Apr. 3 Alamagordo to Artesia

April 3, 2019

53 degrees this morning and blue skies.  We spotted these pretty deer on the way out of the campground.

First stop is White Sands.  We've been here a few times, but couldn't just drive by!  Had breakfast in the visitor's center parking lot - cars here from all over the country!  The visitor's center is a pretty adobe building with yuccas almost in full bloom, with pink buds turning white.

 Then drove the loop into the dunes. Still pretty awesome! Doesn't it look like snow?

Next stop is up the road in Alamagordo.  This area is quite arid and one of the few places in the US (other than California) where folks grow pistachios. The nuts were first found in Iran and Iraq, where they grow as bushes.  Here they are small trees.  We find there is a tour in a couple of hours, so decide to check out a train museum in Alamagordo and come back.

The Toy Train Depot doesn't look too impressive at first, but as in many cases, the people make it.
Our guide is Chastity, aided by George, a volunteer who runs things for us.

This is another museum whose heart and displays were a single person's collection. John Kovac owned 75% of what we see and only created the museum when his wife threatened to leave if he didn't get rid of the trains!    Lots and lots of toy trains and about a half dozen set-ups, most of which are based on New Mexico towns.

There are 1400' of track in the "HO Room", which took nearly four years to completely set up.

  We learn lots about the different gauge tracks (there are 13 of them!)and see examples.  The smallest "T" is quite tiny:

 A "T" engine and the tools to work on it.

The largest is garden gauge and is made for outdoors.

 My favorite is this engine which was a wind-up model - one of the first in the US.

There are many examples of engines, cars and specialty items from the four major manufacturers: Marks, Lionel, American Flyer and Bachman.

Do they have one of these signs in your train room at Garden Spot, Mom?

There is also a small rideable train outside, but we opt to pass on a ride today.  In their small gift area we find a cool ABC puzzle train that is about 5 feet long, with each car carrying letters of the alphabet.  Ruby will love it.  (See!)

  We think of Nolan too and wonder what he would make of all these trains!

Back to Heart of the Desert - the pistachio (and wine) place, where we join a tour led by Maddie.
Another family operation which has grown to employ 60 folks plus some seasonal workers.  (There is a military base near here where Maddie's husband works.)

We start by checking out the male and female trees which are now in pollination stage.

 One male pollinates many females so the trees are grafted to produce the proper mix. ( Male, then female.)

 The nuts will be harvested in September using shaker machines, with each tree producing about 20 pounds.

After being picked the nuts are sorted several times for quality and size and then roasted, either with salt or other flavorings, then packaged.

 Machines do 98% of the sorting, but they still go through a human "quality control" line.

Though this is a small operation compared to world-wide consumption, they are proud of their product and their growth. When picked, they refrigerate much of the harvest and then process them throughout the year.  They send the smaller nuts to different places to make ice cream and candy for them (the pistachio toffee is killer!)

From here we go just down the road to McGinn's to take a photo of this huge pistachio!

 The day has warmed nicely and we decide to have some ice cream at McGinn's.  Had to smile, as their ice cream was Blue Bell (made back in Texas!).  We love the cherry vanilla.

From Alamagordo we climb 4,200' in 16 miles up to Cloudcroft, with a pause at the Mexican Canyon Trestle, which we read about at the Toy Train Depot.

 There used to be a steep train spur that carried lumber from the mountains down to Alamagordo.

Cloudcroft is full of evergreens and even has some ski resorts!  The temperature dropped nearly 30 degrees from Alamagordo!  We camped in this area once years ago with the boys and had a bear visit neighbors during the night.

We decide to push on towards Artesia, another few hours to stage for tomorrow's rockhounding and meeting our friend Anne.   Not much on the drive, including no cell phone signal.  When we come into the town of Artesia we notice several large bronze statues along main street!  They are quite nice and each has a plaque that tells the relation to this area. Unexpected pleasant surprise.

The first is two men who were crucial in the oil field development in the area, Mark Chase and Johnny Gray. Off to their right  is an oil rig with workmen.

The next one is Susan Chisum the daughter of the cattleman whose name is forever attached to the Chisum trail.  She is considered the "First Lady" of Artesia.

This one is called "The Gaucho".  There were a few others too, all cast in Wyoming.

We find the local Walmart, pick up a few groceries and call it a night.

 We have talked with Anne and plan a cookout tomorrow night at Bottomless Lakes State Park, where we will spend the night. Steaks!  Sounds great!