One of the most unique states in the country, New Mexico has a large mix of American, Hispanic, and Native American cultures. New Mexico was inhabited by several tribes before the Spanish Empire began to explore and build in the area. Later this area became part of the country Mexico and then the United States in 1848 after the Mexican-American war. In addition to the mix of culture, New Mexico also has a mix of unique landscapes from its white deserts in the south to the high altitude mountains in the north.

New Mexico Links
	New Mexico's capital of Santa Fe was easily my favorite city to visit in the state. It has a small population of just 60,000 people, but the local culture and attractions offer plenty to do. The upper left is the state capitol building, the only one in the US shaped in a circular design to represent a symbol of the Zia Indian tribe. On the right is the Santa Fe Inn, also made with native American style architecture which is common for most buildings in the state.
	Here are some pictures of some of the stores and places in old town Santa Fe. On the left is a carpet shop, to the right is one of several unique shops found in the old town area.
The surrounding photos are of the plaza which is located in the center of Santa Fe's Old Town. Above is the governor's palace which was built by the Mexican government in 1610, now the oldest public building in the United States. Below is a monument dedicated to soldiers who fought in the early wars during the 19th century and were killed by Native Americans. Notice on the right how a word was blanked out on the memorial. The word used to be 'savage' and shows the what early Americans thought of the native population.
Above are some more photos from Santa Fe, the left is the local art museum, on the right is a Masonic Lodge that I was surprised to see in the state. I have more details on a Masonic temple that I visited in Virginia just a week before my trip to New mexico.
Santa Fe is also famous for its southern railroad, which now runs for tourists between the capital and the small town of Lamy which only has 137 people. Back in the old west with cities so far apart, rail was the most reasonable means of transportation. Above are photos of an old and new train, the one on the right is passing by.
What I liked most about New Mexico was the obvious culture differences here between other American states. Even a lot of the meals were different from other states. Above are photos of two examples, with breakfast on the left and dinner on the right. Of course there are plenty of the popular chain restaurants or typical American food in the state, but I came across a lot of unique restaurants in Santa Fe, and if it was something more typical it usually had a New Mexican twist to it such as the pizza above.
Just an hour southwest of Santa Fe is New Mexico's largest city of Albuquerque. I spent only a few days in Albuquerque but that was enough time to determine that I definitely liked Santa Fe better. Something that Albuquerque definitely had that was better was its night life, Santa Fe was more laid back and quiet with stores closing as early as 6pm on a weekday! Above and on the lower left is a photo of Albuquerque, on the right are some girls working for Red Bull promoting their new cola drink in the downtown area. I did try to bring my camera for nightlife but got turned away at some of the bars and clubs for having it. They seemed to be more uptight about those things here.
Albuquerque's population of more than half a million people also includes many bums. Most of the people above where homeless, sleeping and roaming in the streets and asking for change. I was surprised by how many there were in the relatively small city. Most of the people in the upper right photo didn't appear to be homeless, but there were certainly a lot of them congregating in this area.
Like Santa Fe, in the center of Albuquerque is their old town with shops and historic buildings. Not nearly as big as Santa Fe's old town, Albuquerque's is still interesting and definitely worth visiting. Above are some photos of a gazebo in the center of the main plaza, and some people selling trinkets just like in the capital. I didn't see any homeless people here either unlike Albuquerque's modern downtown.
Above is the San Felipe de Neri church, the oldest surviving building in Albuquerque. The church was founded as Francisco Xavierin 1706 but later changed its name to San Felipe after King Philip of Spain.
I almost never take souvenirs when I travel, but for those who do then old town Albuquerque would definitely be the best place to do some shopping. Above are some of the interesting Native American handcrafts for sale and on display in Old Town Albuquerque.
One of the best places to me in Old Town Albuquerque was the Rattlesnake Museum. It's the largest collection of rattlesnake species in the world, in addition to other desert creatures that are found in New Mexico. The upper left shows a local species of rattlesnake, upper right is a sidewinder. The lower left is one of only two poisonous lizards in the world, and a huge tarantula, all of these can be found in New Mexico.
Just outside of Albuquerque is Petroglyph Monument. It's a collection of large boulders with ancient rock paintings left behind from older tribes. See the people hiking above?
Above are also some common Cacti seen throughout the state. I'm not sure of the species yet but I saw these mostly in the northern areas around Albuquerque and Santa Fe. I've seen the giant Saguaro cactus before in Arizona, but unfortunately they do not live in New Mexico.
Another interesting place in the area but much closer to Santa Fe is Bandelier national monument. Bandelier is the remains of where some native American tribes built homes both along and inside the mountains. These are also known as cliff dwellings and were common several hundred years ago. Above are photos of the local landscape, below shows the remains of one of their towns and a ladder entering one of the homes in the cliffs. These tribes were famous for their long ladders that would extend up the cliffs reaching high rooms.
	Also in the area of Bandelier National Monument is the town of Los Alamos. This town was where the first atomic bomb was developed by several scientists in a top secret laboratory. Today, the laboratory continues to research nuclear technology but has also expanded into other research such as biomedical studies. As an example, the laboratory is currently working on several vaccines for the Aids virus as well as research on cancer. Over 12,000 workers are employed here at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The above photos show that a security check is required just to enter the town, then additional warnings for sites that are off limit. On the left is one of their main research buildings.
	Long before New Mexico included high tech research of nuclear weapons and biomedical sciences, the state was part of the wild wild west. Back then the government had little control over the population and getting away with murder was usually quite easy. One of New Mexico's and America's most known outlaws was Billy the Kid. Originally from New York City, Billy the Kid traveled to New Mexico and stayed with a family after he was robbed of his horses and nearly died trying to find help. Billy the Kid was loyal and helped work along side the family until some of them were murdered by a rival faction.. He spent the rest of his short life in a gang killing those responsible in revenge, constantly avoiding the law until he was finally arrested. After he killed his guards and escaped he was captured again and hung with his friends. He is now buried in Fort Sumner where there is also a museum. Above on the right is his grave with a single tombstone marked PALS.
Many people think of New Mexico as just a hot desert, but it actually has some of the highest mountains in the continental US. New Mexico's highest range are the Sangre De Christo Mountains located in the northeastern part of the state. One ski resort is only 20 miles north east of Santa Fe! The town of Taos is about 2 hours north of Santa Fe, famous for its skiing and small historical pueblo. Above are some photos of the Sangre De Christo Mountains.
I did some winter hiking in the Sangre De Christo Mountains with a friend. My goal was to reach Deception Peak seen on the left which is 12,400 feet at the summit. We planned to wake up at 6am but instead slept through the alarm until 9. With a late start we didn't have time to complete the hike, but did break 12,000 feet and got very close to the summit. It was probably only 30 minutes away but we didn't want to risk reaching the summit and descending at night. On the upper right is me at the 12,000 foot mark.
The snows and high peaks aren't limited to Sangre De Christo Mountains. In the southern part of the state is Lincoln National Forest, the actual home of Smokey Bear. This area also has skiing in the winter and lots of interesting hikes.
These two pictures of deer were taken further north and not in Lincoln national park. These are called whitetail deer that live in the western United States, something I used to confuse with the mule deer back in Virginia.
One of the most famous places in New Mexico is the small town of Roswell. The only thing I ever knew about Roswell was the UFO incident in which some people claim an alien spaceship crashed near the town. I expected the area to be nothing more than a few houses and stores but was surprised to see that it was a decent sized town and even had a large courthouse and small plaza seen above.
The town of Roswell has a lot of focus on aliens and the UFO incident that occurred in 1947. Some really hardcore enthusiasts even visit Roswell from other countries to see the museum and to take 'UFO tours' of the area. The main problem about the Roswell incident started when a US military official told the local news that a flying saucer had crashed in the area, immediately sparking speculation that it was an alien spacecraft. The next day the US government said and has maintained that it was simply an experimental weather balloon that crashed, not a UFO. The world lost interest until the 1970s when another interview was done with an official who mentioned a government cover up. Above are photos from the UFO museum. Some believe an alien body was recovered and an autopsy was done.
In the downtown area of Roswell most of the shops are alien themed. Check out the alien face lamp post on the upper left and the UFO shaped McDonalds on the upper right.
New Mexico's second largest city is called Las Cruces located in the extreme south on the border of Texas, and only an hour away from Mexico. I only spent the night in Las Cruces and nothing really stood out about that town to me so I didn't bring back any photos. Many people here work for the department of defense in the nearby missile base. Above is a photo of the Organ mountains that are between Las Cruces and a large missile base. On the right is a sign warning visitors of the possible dangers in the area.
Of course, most of White Sands Missile Range is closed to the public, but they do have a small outdoor museum that is worth visiting. Below are photos of several different types of American missiles that have been used over the past few decades. Sometimes the base museum and area is closed because missile tests are being conducted. As a matter of fact, it was here at the White Sands Missile Range where the world's first atomic bomb was tested at what is now known as the trinity site.
The museum has famous missiles such as the patriot missile launcher to the right as well as some unknown or never used missile technology on display. They do have an example of one of the "flying saucers" that they say crashed at Roswell seen below. They also have a sarcastic message next to the Aeroshell saying that some people mistake them for UFO's and that the Aeroshell below is the only one in "captivity". This one was apparently made for space and intended to be used on Mars.
In the southern part of the military base is the White Sands National Monument, named of course for the unique white dunes. The white sand is made up from the mineral gypsum, with the dunes occupying 275 square miles making them the largest gypsum desert in the world. Above is a boardwalk that passes through some amazing scenery.
	Because of the high winds in the desert, the sand dunes are always shifting and sometimes end up burying the desert flora. Many of the plants in White Sands have learned to survive these changing conditions, at least partially. The plant on the left has a large sand dune that will eventually blow over and bury it. When this happens, these plants suddenly grow extremely fast until they are out of the dunes and can survive. Unfortunately when the dunes recede the plant's own weight destroys it, like above.
Some area's of White Sands look like snow from a distance. I thought the plant on the left looked like it just got blanketed after a snow storm. That and the photo of the plant on the right both gave me a winter/Christmas feeling despite being in the desert. It actually was winter here when I visited, but that means 60F in southern New Mexico!

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