Thursday, May 3, 2012

New Mexico, Meeting old friends and new ones!

John and Merrill

New MexicoWe left the Guadalupe Mountains with a bit of reluctance as we both really enjoyed our hikes in the mountains of west Texas. But as with anything in life all good things must come to an end but it certainly doesn’t mean that things can’t be better down the road. We were on the road by 9:30 am (easier to do with the time change to Mountain Standard Time) and it was a mostly uneventful drive.

We chose to go around El Paso on the loop 375 that goes across the Franklin Mountains and other than a bit of construction and a few steep inclines it was most likely an improvement over going through the middle of the city. Next up was the border of New Mexico where we also picked up some brisk sideways winds but we were able to fight through them as we headed towards Las Cruces. Once we got to Las Cruces we pulled into Hacienda RV park. A little pricier than we would like but for an additionFranklin Mts $5.00 per day they will let us store our motorhome on the same site as we are on for a week. We had barely pulled into our site and Sharon was outside doing some of the hookups when she heard her name called… Who could that be???

Lo and behold right next to our rig was none other than the very clean and shiny rig of that blogging traveling threesome of Catherine, Jo Beth, and Grace (Check out their blog R-V Crazy Travel Journal). A crazy small world we RV’ers live in and we are certainly glad that fate smiled upon us that day so that we were able to meet and greet the three of them. Even though we would only beCatherine Jo Beth and John neighbors for a bit more than half a day we had a great time chatting and swapping war stories over a bit of vino. This made for a great welcome to New Mexico.

But our purpose in Las Cruces was two fold as we wanted to find a place to leave our rig for a week while we made a road trip up Interstate 25 to Albuquerque to visit one of Sharon’s best friends and we also wanted to stop by and see a very dear friend of mine that works at New Mexico State.

Off we went to search for my friend (top photo). This fellow was one of my professors while in college and I took a several graduate classes with him including Terrestrial Ecosystems and Aquatic Entomology. He later became my friend as I assisted him in leading his field trips in Terrestrial Ecosystems. In exchange I got to learn even more and best of  all I got to spend a week in Big Bend National Park each spring.

Pecan Grill and BreweryWe had a blast reconnecting and reminiscing about past times. We did much of this at the De La Vega’s Pecan Grille and Brewery in Las Cruces where we had a sampler flight of the 16 beers on tap. One that really stood out was the Green Chili Lager…. dang yummy beer I might say.

What a great start on our trip to New Mexico where we were not only able to meet with some very dear old friends but also to meet some new friends at the same time. How lucky we are to be able to do what we are doing at this stage in our lives…

9 comments:

  1. You just never know who you will run into in the next campground.

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  2. That's one of the neatest things about traveling full time in a motorhome..meeting people. We met a couple from Switzerland yesterday and started chatting with them. Charming English, very well spoken and he loaned Eldy a big buffer to buff our scratches out. Hadn't known them more than just a few minutes! The world becomes a smaller place when you travel. Met a gal from my mother's hometown on a Pictured Rocks tour boat one time! It's a great life, isn't it!?

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  3. I agree. We are certainly lucky to be able to live this life. It is a very small world out there and we have met so many wonderful people. It's always fun to meet a fellow blogger as well.

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  4. The folks we all meet truly adds spice to life.

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  5. On your way up I25 to ABQ you'll be driving right past the best Green Chile Cheeseburger you'll ever find. No... not the OWL... but across the road at Manny's Buckhorn. It's at exit 139.. Rt 380. I wish I were there to enjoy one right now.

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  6. Be sure to stop by White Sands National Monument while you are in the area. We volunteered there for three months. It is a spectacular and unusual place to visit.

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  7. It is so much fun visiting old friends and making new, isn't this life great. A brewery we missed will have to put that one on the list. :)

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  8. Enjoy New Mexico! It was great to meet you guys.

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  9. What fun to meet friends expected and unexpected along the road you travel.

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