves are gorgeous. And although it doesn't look like the rest of the desert, it is home to many Gambel's quail and roadrunners. I'm sure it has gray foxes and elf owls, too. Even our home in the Telshor area of the city has roadrunners, foxes, hawks, lizards, snakes, and owls! 

If you're considering Las Cruces for retirement, be sure to find a realtor who understands how very different our neighborhoods are, and which one would be a perfect fit for your needs. I know that while I love the desert, the pines in Whispering Pines really capture my heart! But when we bought here, we weren't aware of this hidden neighborhood. And in upcoming posts, I'll be talking about MANY other little neighborhoods that might just strike a chord with you. It's hard to find out about special little areas when you aren't living in the city where you might like to retire, so I hope to help with that.

Our Wonderful Saturday Farmers Market

 

Las Cruces boasts a very active, very interesting Farmers' Market that is held twice a week: The main market on Saturday mornings, and a much smaller market on Wednesdays. The Market is downtown, along Main Street, all year around!

You do NOT want to miss going to the Market. And in the warm seasons, you want to go VERY EARLY, because it gets entirely too hot. Local produce, pasteries, snacks, food trucks, craftspeople, artists, jewelry makers, seamstresses, and more are there each Saturday morning! Many times there are musicians of all ages performing on each block. Sometimes wonderful Mariachi bands are playing, and sometimes it's brave students perfecting their craft.

With COVID-19, of course, everything is changed. But I'm writing this as if those troubled days are behind us and everything is as it was in terms of having a robust market with thousands of visitors. Right now, it's a smaller market, but that will change, I hope, when we are free from the spectre of COVID.