Unique Images
Showing posts with label New Mexico. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Mexico. Show all posts

Friday, May 8, 2009

From Santa Fe to Las Vegas - again?

Leaving Santa Fe on I-25 to North, we have seen interesting mountain formations


...and also flat landscapes - again!


And then this! Viva Las Vegas - again? :)
Of course, we had to go into this town to see if anything is like the real LV in the West


The famous Plaza Hotel at the Town Square


The main street - or better known in the real other town as "The Strip"


And these houses and Motels I know for sure, they are not familiar with Las Vegas in the West at all. But it was a nice "detour" for us and I have found some interesting articles for you in the net about this also pretty Las Vegas in New Mexico.
Click the link, visit their website and read more about this little town on I-25.

Las Vegas
was established in 1835 after a group of settlers received a land grant from the Mexican government. The town was laid out in the traditional Spanish Colonial style, with a central plaza surrounded by buildings which could serve as fortifications in case of attack. Las Vegas soon prospered as a stop on the Santa Fe Trail. During the Mexican-American War in 1846, Stephen W. Kearny delivered an address at the Plaza of Las Vegas claiming New Mexico for the United States.

When the railroad arrived in 1880 it set up shop one mile east of the Plaza, creating a separate, rival New Town (as in Albuquerque). During the railroad era Las Vegas boomed, quickly becoming one of the largest cities in the American southwest. Turn-of-the-century Las Vegas featured all the modern amenities, including an electric street railway, the "Duncan Opera House" at the NE corner of 6th Street and Douglas Avenue, a Carnegie library, a major Harvey House hotel, and the New Mexico Normal School (now NMHU). Since the decline of the railroad began in the 1950s the city's population has remained relatively constant. Although the two towns have been combined, two separate school districts remain.


Hi my friends,

there will be more posts about the way from Santa Fe to the place where we are still today. Stay tuned with me - and thanks for the comments!

Susanne and David

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Santa Fe's Architectural Style


We were exploring today the whole Down Town of Santa Fe and came home with many nice impressions, not so great experience in a restaurant, visiting the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, stepped into all the Churches :) - and with for sure 200 photos more in my archives...LOL... :)

This town is so beautiful and so photogenic - it's a feast for every photographer to go around with the camera! I'm showing you now only this picture of the special architectural style of the houses here, that's what Santa Fe is well known for it. As soon as possible, I'll show you more.

Thanks also again for all your kind comments to my last post yesterday, my friends! We will be on the road again tomorrow, heading North a little bit. I'll let you know where we will be, stay tuned with me - see ya later!

Susanne and David

Friday, April 10, 2009

From Las Cruces to Albuquerque

After leaving Las Cruces on I-25 to North the landscapes begun to be flat more and more and the mountains were "moving" back to the background


The weather was just perfect with all those patchy clouds in the blue sky


We crossed the Rio Grande River. For me it was the first time to see this well known river only from movies and books and now I could see this majestic river for real!

The Rio Grande in the United States, known as the Río Bravo (or, more formally, the Río Bravo del Norte) in Mexico, is a river, 1,885 miles (3,034 km) long, is the fourth longest river system in the United States[1] and serves as a natural boundary along the border between the U.S. state of Texas and the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas.


The Rio Grande rises in the east Rio Grande National Forest in the U.S. state of Colorado. It is formed by the joining of several streams at the base of Canby Mountain, just east of the continental divide. From there, it flows through the San Luis Valley, then south into New Mexico through Albuquerque and Las Cruces to El Paso, Texas, where it begins to form the border between the U.S. and Mexico. A major tributary, the Río Conchos, enters at Ojinaga, Chihuahua, below El Paso, and supplies most of the water in the 1,254 miles (2,018 km) Texas border segment. Other known tributaries include the Pecos and the smaller Devils, which join the Rio Grande on the site of Amistad Dam. Despite its name and length, the Rio Grande is not navigable by oceangoing ships, nor are there smaller craft using it as a route. In fact it is barely navigable at all. Its natural flow is only 1/20 the volume of the Colorado River, and less than 1/100 that of the Mississippi.


Spectacular views on the road driving up the hills


The clouds in the sky made these pretty shadow effects at the mountains


Is this now a face or what - do you can see the same I do? :)


I liked to ride these "dips", down the hills and up again and guessing what will we see after that bow up there


It is the yellow grass that makes these yellow hills


Suddenly, the sky started being black and dark!


And windy gusts mixed with sand stared to blow, very strong!


These gusty winds filled with sand came closer and closer over to us on I-25


Here we go....! we had to drive trough a sand storm - Dave had to hold on strong to the wheel. But we made it fine to Albuquerque and were looking for our next place to stay for the night. Finally we've found it... far up in the hills on I-40 after Albuquerque - and it was freaking cold!!!



Hi my friends,

Thanks, thanks, thanks... again for all your nice comments! It's very nice to come here and to read them on my blog, it makes me happy, every single comment from you all!

One post more, or two and then I'll be up to date again with my postings :) Stay tuned!

We both don't celebrate Easter, but for all of you who are doing so: HAPPY EASTER!!

Susanne and David

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Leaving Tucson,AZ to Las Cruces in New Mexico

We've enjoyed our stay in Tucson (for two days) very much - but we had to go on and we were on the road traveling back on I-10 to East


I made many, many photos again, of course, how can I not do that...LOL... :)
The landscapes are just to beautiful!
(btw, all the photos are made out of my window, while driving)


The trees, the colors, the mountains - everything is in harmony!


The pistachio trees in the warm valley are growing fast


Crossing back the State line from Arizona to New Mexico


In this part of New Mexico we had no dust storms, but I will show you in my next post some pictures with stormy conditions close to Albuquerque.
It was not nice to drive trough!


Have you ever seen snake eggs, a snake head or a real Rattelsnake...? yuck, I don't want to see that "snake stuff" at all... :))


Pretty landscape again...


Pastoral scene...


The way to Palomas, Mexico - the Border Patrol was very active again in this region


Wild horses...


Arriving in a warm evening sun light in Las Cruces, NM and we had a nice RV place to stay


Las Cruces NM
Nestled in the fertile Mesilla Valley between the majestic Organ Mountains and the meandering Rio Grande, Las Cruces, New Mexico is quickly becoming a popular southwestern destination



Hi my friends,

Thank you all for all your nice comments! Since we are on the road again it's hard to get good connections again...the same old song, right??? :))

Just now we are already back in Texas, up in the panhandle. We plan to stay here 2 nights and tomorrow I will have more time to post about the last two days - stay tuned and see you there! :)

Susanne and David

Saturday, March 7, 2009

From Roswell to Silver City

What a nice view to start the day VERY early: with a beautiful sunrise in "Roswell". We left early this morning our night place at Wal Mart parking lot


I did'nt know that New Mexico is such a beautiful and colorful state. The landscape changes were very overwhelming for me! Do you see the black mountains in the back ground? That's where we have to go.


Coming closer to those mountains, the landscape was changing again to black rolling hills with very yellow grass to the left and to the right of the street.


And then it was going down hill into the darker, almost black mountains....


and there opend up a wide yellow valley in front of us with a very rich vegetation.


It's spring time already in the valley!


We were on the scenic byway of "Billy the Kid" in the "Mescalero Apache Reservation" and the mountains changed from black to green, very similar to the North Carolina mountains.


Horses in "Hondo"


Apache Casinos on the route to "Ruidoso"


And this was the biggest and most wonderful view I ever have seen in my life! The way down to "Tularosa" in the valley. That white stripe are the "White Sands" and behind the high mountains of "San Andreas" with a peak of 8241 feet! I will never forget this magnificent view anymore!


Arrived down in "Alamogordo" we stopped at a Pistachio farm and bought some of these delicious nuts - and for me a nice shirt with pretty Indian designs!


These are pistachio trees and in the back you can see the "White Sands".


We took the road #70 from "Alamogordo" to "Las Cruces" driving very close by the "White Sands" and the "Missile Range" area, where the U.S. Army is testing their missiles. There was also a spot where the Space Shuttle will land if the weather is to bad in Florida.


A pretty scene with the "White Sands"


The Yuccas are blooming now!


I guess this picture belongs to the city scene of "Alamogordo", coming into town. I have seen so many beautiful scenes on our way until today, sometimes I'm mixing up the photos, sorry for that! :)


After passing the "White Sands" we had to drive into the high mountains again. Our RV had to "work" hard on those steep hills.


And on the other site was opening up a beautiful wide desert aeria with such a strong (!!) wind and there were everywhere starting small sand storms to see - not something that we needed just now!


This is the train on the way to "Deming"


Big ranches, a lot of cows and a big sand storm was coming up. We were hoping to make it trough without any problems - and we did. In "Deming" we took the road #180 towards "Silver City", a town way up in the hills. Happily, we left the storm behind us.


Desert impressions


Beautiful scenery on our way to Silver City


We arrived in "Silver City" and we have found a nice RV-Campground with the name "Rose Valley RV Ranch" and decided to stay here for two nights and to explore this city. Tomorrow I will show you some photos from this very photogenic little town. Stay tuned!

Silver City
is a vibrant community in Grant County, New Mexico, nestled alongside more than 3 million acres of the Gila Wilderness. With historic ties to mining, ranching and agriculture, our community has grown into a modern town with friendly people, growing businesses and a terrific year-round climate.


Susanne and David
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