March 21, 2018
Another chilly start today but it quickly warmed up. Temperatures went from 33 degrees F. at wake up to nearly 80 degrees by the time we reached Las Cruces. My first stop along the way was at the not so grand Rio Grande. Here in New Mexico farm country it is not much more than an irrigation ditch. Every drop of water is used, used again and finally returned, much saltier, to its bed. Farming seems to be concentrated on chili peppers, pecan trees and pistachios.
The town of Hatch is devoted to the pepper and all the salsa that they go into. Processing plants and farms line the road leading into and out of the town. The town itself celebrates the chili pepper as well as some over the top collectibles at Sharky’s Restaurant. Unfortunately, Sharky is only open Thursday through Sunday so I could not try one of his award winning burgers.
We are at another KOA tonight in the city of Las Cruces. Nearby was the site of the Shalam Colony another attempt at utopia that did not make the grade. Here they adopted orphans and tried to indoctrinate them from an early age into living the Godly life along the road to a religious utopia. You can guess for yourself how that turned out.