NEW MEXICO: FROM LAS CRUCES WATER TOWERS TO UTEP

July 3, 2021

We had spent the night in Las Cruces, so after our hike in the Organ Mountains we returned to our hotel, showered, and checked out. We hadn't eaten breakfast, so we searched online for the "Best Chile Relleno Burrito in Las Cruces."  We ended up at a run-down drive-thru called El Jacalito. A jacalito is a small adobe house (which this drive through was not). And if these are the best chile relleno burritos Las Cruces has to offer, I feel pretty sorry for them. We gave them a B-/C+. Very disappointing.

When he was planning the trip, Bob ran across information about a tour of the Las Cruces water tanks, each painted with historical/regional murals. He knows this is the kind of thing I enjoy, so we headed out to do that before driving on to El Paso.

Each of the water tanks is 32 feet tall and contains two million gallons of water. The artistic genius behind the murals painted on the tanks is Tony Pennock, who completed his first water tower when he was still a high school student.

The first water tank we saw was actually painted to honor New Mexico State University, Pennock's alma mater (although he did not paint this one).  Look at that background! The Organ Mountains are really spectacular.

Jornado del Muerto, or "Journey of the Dead Man," depicts the Conquistadors making the the 100-mile journey from Las Cruces to Socorro, New Mexico. This was Pennock's FIRST mural, completed over a six-month period when he was seventeen years old. He used a project and worked at night to transfer his design onto the tank. Pennock revitalized the flaking mural in 1991 and transformed it into La Entrada, or "The Entrance," focusing on Don Juan de Onate leading a procession of settlers and livestock into the American West.

The Agua Fria ("Cold Water") tank depicts early farmers and settlers in the Mesilla Valley in the early 19th century. The bottom half of the tank represents the life-giving Rio Grande River.

Next is "Journey to Tlalocan (the Aztec version of Paradise)."  Again, the Organ Mountains provide a stunning backdrop.

Gambel's quail strut across the Quail Morning water tank.

The next one was harder to see because it is in a residential area, but it tells the story of Columbus's 1492 journey to the new world. One side has a trio of leaping dolphins . . .

. . . and the other side shows . . . ?  I'm not sure where this tank got its name--"Valley of the Moon."

This one may be my favorite. "Indian Canyon" was inspired by petroglyphs found near Las Cruces.  On one side, deer run through the canyons . . .

. . . and on the other side are traditional petroglyph symbols

Well, time to say good-bye to New Mexico. Our flight would leave from El Paso, Texas, the following morning. This view is not a bad thing to see on our way out of the state.

It is about a 45-minute drive from Las Cruces to El Paso. On our way into town, we stopped at the UTEP (University of Texas at El Paso) football stadium, aka The Sun Bowl.  Bob likes to look at universities, and he especially likes to check out their stadiums. Weird, I know, but we all have our quirks.

Of course, it isn't enough to just drive by. Nope, we must try to go inside. Built in 1963 and expanded in 1982, this stadium has a seating capacity of 51,500. That is a big stadium.