Las Cruces,NM

Las Cruces, NM known as the "City of Crosses"; Cruces means cross. Las Cruces was founded in 1849 and it's first growth period came in 1860 when it became a right of way for the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe railroads. The railroad did not bring a huge growth in the area but in 1907 Las Cruces became incorporated. The population of Las Cruces is 74,267 with a median income of $30,376 and the median age of 31. A lot of the economy is from the TV and Movie Industry that films in the area. It is also home to New Mexico State University.
Tim, Jenny and I had a good time in Las Cruces. We ate at one of Jenny & Nathan's favorite restaurants; the Pecan Grill and Brewery. The food was great and the atmosphere is charming. We did some shopping and Jenny discovered Hobby Lobby where we spent a couple of hours looking at everything.
While driving to and from Las Cruces we went from the Sacramental Mountains to the Organ Mountains. The slideshow I posted is pictures taken duing the drive. I just can't get enough of the mountains. We passed White Sands National Mounument which we will be visiting next week end. We also drove through the White Sands Missle Range. The range is 3200 square miles and it sits in five counties in southern New Mexico. The range was built in 1945. It is where the first atomic bomb was detonated on July 16, 1945 at the Trinity site located about 60 miles north of Alamogordo. You can only visit that site twice a year; the first Saturday of April and the first Saturday of October. The Space Shuttle once landed at White Sands in 1982. Currently its operations are doing missle testing and range recovery and tracking and data relay of satelites.
I enjoyed my day in Las Cruces and Tim and I enjoyed shopping with Jenny. It had been a long time since we have done that with her. Now that I know about Las Cruces we will be returning soon for more shopping fun.
It was a good day!