A good friend of Lori's was seriously considering closing up shop in Columbus, Ohio and moving here so we thought to check it out on our travels. Still in camping mode we stayed at Leesburg Dam State Park about 15 miles north of town. It was close to Fort Sheldon State Monument and had a desert garden as well as several trails along the upper Rio Grande River.
Flying south, flying north, I could never figure out what the geese were doing other than aimlessly wandering around. While there was no rain there were enough clouds to give rather nice sunsets on most days. Below is a creosote bush in bloom along with the cactus. .
The downtown tourist trap area had these nice western theme sculptures on both sides of the street.
Las Cruces also ended up being a rather expensive visit. While exploring out of town I got a large thorn in the sidewall of the tire so it was obviously non-repairable. I was looking to replace the tires in the fall anyway so a major expense just came a little early.