June 9, 2015, Tuesday, Deming, NM
Day 40

Departed Alamogordo and arrived at White Sands National Monument a little before 9 am in a light rain after a 15 mile drive.  Ranger says no problem taking the coach into the Monument.  Turned out to be good advice.  The monument contains the largest gypsum dune field in the world, 275 square miles.  A must see! This was a fascinating place.  We walked over many dunes, some sand as soft as the softest beach sand were you sink in and struggle to walk.  Other sand firm and comfortable to walk on.  The firmness depends on which side the winds blows.  Although so many stops along the route that often no other people around, we did witness many folks and kids sand “sledding” down the dunes on a plastic disk.  We opted not to sled and to keep the sand out of our pants.  We hit the perfect weather, overcast and the rain stopped.  After 3 hours of playing foreign legionnaires in the desert and a return of the sun, we get back in the air conditioned coach and have lunch.  Next stop is the White Sands Missile Range which is located on an active military base.  After a background check, we are admitted to the base which contains a museum on missiles and other things.  We closed the museum at 4 pm and headed west stopping in Deming, NM and checked into the Little Vineyard RV Park.  Until we get further north, it’ll probably be campgrounds every night to run the a/c.  Campgrounds here are fairly cheap in the summer and approximately the same cost as running the generator all night. A great day and Rosemary agreed although not quite as excited about the missiles as I was.

June 8, 2015, Monday, Alamogordo, NM
Day 39

Morning visit to the Petroglyph National Monument.  First stop is the Boca Negron Canyon for an easy 30 minute walk according to the ranger. The trail was a rocky climb up a mesa overlooking the city, not one I would describe as an easy walk.  I love climbing rocks although this climb was mostly sideways while having to hold onto Rosemary. Next stop was the Piedras Marcadas Canyon.  Desert like hike through sandy path along the base of the mesa with hundreds of petroglyphs dating 400 to 700 years old.  Departed Albuquerque for 220 drive to Alamogordo.  Park coach at Walmart and head to Pistachioland, U.S.A., home of the world’s largest pistachio, for pistachios and wine tasting. Dozens of different flavors of the nuts, from green chili to dark chocolate brittle.  Wine tastes included pistachio wine, drinkable but not for me. Next stop about 800 feet up the road is Heart of the Desert pistachio and wines. More nuts. More wine.  Then a walk in the grove.  First time I have ever seen a pistachio tree and it was loaded with nuts.  Asian supper in the coach.

June 7, 2015, Sunday, Albuquerque, NM
Day 38

Departed Taos which required a re-tracing of our route to Santa Fe on our way to Albuquerque. Now that she has seen “the church”, Rosemary wants to go to the Georgia O’Keefe Museum in Santa Fe.  We spend about an hour and a half in the museum which included a 13 minute film with interviews of the artist and many of her works.  We came away with a better appreciation of her work.  Alas, her best work is not in the museum, including not one of her paintings of “the church”.  Arrived in Albuquerque and checked into hotel Walmart. We head to “Old Town” which AAA rated a “gem” but which is basically a tourist trap. Visited several galleries and an olive oil shop.  Partook of many free samples and did make a purchase.  Got a recommendation for supper to StreetFood Asia.  Good dinner included bulgogi spring rolls, tofu stuffed with pineapple and mango and a Malaysian curry with chicken and shrimp.  Lots of leftovers to keep Rosemary’s Asian fix under control.

June 6, 2015, Saturday, Taos, NM
Day 37

Visited the Taos Saturday morning farmers’ market and bought an almond scone to eat on the spot and then found an almond croissant, saved for after supper.  Visited the Taos Pueblo and enjoyed the guided tour.  About 150 still reside there full time living in adobe houses with no electric or plumbing.  They do have natural gas.  Many have their art displayed for sale. No bargains here with prices quite high. Next is a drive to the Rio Grande River Gorge Bridge which is actually a state park.  We park at the north end parking lot.  I walk (alone) to the middle of the bridge for a spectacular view of the gorge which to me is a canyon.  Hard to believe the Grand Canyon can top this but I suspect it will. I take plenty of photos including a selfie since I am alone on the bridge due to something doing with a fear of heights.  Bridge seemed very solid although it did shake a bit when the trucks went by.  About 1.5 miles past the gorge is the Earthship Visitor Center.  One of apparently many communities around the world that live in houses built with natural and recycled materials, solar/thermal heating and cooling, solar and wind electric power and food production via greenhouses built along the southern side of the structure. Earthship has a crew that will build you a house wherever you are.  It is not cheap but you’ll be off the grid meaning no utility bills. After a walk downtown and a visit to some galleries we have an early supper at Yu Garden Asian Cuisine.  Since we are early, the chef comes out to greet us and make recommendations.  Food is very good and large portions means supper tomorrow as well. So Rosemary got her Asian fix satisfied. Perhaps that will allow more BBQ in the near future. After supper we visit the National Historic Landmark, San Francisco de Asis, a church built in 1772.  Each June parishioners re-mud the building to preserve its interesting facade.  We arrived on the day of the re-mudding and you can see still wet mud in our photos. The church is the most painted/photographed church in the USA.  It was painted repeatedly by Georgia O’Keefe.  Uh oh, I know what’s going to come tomorrow.