From the category archives:

Travelogues

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The author's wife, Cherie, with the catch of the day.

In the realm of travel, nothing can approach a successful river run on good water, with the opportunity for some gamefish along the way. Okay, maybe if we could work some hunting into that river run, too. That should be next.

Browsing the magazine rack the other day – the most likely place, along with the local honky-tonk, to find me wasting my time – I spied a new outdoor magazine. At least it was new to me. River Runner featured a splashy cover, color inside, and some worthwhile information in regards to whitewater and float trips. I’m all in favor of whitewater and float trips, but what I looked for in River Runner was a fishing story. There was no fishing story, no fishing article at all. Fish weren’t even mentioned. From cover to cover, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of miles of water were covered, but as to fishing, River Runner obviously had other things on its mind.

I have this little book at home, a guide to river running in New Mexico. A moderately useful book which does say something about fishing. It says, in effect, fishing and river running don’t go well together in New Mexico because river running is done in the spring time, the water’s murky then, and so the fishing very poor. “Don’t bother,” is the message. I suspect if the author was a fisherman he would realize that the water isn’t always murky and, even when it is, you can often catch catfish till your arms ache, and catfish inhabit most any river you can run in New Mexico.

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In 1878, Billy the Kid was capturing headlines across the American West. Three years later he was dead, shot down by lawman Pat Garrett. Even before his brief life played out, the Kid had become legendary, as either brutish murderer or daring avenger. To this day, the controversy continues. Was Billy the Kid simply living up to the code of the frontier? Or was he a lethal hot-head embellishing his own legend?

Visitors from all over the world come to New Mexico to follow his trail, and perhaps to search for clues to the truth about the young man turned outlaw.

Billy the Kid was born in the New York City slums, but his mother steadily worked her way west with her small family until they reached Silver City, New Mexico. There, the boy, accused of receiving stolen clothes, was jailed and escaped. Skipping to Arizona, he cowboyed, perhaps ran with rustlers, and committed his first authenticated killing. Billy fled Arizona. In 1876 or 1877, under the name of William H. Bonney, the then 17-or-18-year-old outlaw rode into Lincoln County, New Mexico.

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New Mexico’s Highway One — slow-paced route reflects the region’s best

by SallyBickley January 11, 2003 Travelogues

Technorati Tags: winter,travelogue

Separate from the crowd. Exit Interstate 25 and find yourself on New Mexico’s own Highway One, a slower, quieter route. The road hugs the topography, its narrow, low bridges and sweeping ridgetop climbs reward those taking the alternate route from Elephant Butte to Socorro.
Running parallel to Interstate 25, this remnant of the paved [...]

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New Mexico’s Boot Heel — scenes of yesteryear

by DonnaJohnson January 11, 2003 Travelogues

Technorati Tags: travelogue,southwest,Hildago County

As I drive, twisting through mountains and leaning around curves, having turned westward at Hatchita towards Animas on N.M. 9, which then leads to Rodeo and to Portal, Arizona, I bask in the warmth of an autumn day. I am taking a one-day vacation to leisurely revisit the sites of Old West [...]

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Museum Hopping in Southeast New Mexico

by PhyllisEileenBanks January 11, 2003 Travelogues

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Museums are history lessons for those who have lived through that history and those who are too young to have experienced it. When you see how our ancestors lived it doesn’t give credence to the term “the good ole days.” It is, however, a window through which we can view the past. The [...]

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Mescalaro Labor Day

by JoannMazzio January 11, 2003 Travelogues

Technorati Tags: travelogue,Lincoln County

For most of us, Labor Day fills a primitive need for a special day to mark the change of seasons, the end of summer and the beginning of fall. In New Mexico’s Sacramento Mountains on Labor Day, summer still held the land in her dark green grip. Only the sunflowers and asters [...]

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Meandering is a Great Sport

by LarryLightner January 11, 2003 Travelogues

Technorati Tags: travelogue,Gila,southwest
One of the great outdoor joys of my life is to simply meander through the countryside. That means to hike along with no particular place in mind as my destination, and to do it in a very slow manner. I do my best meandering while hunting. A good example of what I’m talking [...]

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Make a Date with Route 28 — the Oñate Trail

by PhyllisEileenBanks January 11, 2003 Travelogues

Technorati Tags: Route 28,travelogue,southwest

For those who like to avoid the Interstates and travel the narrower, more quiet highways, New Mexico Route 28 is a lovely, relaxing trip. Begin your trek on this highway at Old Mesilla southwest of Las Cruces. The highway is east of the Rio Grande at this point, but a few miles [...]

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Camping in the desert

by LarryLightner January 6, 2003 Travelogues

Technorati Tags: camping,desert,travelogue
Not too long ago I made a hunting trip to the desert again. I also wanted to do a little camping in the back of my pickup. The following is some of that trip.
The first night was a bit of a disappointment, mainly because I had forgotten to pack my propane cook stove [...]

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A Trip to Rockhound State Park

by LarryLightner January 3, 2003 Travelogues

Technorati Tags: State Land,Rockhound,Deming,Luna County

I have been hearing about Rockhound State Park near Deming, New Mexico for nearly nine years now, but I never seemed to get the opportunity to go down and see it in person.
My wife Jeri and I both love to look for unusual rocks and stones. We have specimens all over [...]

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