5-8-12, Tombstone to Las Cruces

No time to post pictures today, but maybe I'll be able to process some & add them tomorrow.  Left Tombstone for Chiricahua National Monument at 7:10, MST, via back roads.    Very scenic, rhyolite pillars & weird formations high above the deserts.  No wonder the cavalry couldn't catch the Apache warriors  in here.

Then, it was on to the interstate to get to Las Cruces.  First stop was Lordsburg, where we had an excellent lunch at a 6 table cafe, Ramona's, recommended by a lady at the welcome center.  On to Deming, for some pictures for the NM Centennial contest.  We got to Las Cruces at 4 PM, called Sandra's Uncle Murray Kugler (Wbg College High, 1949) and picked him up to go to dinner at the famous La Posta in Old Mesilla (hint - Ramona's was better).  Also met his son, Darren, Sandra's 1st cousin, at dinner - Bill talked general politics with him as he's running for judge.

Oddly enough in this desert region in the middle of a drought, a series of heavy thunderstorms blew up and deposited lots of water around the area.  We even drove thru a hail core between Lordsburg & Deming.

Today 's mileage - 346.5, 3335.7 on the trip mpg down to 27.9/48 mph.  Tomorrow we'll jaunt up to Hatch and Ft. Selden, then to Alamogordo, Carizozo & Santa Rosa.