Monday evening brought thunderstorms aplenty! Wow! One clap made me almost jump out of my chair! I think this was a prelude to what was to come later in the week.
Our day Wednesday was spent in Old Mesilla, an historic section of Las Cruces. What a charming area! It is the most visited historical community in southern New Mexico. Mesilla was a lively social center in the 1880s, becoming a prominent part of the rich history of the Southwest. Today, many of Mesilla’s residents are direct descendants of its early settlers. It has a rich and diverse heritage with the integration of Indian, Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo-American cultures. The traditional adobe structures and architectural features still remain, even though some have been updated due to style and technology.
Mesilla, established as a colony in 1850, was under constant threat of attack from the Apache. By 1851, the attacks caused the U.S. to protect its people by establishing Fort Fillmore, (which was subsequently abandoned in 1862). By 1861, Mesilla had become the capital of the Confederate Territory of Arizona; in 1864 it became the headquarters of the Military District of Arizona. During the Civil War, 2 battles were fought at or in the town.
Mesilla, known for its cantinas and festivals, attracted such figures as Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett and Pancho Villa. The crossroads of 2 major stagecoach lines (Butterfield Stagecoach and the Sante Fe Trail), it was the most important city of the region until 1881. It was at that time that the Sante Fe Railway wanted to build a railroad through Mesilla, but the people of Mesilla wanted too much money for the land rights. A nearby land owner in Las Cruces stepped in and offered free land, thwarting the proposed deal with Mesilla. Mesilla hasn’t grown much since; Las Cruces grew to being the 2nd largest city in New Mexico.
We loved walking through Mesilla’s historic district, including Mesilla Plaza, which became a National Historic Landmark in 1961. The Fountain Theatre has been in operation since the early 1900s (with the exception of 12 years when it was used for storage or left vacant), presenting plays, vaudeville, light opera, lantern slide shows, English-subtitled films (most of the patrons were Spanish-speaking), and finally the new “talkies” in 1929.
In the center of the historic district is the
Plaza, featuring a large gazebo. At the time Mesilla was founded, the
population was concentrated around the Plaza for defense against Apache
raiders, a constant threat to the settlement. Many of the adobe buildings built
during that time remain today, and have been transformed into shops, galleries,
and restaurants. In 1957 the Plaza was declared a state monument of New Mexico
because of its significance in the history of New Mexico as well as the U.S.
We passed the Roman Catholic parish church of San Albino,
originally established in 1852; the current structure was built in 1906, and is
one of the oldest churches in the region, replacing the original building made
of mud and logs.
The rain started to fall so we left Old Mesilla and
drove into Las Cruces for lunch and a movie. Lunch was at Applebees, and as we
were eating a thunderstorm hit with heavy thunder, lightning, rain and hail.
Hail fell the size of quarters, but thankfully, no damage to our black truck.
We decided to see “Bridge of
Spies,” starring Tom Hanks as New York lawyer James Donovan, who was recruited
by a CIA operative to negotiate the release of U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers,
from the Soviet Union, who was captured after shooting down his U-2 spy plane.
In exchange, the U.S. will relinquish a convicted spy, Rudolf Abel—if all goes
well. This is not to be missed, and is one of the best movies we’ve seen.By Thursday morning the rain had stopped, so Dick took a 50 mile motorcycle ride, through the countryside around Vado. He saw cows, cows, and more cows (I forgot to mention that directly across Highway 10 from our park were acres and acres of cows, all belonging to local dairy farms. Oh, the fragrance they can generate!), cotton fields, pecan orchards, an almost dry Rio Grande River, and about 10 sheriff cars surrounding a house. (I stayed home to work on Christmas gifts.) When he returned, we did preliminary preparation for our departure Friday morning.
By 9:50 Friday morning we were on the road, heading to the Maverick RV Resort in Lajitas, in the Big Bend area of Texas. It was a long day of driving (329 miles), and with losing an hour, we arrived at 5:00 p.m. It’s a lovely little park with 101 sites (most pull-through) plus a tent camping area. It’s affiliated with the Lajitas Resort and Spa, so we have access to all the resort’s amenities, as well as those offered at the RV park.
Saturday we were “home-bound,” with the cloudy, rainy remnants of Hurricane Patricia passing to the south of us. We’d have to wait for our first trip into Big Bend National Park ‘til Sunday.
Big Bend National Park encompasses more than 801,000 acres; it administers the international boundary between the U.S. and Mexico for about a quarter of the 1,000 miles. Much of that boundary is the twisting Rio Grande River. As its flow changes abruptly to the northeast, it forms the “big bend” of the Rio Grande, thus the park. Big Bend has the national significance as the largest protected area of the Chihuahuan Desert, one of North America’s 4 major deserts. Many of the park’s famous and expansive vistas mix scenes of both the U.S. and Mexico.
Sunday we drove into Big Bend National Park, and were amazed at the vast and different vistas that met us. It is really different from the central and eastern sections of Texas! We drove to Panther Junction Visitor Center to garner as much info as we could before venturing out. We watched a fabulous video on the park, narrated by Peter Coyote, giving us insight into the park, its history, and what we could expect to see. We were not disappointed!
Our first stop was at the Chisos Basin Road overlook; there we met Len and Angela from Atlanta, whom we talked with for quite a while (they were really interested in our RV nomad life!). From there we drove 6 miles to the Chisos Mountain Lodge where we had lunch as we looked out over the Chisos Mountains.
Then, it was back to the main road, and to Castolon/Santa Elena Junction where we connected with the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive. This took us 30 miles to the Santa Elena Canyon Overlook, with a stop at the Castolon Visitor Center along the way.
The Santa Elena Canyon Overlook is right
along the Rio Grande, where the river cuts through the Santa Elena Canyon. Cliffs
rise vertically 1,000 to 1,500 feet above the Rio Grande, forming one of the
most spectacular scenic wonders in Big Bend. The canyon is carved out of thick
layers of limestone that were deposited as sediments in the shallow sea that
covered the Big Bend between 60 million and 130 million years ago. Even though
the cliffs are so high and sheer, the canyon is narrow (sometimes as narrow as
25 feet). Here the water is always cloudy from the sediment runoff; it flows
quickly and looks deep in places, but at some times of the year the depth is
only about 2 feet. Here's a video, as well as photos of the canyon.
We left the canyon late in the afternoon,
but made a few stops on the way home to take a few more photos. We stopped at
Tuff Canyon, and the Homer Wilson Ranch overlook (established in 1929 as the
summer grazing land for 4,000 sheep and 2,500 goats).
Then, it was a quick stop at the only grocery store in the area for a few
items, and home. We’re here in this area until Friday, so
there’ll be a lot more to share with you next week. Stay tuned!
Until then,
RJ and Gail
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