El Paso and Las Cruces

After more than 3 months in Phoenix, we decided it was time to head out to explore some more of our great country.  Our first top after Phoenix was the El Paso area.  While El Paso has limited tourist type attractions, the surrounding area offers a lot of options for those willing to look.  Our first stop was the Border Patrol Museum.  It is a small museum but has a lot of interesting displays honoring the history of the Border Patrol and their officers.  We then visited the Old Mesilla Village in Las Cruces.  This site was the major city connecting San Antonio with California.  It is here that Billy the Kid was a frequent visitor and tried for his crimes.  While in Las Cruces, we also visited the campus of New Mexico State.  The campus is beautiful and represents well the architecture of the area.  We also stopped at UTEP to explore that campus and then drove over to the bridges that link El Paso with Juarez.  Danelle wouldn't let me go across...

We wrapped up our stay in the area by visiting a the old historic missions and then spending the last day at White Sands National Park.  White Sands was the highlight for me.