New Mexico - our 2 months stay

The Organ mountains have been our view for the past 2 months. As I am writing this, we have exactly one day left before it's time to leave Las Cruces behind. We'll be off to new adventures.

We came to Las Cruces to property sit. A 2 months arrangement we happen to find on "The caretaker Gazette". I'd be lying if I said that this city was love at first sight.

Our best friend "Google " wasn't coming up with much on the most important search word in the Kazimer tiny home: "places to dance in Las Cruces"! It produced a sad result of ONE country bar and nothing for latin clubs. I kept changing around my search words in hopes that it was my personal error. Sometimes being right is great. In this case I was hoping to be wrong! I wasn't.

So we gave Whiskey Dicks a try. A nice big, clean country bar/dance hall with a huge dancefloor. We became a regular quick.

Then I finally found another venue called "Little Toad Creek Brewery" that, on Mondays, had a free latin dance class. YES! What a breakthrough! Off we went and boy was it fun. Valeria, a dark haired Latin beauty was a wonderful dance instructor. We soon got to talk to other attendees and come to find out, there was another free class at a winery called "Amaros". Same concept, different day. I was loving it. When I asked our new dance friends what locals do for dancing and night life, the answer confirmed my fear: "There isn't much nightlife in Las Cruces. People mostly have house parties.

Las Cruces has a population of about 103.000. A fairly nice sized city. Coming from Colorado Springs we were used to a bigger small city, but hey...!

I wasnt sold on the southern New Mexico landscape either. It's a dry climate and everything that is native has thorns on it, it seems. Thorns covering the soles of our shoes as if you were walking on spikes. Thorns on our puppies feet, always.

Sand! The sandy terrain in Las Cruces wasn't for the weak. If you didn't xero scaped your yard, you can expect to have sand everywhere in your home. We did! It was an uphill battle to keep our tiny home clean. Now imagine you have two fairly good sized dogs. They love to be outside, to run, roll and...roll. Now imagine these furry balls of energy entering your house! Poof..its two giant clouds of dust. Every day!

We got to go on a nice hike with said puppies at Dripping Springs Natural area, just to find out that the waterfall is seasonal. Not this season. But the hike was beautiful and scenic anyway.

Now here I should mention innocently, I am a thrift shop junky! I love good deals. I love unexpected finds in places like that. Before we ever set sail on our adventure, I thought the amount of thrift stores Colorado Springs had, was normal

WRONG! Not once have I found a city or town this far, that is satisfactory regarding the thrifty world. Las Cruces making the top of the list. In a not so good way.

Now at this point you are probably thinking...: Boy this lady really hated that city...?

Here is what I take away from our 2 months..:

This city inspired me to learn Spanish. Something I've been meaning to learn for a while

Being here, so close to the Mexican border, you were surrounded by Spanish. On the radio, in stores, names of roads includes lots of "calle's". I loved it!

Spanish quickly became my daily chore via my Spanish app on my phone.

Palm trees. Yes there were just enough for me to drool over. Palm trees are the ultimate reminder of a warm enough climate to sustain their existence. I am a fan!

A trip to White Sands National Park. What a nice surprise in the middle of nowhere. White sand dunes as far as the eye can see.

So beautiful and unique.

The property owner Keith, who was the reason for our stop in Las Cruces. We quickly and effortlessly became friends in the 4 short days, that we got to meet each other.

The neighbors sweet dog Daisy, that would show up randomly to play with our puppies. You see, the Dona' Ana neighborhood of Las Cruces is somewhat rural. Dogs here are not confined. No. They roam the streets as if you were already in Mexico. Dogs just showed up on the property. Often.

The sunsets with the beautiful Organ mountians. Yes, they will be missed. Just like the Rocky Mountains , that we left behind when we left Colorado. A sweet reminder of how gorgeous mountains are. Green OR bare.

Old Mesilla. An old neighborhood within Las Cruces, with it's old adobe buildings.