West by Southwest

After a recent trip to New Mexico I was happily thinking I have now explored every corner of that state. From Tucumcari to Carlsbad, Chama and Raton to Hobbs, Santa Fe, Taos, and Albuquerque to Clovis to Cimmaron to Gallup. (Although, I discovered, after watching a CBS Sunday Morning report, that I have never been to Pie Town, off the beaten track and perched on the Continental Divide, and famous for, yes, it's pies).

This past June we were headed to Ruidoso,  (between Roswell and Alamagordo above) to stay at the vacation house of kind friends, and to take a quick side trip to Silver City, just to see what was there. It kept turning up in magazines as one of the 'best small towns in the U.S.' and also a burgeoning arts community.

Ruidoso is only four hours from Lubbock and includes a pass through Roswell, home of the UFO Museum. Since we had seen it before, a few years ago, we kept on going, up into the rolling foothills, then through the Hondo Valley, slowly climbing from 3500 ft back on the high plains to 8000 feet in Ruidoso. Our final destination was 6 miles down the road from the town, to Alto, to a house perched on a hillside overlooking a small lake. Time to kick back with a book and a glass of wine.

Even our bedroom had a great view:

We found our favorite coffee shop, Sacred Grounds, in a newer larger location, with layers of decks overlooking the Ruidoso River. And we visited it frequently.

He's reading a biography of Thomas Jefferson.

It's been a green, wet year here, too, so everything was blooming.

Next came our side trip to Silver City. In order to get there, as there is no direct route, we had to drive through Alamagordo, past White Sands and the missile range, down into the Chihuahuan desert to Las Cruces, then slowly back up to the high desert mountains of western New Mexico.
Here's the giant pistachio at the pistachio orchard in Alamagordo.

 From there we dipped down into the Chihuahuan desert, where all cars reached a checkpoint and had to pull of the road to be questioned by the border patrol. We passed, and were sent on our way.

 The Organ mountains that loom over Las Cruces.

 More wide open spaces where we picked up I-10, which runs across the lower U.S. from Florida to California, Everything was bright and hot, with a haze of sand.

Silver City was quirky and isolated, seemingly filled with old hippies, happy lesbians, college students, and people who like being off the main road.

 Our first and best stop, was lunch at the Curious Kumquat, where we had fish tacos and a divine key lime pie dessert.

http://curiouskumquat.com/

A commercial shot:

We stayed at the Murray Hotel, which had a 30's art deco look, having been actually built back then, and which still retained a sort of noir novel vibe from that era, right down to lack of air conditioning.

Here's the lobby.

There was art around town and a few galleries, but not quite as much art as we expected, certainly not the quality and quantity I am now used to in Lubbock.

We went up a few miles into the mountains to Pinos Altos ('tall pines' or 'high penis' depending on your pronunciation.) There was an old saloon and opera house there from the 19th century mining days, which was now a fun and cozy bar, that gave music concerts next door.

By the next day we were ready to head back to our nice digs in Alto so back we went through the desert, and back up into the mountains of Ruidoso. On the way we stopped at Ruidoso's famous resort and casino, The Inn of the Mountain Gods, owned by the Mescalero Apache tribe. We took a quick tour through the hotel and grounds, enjoying the scenery. There was a zip line from the opposite mountain down across the lake I was dying to try but there was a long wait and it cost $35 for a run, so maybe next time.....

Here's a commercial shot:

And my cell phone shots:

 A great golf course.

All in all an enjoyable trip, with lots of good New Mexican food.