Day 13: From Tucson, AZ to Las Cruces, NM and a stop at the White Sands Missile Testing Range Museum
--Click to Enlarge--

Some parts of the Arizona Riverpark Inn near Tucson were pretty posh. They had a fancy hot breakfast, palms, pool, etc. We did partake of the breakfast.
--Click to Enlarge--

The rooms faced this depressing wall across the uninspiring patio. Well, it is an Interstate adjacent business and conference center place. The poshness is probably for those spouses left in the rooms.
--Click to Enlarge--

These little odes to maize really brighten up an interstate interchange. Why doesn't every department of transport pay that pittance extra to let artists have some fun?
--Click to Enlarge--

A once happening roadside stop, mere ruins by the interstate.
--Click to Enlarge--

All the different designs for high tension towers that we see across the nation fascinates me. These taper to a pivot on the bottom, and are supported by guy wires.
--Click to Enlarge--

Seems like semi tractors are getting a mite frisky this day.
--Click to Enlarge--

Decorative bridge abutment.
--Click to Enlarge--

Interesting clouds on this western side of the continental divide.
--Click to Enlarge--

Blowing Dust Area. We've been warned.
--Click to Enlarge--

Next, a few shots at a rest area.
--Click to Enlarge--

Better shade trees here.
--Click to Enlarge--

I cannot resist architectural shadows.
--Click to Enlarge--

Do you see what I see, above this rest area?
--Click to Enlarge--

Raven's Nest
--Click to Enlarge--

Welcome to New Mexico
--Click to Enlarge--

Signs in quick succesion on the NM side of the blowing dust zone. But a nice, clear, not-too-windy day. I'm not worried.
--Click to Enlarge--

Zooming past blooming yuccas on a ridge.
--Click to Enlarge--

Another demised point of commerce from when this was a Federal Highway. Interstates have taken their toll on local gas and grocery marts.
--Click to Enlarge--

Semi trailer in the median. I don't think blowing dust was involved. They are using a John Deere to try to right the trailer.
--Click to Enlarge--

Mountains of New Mexico, near the continental divide
--Click to Enlarge--

Layered landscape with a buzzard.
--Click to Enlarge--

Some of these yuccas are impressively old. At a distance I first mistook them for Joshua Trees.
--Click to Enlarge--

We use highlighters to mark our progress on paper AAA maps. But it can be frustrating to dig those out of the door pocket or glove box. So I stuck some velcro loops to the door, and a patch of hooks to the markers. Now, we can easily grab markers, and they hang head down, so don't get dry so fast.
--Click to Enlarge--

Another dead tourist stop. If you look closely, the car at the pumps is up on blocks. And there are no pumps.
--Click to Enlarge--

Crossing the Continental Divide on I-10 in New Mexico. Nothing to see here.
--Click to Enlarge--

Nice mural on the side of the rest area mens room entrance
--Click to Enlarge--

We were at a nice rest area on I-10 in New Mexico, and I saw this ocotillo blooming near the waning crescent moon. So I strode blithely across this patch of tan/dead grass to the a picture. But then something jabbed me in the arch of my foot! I looked down, and
--Click to Enlarge--

My foot and ankle were bedecked with many little burrs. Um, stickers. I don't know what to call them, but they are viscous, and have thorns long and strong enough to go right through my sandals.I later learned they are Goat's Head Burrs. Ow.
--Click to Enlarge--

So as Karen drove, for the next half hour, I carefully pulled thorns from my sandals and carefully sequestered them in an empty bottle. Now I know why cowboys wear boots instead of flip-flops.
--Click to Enlarge--

Just a snapshot to say, "New Mexico," I guess.
--Click to Enlarge--

Welcome to Las Cruces, NM
--Click to Enlarge--

Heading around Las Cruces, I notice the water tanks.
--Click to Enlarge--

Heading out of Las Cruces toward White Sands, I am getting excited about the Missile Testing Museum, as a part of Space Age History.
--Click to Enlarge--

Promising sights as we crawl up to the pass.
--Click to Enlarge--

Through the pass, we must be getting close.
--Click to Enlarge--

Peering down toward the base. That dome is probably a ranging scope for missile testing. I think those little spikes toward the right may be our destination. Wonder why I haven't seen any actual signs?
--Click to Enlarge--

Down in the valley, a welcoming sign?
--Click to Enlarge--

We drive past what appears to be a solar furnace array. But I don't see a collector tower. Defunct?
--Click to Enlarge--

As a tourist attraction, this is poorly developed, not very welcoming. We were stopped by base security, told to turn around and park outside. Then we had to get security checks, and finally they let us walk in to the base. The museum is a half mile inside the perimiter. I had to walk. I took it slow, with my mono dispnea and the high altitude.
--Click to Enlarge--

I'd expected something more grand. Especially after visiting relatively amateur sites like the Staffod Museum in Oklahoma, and the Bradbury Museum in Los Alamos, not to mention the National Air and Space Museum.
--Click to Enlarge--

This museum has several disconnected sections, covering the decimation of the natives through range wars, a big section about the Bataan Death March, and quite a few artifacts from the WWII era of ballistic testing and measurement. This is a drone helicopter used as a target for guided missiles. It clearly survived its various missions.
--Click to Enlarge--

Various and meagerly labeled samples of missiles illustrationg the 20th century evolution of rocketry.
--Click to Enlarge--

A whole room dedicated to range finders, spotting scopes, and movie cameras.
--Click to Enlarge--

We did get in to see the V-2 just before closing time. This is an actual captured German rocket that was reverse engineered by the allies.
--Click to Enlarge--

So the museum closed, but they let us wander the "yard" of missiles and aircraft.
--Click to Enlarge--

Some projectiles lifted themselves. Others required a Howitzer.
--Click to Enlarge--

One could climb inside this claustrophobic shipboard anti-aircraft gun. I liked the shadows.
--Click to Enlarge--

A helicopter, a twin engine plane, and a two stage rocket, associating for no explicated reason.
--Click to Enlarge--

Shadows growing long, and we have miles to make tomorrow, so we headed back across the valley floor, and then up the pass and back toward Las Cruces.
--Click to Enlarge--

Very tired, I pulled off at the first motel coming down US-70 from the pass. Here you see me trudging with my luggage train toward the Motel 8. We asked for first floor, so I wouldn't have to do stairs. Turned out, the first floor was half submerged! It was 6 steps down for first, 8 steps up for second. Oh, well.
--Click to Enlarge--

So we settled into our room in the Las Cruces Super 8. After I rested for an hour, we ate a supper of leftovers from the California family dinner that I'd missed the first time around. It was good.
--Click to Enlarge--