Never been to New Mexico...

As we drove from west Texas to New Mexico, we passed only an occasional town; it was really desolate.  But suddenly, up ahead we saw a structure that was  completely out of place in the desert town of Valentine, Texas.  It was a 2 story glass front building displaying high heel Prada shoes that is never open for business!  It was actually an architectural sculpture that was placed there in 2005.

Tonight, we spent the night in New Mexico, right over the Texas border in a small town of Anthony.  We arranged a night through ‘Hipcamp’ which is like Airbnb except it is for camping accommodations.  Our Hipcamp was another winery- Sombra Antiqua which translates to “ancient shadow”. The owner has five spots for RV’s or tents.   We enjoyed a wine tasting, then walked around the property. 

There is also a small pecan grove on the property, and he had started the spring job of digging and expanding his irrigation system to pump ground water into the grove. Pecans trees can take up to 10-15 years to get your first crop and require massive amounts of water-  1-2 gallons of water per day for a small tree and nearly 100 to 200 gallons of water per day from April til October for fully mature trees.  As we drove through Western Texas and New Mexico, we passed so many pecan groves, many ‘flooded’ with pumped water. The US is the largest producer of pecans in the world!  Georgia, Texas, and New Mexico harvest most of the pecans in the US.  

We also passed many cotton fields along the drive from Anthony, NM.  To Las Cruses, NM.  This county is the state’s highest producer of Pima cotton.

Before leaving New Mexico, we stopped in Las Cruses- translates to The Crosses and went to their weekly farmers market which had produce, crafts, and food trucks. Main Street is closed to cars for 6 blocks for the market vendors.  However, Covid resulted in a small group of vendors covering about 2 blocks.  New Mexico just relaxed their restrictions, but everyone, everywhere, wore masks! On our way out of Las Cruses, we picked up some BBQ, brisket, and baked beans for dinner.....yummy!