Friday we decided to go hiking, to get out of the funk of having this rig broke
n and knowing we cannot move until fixed. The Organ Mountains which sits on the east side of Las Cruces has an interesting history. Back in the 1870s a General Van Patton set up a mining camp and built a hotel near a spring (called Dripping Spring) for those drawn to the mountains and fresh air. A large hotel, picnic area, and even a roller skating rink was built. Then he sold it to a doctor who turned it into a sanitarium for tuberculosis patients of which his wife was afflicted. We understand during a rainy time this spring
is really dripping - but all we saw was ruins of the reservoir and a slight drip-drip of water. Amazing how the buildings are still standing after all this time. Long story short, the doctor ran into financial difficulties, the sanitarium closed and the land passed to a rancher and then another. When we started out on the hike we knew it would take us up 1000 feet but what we didn't know was how hard it would be to walk this path 0f 2 miles. This area is run by the Bureau of Land Management and these folks have paved the roadway
with large stones making it very difficult to walk up and very uneasy and unsteady on the way back down. Thank goodness for our walking sticks - we slipped and slid on the way down. Never the less, we did it, walked around the ruins, got some neat photos, and then rewarded ourselves afterward with a trip to Si Senor restaurant about 2 miles from our campground, one of two run by the same family, the other in Chandler, Arizona near where the grandkids live. Food was yummy but Dave suffered big time afterward because he enjoyed the hot sauces a tidge too much - many Maalox's later he finally had a settled stomach. Saturday our legs were very sore from the walk. We said we would not go back to the other walking paths there, the stones made it too difficult to comfortably walk. We have some other things on our to-do list before we leave here so we may stay for the month, or not.
n and knowing we cannot move until fixed. The Organ Mountains which sits on the east side of Las Cruces has an interesting history. Back in the 1870s a General Van Patton set up a mining camp and built a hotel near a spring (called Dripping Spring) for those drawn to the mountains and fresh air. A large hotel, picnic area, and even a roller skating rink was built. Then he sold it to a doctor who turned it into a sanitarium for tuberculosis patients of which his wife was afflicted. We understand during a rainy time this spring 
is really dripping - but all we saw was ruins of the reservoir and a slight drip-drip of water. Amazing how the buildings are still standing after all this time. Long story short, the doctor ran into financial difficulties, the sanitarium closed and the land passed to a rancher and then another. When we started out on the hike we knew it would take us up 1000 feet but what we didn't know was how hard it would be to walk this path 0f 2 miles. This area is run by the Bureau of Land Management and these folks have paved the roadway 
with large stones making it very difficult to walk up and very uneasy and unsteady on the way back down. Thank goodness for our walking sticks - we slipped and slid on the way down. Never the less, we did it, walked around the ruins, got some neat photos, and then rewarded ourselves afterward with a trip to Si Senor restaurant about 2 miles from our campground, one of two run by the same family, the other in Chandler, Arizona near where the grandkids live. Food was yummy but Dave suffered big time afterward because he enjoyed the hot sauces a tidge too much - many Maalox's later he finally had a settled stomach. Saturday our legs were very sore from the walk. We said we would not go back to the other walking paths there, the stones made it too difficult to comfortably walk. We have some other things on our to-do list before we leave here so we may stay for the month, or not.
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