Desert Botany

We have been in the desert now long enough to know a few things about cactus.  We believe the one in the picture below is a female cactus.

And this one here must be a male.

Moving into Arizona

We left New Mexico behind and cruised into Arizona on US 10.  An old park ranger in Deming told us not to miss the town of Wilcox and The Rex Allen Arizona Cowboy Museum.  We decided to check them out.  First we had a great BBQ lunch in an old railroad dining car.  The museum was small, unusual but well worth the stop.  Rex Allen was a singing cowboy and movie star long ago before Gene Autrey.  He was raised near Wilcox and is very famous in southern AZ.  He made many movies and sang with the Sons of the Pioneers.  We are now fans of this guy we had never heard of before.

Shop in Wilcox Arizona

Hey maybe we are not as cute as the Pugs you saw in Comfort, Texas - but this is our antique shop.  Pugs, bah humbug.

Deming New Mexico

We pulled into Deming Saturday afternoon and grabbed a site at the small Rockhound State Park about eight miles south of town.  They named it Rockhound because they allow visitors to pick up and take home up to 15 pounds of rock and minerals if they choose. We took some hikes up the mountain trails and through the desert gardens.  Some flowers and trees are in bloom here.  Still not a cloud in the sky after about five days.

Illegal Alien Alert

In New Mexico we had to twice go through traffic stops to be checked for citizenship.  We later saw this vehicle stopped along a road that I think sneaked through.  Somthing about it did just did not seem right.

Las Cruces New Mexico

On Saturday we closed camp near Alamogordo and headed further west.  We stopped off in Las Cruces at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum.  It was informative, but not too exciting. It had real long horn cattle, a sheep herder wagon,  many old ranch and farm vehicles, and a cool exhibit on Smokey the Bear who actually came from New Mexico before he was put into the National Zoo.

Goodby Texas - Hello New Mexico

We left El Paso on Thursday and drove north into New Mexico and set up camp in the Oliver Lee Memorial State Park south of Alamogordo.  It is a small park at the entrance to Dog Canyon between two small desert mountains.  The canyon has a spring running through it and the area has much history involving Indians and Ranchers.  We enjoyed the hiking trails and high scenery above the New Mexico landscape.