2000 Jul 22 Las Cruces & White Sands

First weekend road trip. First trip out of El Paso, TX  with fellow Singaporean Officers on course. First time into New Mexico and visit to Historic Old Mesilla @ Las Cruces, NM 

Old Courthouse where Billy The Kid was tried and sentence to hang on April 13, 1881.

Church of San Albino - one of the oldest churches in Mesilla Valley. The bells of San Albino is an important part of Mesilla. First bell was casted on September 1, 1876. Soon after, the second bell was made. It was not until December 16, 1887 that the last bell, the Big Bell, was blessed. They ring to wake the town to early mass at 0630hrs, they ring for deaths and funerals, baptisms and marriages.

Organ Mountains are the backdrop of Las Cruces. Rio Grande meanders from Colorado through here and all the way to El Paso, defining the American-Mexican border.

Mexican lunch at La Posta De La Mesilla ... great Mexican food, nice ambiance, beautiful cacti. 

Visit to White Sands National Monument at Alamogordo, NM. Fine white sands, not on top but very cool underneath.

We were here!

We caught a glimpse of the F-117 Nighthawk stealth aircraft landing at Hollowman Air Force Base. What a sight!