On the road again - passing through New Mexico

From Whitewater draw we head towards New Mexico

Gary felt compelled to exit here but he stayed the course

We pull over at the Escapee's Dream Catcher Park in Deming, NM for the night  as it is Tuesday and I wanted to catch This is Us.

 Turned out it was cancelled for the Olympics so another two weeks before I have to plan a layover with TV.

The next day we stop in  Las Cruces, NM.  We go to the Farmers Market but it is trying to rain and there aren't very many vendors.  We are told that on Saturday there will be 100's of vendors but we don't plan on staying that long.

So we head to the historic Mesilla Plaza

 I've always like doors

A nice Church

The boys wait patiently while I step in a small art museum

The Moutains call us and we head to Organ Mountain National Recreation Area

 The view of Las Cruces from here is breathtaking

 Not many of the hikes allow dogs and it is late in the day so we take Tucson on a portion of one of the trails he is allowed on

Then Gary and I go to hike the Cave trail

 The views everywhere are awesome

We must be getting close -they've rolled out the carpet for us.

 and there it is

 Come on in!  

The cave has been used by human occupants for thousands of years,but the Hermit was the most recent and well known.

Born of Noble parents in Italy, he spent several years walking through Europe, South America and Mexico.  In 1861 he left Mexico for Cuba, then went to New York City.  He walked from New York City to Montreal, Canada. From Canada he went to St. Louis, Missouri, then Council Grove, Kansas. At the age of 62 he walked from Kansas to Las Vegas, NM.  In 1867 he went to Mesilla, NM and then walked to San Antonio, TX and then to a cave near Juarez, Mexico.  In 1869 went back to Mesilla and then moved into this cave.  His friends warned him of the dangers but he said he would light a fire outside the cave every Friday.  If he failed to light the fire it would be because he had been killed.  On the17th of April 1869 the fire failed to appear.  He was found face down on his crucifix with a knife in his back.

Next stop is Guadelupe Mountain National Park