Isn't she beautiful? I love this statue. I have seen her for years. She used to be in a yard in Carrizozo then the gentleman moved down to La Luz and she has been here for the past several years. 
Here is another carving of a woman I came across. If you know this area, it is full of wood carvings and 99.9 of them are bears. Sure, you get the occasional eagle but mostly bears so this one is different.
Directly across the street from the Buckhorn Tavern is the Owl Bar. San Antonio N.M. is tiny, but boasts both of these fine establishments. The Owl Bar is widely known by New Mexicans and people traveling through for their green chile cheeseburgers. There is even an application on facebook where you can send New Mexico gifts and the Owl green chile cheeseburger is one choice for a gift. We will travel to the far reaches of the state for decent green chile! Luckily we have alot of it. 
I know the sign says #7 but the Buckhorn cafe in San Antonio N.M. is #1 ! They just won the best green chile cheeseburger on "Throwdown with Bobby Flay". Owner Bobby Olguin was recognized by Gov. Bill Richardson and Friday July 24 was declared "Buckhorn Tavern Day." If there is one thing we are serious about here in New Mexico it is our green chile!!!!!!! San Antonio is out of the basin on the way to Albuquerque. Green chile season will be here before we know it! 
More of Carrizozo's downtown 12th st. I absolutely loved the colors on these buildings and the play of light. 
The cactus has a purple tint to it that matches the paint. I wish I had a wall I could paint a festive color! 
Carrizozo is another town north of Alamogordo about an hours drive. It is on the north of our basin and was founded a year after Alamogordo also for the railroads. I spotted this chap driving through this weekend and stopped to find the rest of them. They were quite cleverly placed and I love the results of a small town effort!
How Happy is this? I drive by this every so often and it always makes me smile. This morning I was out and decided to snap a photo not realizing that they had the orange and red sunflowers blooming. I have been going on about the blue doors and gates, I figure orange needs some blog time as well. I painted my door purple when I first got my house. What's wrong with a little color?
I took this about a week ago. I mentioned in an earlier post that the whole plant dies after blooming. You can see that process quite clearly in this photo as the base of the plants are already brown and the stalks are leaning. These plants are not too large, but some of them require back hoes and serious work to haul away.
I took this photo thinking about Gregor Mendel and his peas. Gregor Mendel was a priest who studied the variations in peas and discovered dominant and recessive alleles. He was born in 1822 and is called the father of modern genetics. I look at this one plant and see white flowers, pink flowers, and the half and half. I am not sure which dominance will win out! They are different from the hollyhocks that just blend their colors to make a more pale or darker flower. These guys are like the hollyhocks and come up from seed every year. That alone makes them worth it! I have no work to do.
This one is in the red and yellow of the state flag. Our flag colors are the red and yellow that were the colors of Queen Isabella of Spain. I love the symbolism of our flag with the different cultures.
Close up detail of a grill. Someone was good with metal!
Detail of a gate with the Zia Symbols. Although these only have the 3 rays, I admire the handwrought ironwork.
James making friends with the tiny burros. They like to be scritched behind their ears! They are happy little munchers, nibbling their way all over the place. 
View of Miss Mary's lake. Really more of a pond due to the drought of the last several years. I remember it being so full that it would cover the road making us drive through the water. It is about 15 feet down right now.
Mountain Thistle which is best to stay away from when wearing shorts. I will be back to the basin tomorrow. I wanted to finish up the weekend photos. It has been so hot here, over 100 degrees.
Miss Mary's cabin off in the distance, you can just see the roof.
Old hand hewn horse trough in front of the lodge.
Mini donkeys having a snack in front of the lodge. They were quite willing to have their ears scratched. The camp is a treasure and should be saved. If you are interested in the preservation or were a camper, check out http://www.campmarywhite.com/ and see the great things they are doing to help.
We refer to this cabin as "Woody's Cabin" as she was a very influential camp director and this was the cabin she stayed in during her years at Camp Mary White. A fire came through seven years ago and came very close to destroying the camp. We are grateful to the Forest Service for saving it.
Six of us from our old Girl Scout troop of 30 years ago!!
We spent this weekend up in the mountains-specifically Camp Mary White which is located on the road to Weed and Sacramento.
We came along with about 50 others for the ribbon cutting on the new Historical Marker.
New Mexico has a new program for Historical Markers that honor women who made a difference for the state. We are very proud to have Mary White recognized this way. Her niece and nephew, Sally and Jack Marsh were there to cut the ribbon along with other local dignitaries such as Beth Mayhill and Miss Mary's cousins. Camp Mary White is no longer affiliated with the girl scouts, but it remains one of the oldest primitive camps in the U.S. Generations of campers have come together to form the Friends of Camp Mary White and preserve the camp as well as update it where needed so it will be available for future campers. The marker reads-" In 1927
We see them, if we choose to look-long before we hear them. If not, the sonic boom as they break the sound barrier gives them away. Col. Stapp made history being the first to break the sound barrier here at Holloman and the men and women that have followed continue to do it on a daily basis.
I know, it is 105 outside and I am talking about skiing. Frankly, as trecherous as the road is up to the ski area, it is much safer for me to do it in the summer! Besides, it is another place to escape the intense heat. (Although it's a dry heat) It is a beautiful place no matter what time of year you go and this was no exception.
The ski area is located on the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation and includes Sierra Blanca, at an altitude of 12,003 feet. We will get back to the desert -today we remember fondly the 69 degree temperatures in the mountains.
A familiar sight for us. This is the one coming into town from Las Cruces. There is another one on the El Paso road. It freaks out people that are not from around here. As often as most of us toddle off to Las Cruces or El Paso we don't think much about it.
If you look closely, you can see the White Sands on the far left of the photo. It was flat miserable yesterday heatwise. It was 104 coming across the basin and if we were standing still I am sure it would have been worse! The clouds are just teasing us and only gracing the mountains with rain. I am grateful for that much, at least they won't burn. Our "monsoon" season keeps getting pushed back. We have had 3 good rains, but none for a couple of weeks and hopefully we will see some this weekend. And thats another thing, we used to just call it the rains or the rainy season, now it is "monsoon."
This is a very common sight, a dust devil! As dry and dusty as it is they crop up all over. This one wasnt too large or organized, but I was still glad not to have to drive through it.
We got the official news in the paper this morning that we are getting the unmanned aircraft! We are dependant upon the base for our economy and it means alot to get this mission. Holloman has been home to the 49th fighter wing for a long time and the town has fought to save the base. Holloman was first established in 1942 as the Alamogordo Army Airfield and has a long history beginning with Trinity site. 
