Memorial Weekend Trip

Finally I am back writing about New Mexico and another great adventure for the Dorman family. This weekend Luke and I toured the south western side of New Mexico. We started our Saturday with the Southern New Mexico Wine Festival in Las Cruces. We had a wonderful time sampling New Mexico's wine which are quite nice. We found our favorite to be D.H. Lescombes bottle of Syrah. So...of course we came home with a couple of bottles to enjoy later in life :) Another pleasant surprise was the yummy New Mexican salsas and jellies to sample. Interesting flavors like strawberry jalapeno (which sounds yuck to me) were delicious. So overall, I think the wine festival was a plus!

Below Luke is enjoying a break from wine with a mimosa.

While in Las Cruces we stayed at Hotel Encanto. From the outside the hotel looks rather plain and ordinary, but the inside is beautifully decorated with a great Spanish feel. The rate is wonderful too! We enjoyed relaxing at the pool after our day of wine tasting.

Here is a picture of the fountain in the lovely hotel lobby

Sunday we made our way to the town of Truth or Consequences. The town was originally called Hot Springs, but took over the name of Truth or Consequences after a radio show in the 1950s. The host of the show basically dared a town to change it name to T o C (that's the short hand easy version) and Hot Springs took that challenge. The town is pretty run down now, but Luke and I were able to find the perfect place to stay and really enjoy the spa town. We stayed at the Blackstone Hot Springs an old 1930s courtyard apartment building that has been renovated and transformed into an oasis. Each suite is themed after a classic TV series or star. We stayed in the Twilight Room (My dad watched the show when I was younger, so I was familiar and excited, but Luke had no clue). It was very retro and tons of fun. Each room has a private hot springs bath. Our room however, had a hot springs waterfall. The water comes from a natural hot spring the town sits upon. Right out of the shoot the water temperate is 102 to 106, but felt even hotter to me! The minerals found in the water are suppose to be great for your body and health, so we enjoyed ourselves.

Here is a picture of Luke soaking up the hot springs waterfall in our room. They had a bench for you to sit on as well (which is how I enjoyed the waterfall).

Another great side visit we made while at T o C was Elephant Butte, NM. The lake here is breath-taking. The water is so blue and you can see forever. It is so different than lakes back home.

A great view from a top the dam

Finally Monday we made our way to a Veteran's park (must not forget the reason for our break) and then headed to White Sands National Monument. White Sands is truly mind boggling. Here in the middle of nowhere you run across these huge dunes of gypsum that go as far as the eyes can see. Climbing the dunes was rather hard in 100 degree temperature, but well worth the views and awe of the place. I can see why the U.S. does missile testing at this location. There really is nothing but white sand dunes as far as the eye can see.

Luke and I climbed up some dunes and were able to get this shot. Amazing!

Ok...so thank goodness for my friend Courtney who let me know that you can keep posting pics on here. I guess I am still figuring out the whole blogging thing. I have an album on FB too.

Stunning blue skies and incredible mountain views cover New Mexico