Mar. 16
The plan today is to take a hike. People tell me to do that on a fairly regular basis; but today it actually seems like a good idea. I’m gearing up while Lorraine is exploring some of the shops in town. We both really like this town, and I could see us staying here for a more extended time period sometime in the future. It is just another small town - really small - but it has that nice mix of cowboy ambiance along with nature right at your doorstep that I really find appealing. We actually saw some houses for sale yesterday that had backyards that went right down to the Rio Grande, with an incredible mountain view on the other side of the river. None of them had much land with them, and the neighbors on the left and right were pretty close, but to wake up to that view…
We also met Jack, a local guy who has bought an apartment complex that he is in the process of renovating. He runs a jewelry store in town, and as we got to talking there, he told us about this project that he works on every night and weekend. We took a stroll over there after 5, and sure enough, there he was at work on his building. Lorraine went inside and got the tour, since she is really interested in construction. I have a feeling that if we came back a year from now, he would have some of the apartments ready for rental. If we were in our RV though, it would be hard to beat the deal that we have at the “Artesian Bath House and RV Park.” It is run by a cowboy named Bill Martin, and for the price, the place just can’t be beat. It just had the feeling of “home” for us, and I know we will stop there anytime we are passing through this part of New Mexico. We were able to park the rig there, and walk to the little main street for anything we needed.
We met a really nice couple there – Chess and Allison – who have been living on the road in their van for 5 years! They usually spend the winter in Sonora, Mexico, and then come up to New Mexico when the weather gets better. They gave us some good information about places of interest to check out as we head west into Arizona, and we invited them to come visit us in Sag Harbor if their travels ever bring them east.

Mar. 17
St. Patrick’s Day finds us on the road again. I’m wearing a lovely green T-shirt that I got for $1 on the clearance rack at Wal-Mart a few night’s ago, and Lorraine is green with envy. So we have that covered.
We are trying to get ahead of some rough weather that is coming into the southwest.
It started today with heavy winds, although it was still sunny and warm. The temperature is supposed to drop precipitously, with highs in the 40’s, accompanied by some rain for the next couple of days. That was the prediction for Truth or Consequences, so it seemed like there was no need to stay there for that. We didn’t get an early start, (I blame the bookstore in town, which serves great coffee and pastries on the weekends) so we have only traveled as far as Lordsburg this evening as I am writing this. It is another small town, but with less charm than T. of C. from what I can tell. Exploring the town a little, we came across a really tiny church that we are going to go to in the morning. I am hoping that the service will be in English. I assume that it will because the sign outside says “church” and not “iglesia”; but we’ll find out when we get there.