Our first week of travel this road trip took us to Las Vegas, New Mexico, where we walked each morning from Hotel Castaneda to Charlie’s Bakery Spic and Span for on-tap Starbucks and the best wake-up chili! Couldn’t help picturing Pat Garrett and posse escorting Billy the Kid into the “Longmire” plaza where Billy escaped after spending a short time in the upstairs jail.
Continuing southward into the Cibolla (Onion) Mountains east of Albuquerque, we visited the Quarai Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument near Mountainair, NM. The picturesque church made of red sandstone bricks and standing 40′ tall was erected after Spanish missionaries arrived in the 1600s . Covered in white gypsum, the structure must have emitted a heavenly glow which inspired spirit. Containing an interesting square kiva in the convento, it was the home of the Holy New Mexico Inquisition where Spanish settlers were tried for superstition, making love potions, witchcraft and blasphemy. Tiwa-speaking Native Americans were not tried but called to testify, interestingly enough.
After a night in a Tiny House in Mountainair, our next stop was Abo, another national monument of the Salinas Pueblo Missions. A thriving puebloan community existed when the Franciscan friars arrived in the 1600s to build a mighty church in the manner of Quarai. A combination of disease, drought, famine and Apache raids led to its abandonment in 1673.
After soaking in hot springs in Truth or Consequences for a day to thaw out, we continued south on I25 to Las Cruces. We’re now cozy in a little apartment inside a very large adobe dwelling built on four city lots in 1887, at that time a Victorian mansion. Known as “La Fantacia (The Fantasy)”, it was a grand dame in Las Cruces. In the 1930s, Mrs. Frenger–a liberated and well-to-do woman–remodeled the home into a Pueblo Revival (Santa Fe style) dwelling with a “cave” bathroom styled after Carlsbad Caverns.
From our little “cave”, we’ve walked to nearby restaurants, the Railroad Museum, Museum of Art and the Farmers and Crafts Market.
Ten minutes to Mesilla, NM, took us back in time to the remains of the courthouse where Pat Garrett brought Billy the Kid to trial. The Kid was found guilty of murder by “the hanging judge” in 1881, sentenced to…death by hanging. Transported to Lincoln across White Sands by police wagon, he escaped–again.
We enjoyed the amazing collection of art and furnishings in the Double Eagle, an 1849 Victorian mansion, now restaurant and bar . Legend tells of mother Maes, owner of the mansion in 1849, who kills beautiful servant girl, Inez, because she captivated her son, then accidentally stabs her son, Armando. The ghosts are said to move tables and fixtures about the various salons.
The sun is out in this Christmas morning sky and we’re ready to seek the next episode of travels at Christmas 2022.
Joyous saluds,
Nancy & Bill
Travelers