New Mexico Travel

[mjlbj01]

Just want to mention traveling into New Mexico. They have a 14 day or time of stay quarantine requirement for visitors coming in from high risk states. Although National Parks are open, state parks are only open to residents. We are spending night in Albuquerque no problem but had to cancel our Carlsbad stay. I requested a no fee cancellation due to their restrictions...still waiting to hear back on that. Just make sure everyone checks state requirements where they go. We had no problems though in Texas, Colorado, Utah, or Arizona.

[mtlakejim]

Originally Posted by mjlbj01

Just want to mention traveling into New Mexico. They have a 14 day or time of stay quarantine requirement for visitors coming in from high risk states. Although National Parks are open, state parks are only open to residents. We are spending night in Albuquerque no problem but had to cancel our Carlsbad stay. I requested a no fee cancellation due to their restrictions...still waiting to hear back on that. Just make sure everyone checks state requirements where they go. We had no problems though in Texas, Colorado, Utah, or Arizona.

We lived in Carlsbad, New Mexico for 1.5 years due to work. The people there are very nice but there is absolutely NOTHING about the state I would have anything to do with again!!! The desert sucks, no water no shade nothing to do but roast!!! So happy that other than visiting our grandkids, we will never have to spend time in that awful state again!!

[Theunz]

We spent a week in Red River NM the first part of August. No one there gave a hoot about any quarantine. As a matter of fact their mayor was on national TV saying that they thrived on tourism and would not be enforcing the quarantine. Masked were required to go in any business and crowded areas.
While I agree with mtlakejim that southern NM would be a harsh place to live, Carlsbad Caverns, the white sands, and Roswell are all interesting places to visit. Just not in the heat of summer. The mountains in North East NM however, are a great place to be in the sweltering summer!

[DQDick]

We, on the other hand, love NM and have our winter home base there. The desert is not a place to spend the summer, but we find plenty to do there in the winter and love the mountains when the desert gets too hot. The state has done their best to control the virus and are in much better condition than their neighbors which is why they are trying to keep it that way. With both the regular flu and covid both coming in the fall, they're just trying to keep ahead of it.

[mjlbj01]

We have stayed there before ...the governor is hurting tourism though as far as I’m concerned...we follow state guidelines wherever we go and expect the sites to do the same..

[Roy & Georgia]

We live in a little town called Artesia which is between Carlsbad and Roswell in SE NM and have since 1990. Yes, it’s hot during the dead of summer and can be cold during the extreme winter months. Had 5 ft snow drifts a few years back. Triple digit heat generally don’t last much more than 1 month. We have beautiful mountains 1 hr east of here in Cloudcroft but it still gets pretty warm. I find the dry heat is much more bearable than high humidity in addition to heat.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by Roy & Georgia

We live in a little town called Artesia which is between Carlsbad and Roswell in SE NM and have since 1990. Yes, it’s hot during the dead of summer and can be cold during the extreme winter months. Had 5 ft snow drifts a few years back. Triple digit heat generally don’t last much more than 1 month. We have beautiful mountains 1 hr east of here in Cloudcroft but it still gets pretty warm. I find the dry heat is much more bearable than high humidity in addition to heat.

And a little off the mark but, we loved that Burger King. Ate there a zillion times going to/from our mountain home until they remodeled and maybe the owner (which I had visited with) sold? Whatever, it sure seemed to go downhill real fast.

[mtlakejim]

Originally Posted by Roy & Georgia

We live in a little town called Artesia which is between Carlsbad and Roswell in SE NM and have since 1990. Yes, it’s hot during the dead of summer and can be cold during the extreme winter months. Had 5 ft snow drifts a few years back. Triple digit heat generally don’t last much more than 1 month. We have beautiful mountains 1 hr east of here in Cloudcroft but it still gets pretty warm. I find the dry heat is much more bearable than high humidity in addition to heat.

We were actually staying in the Escapees "The Ranch" RV park which you will know is located between Artesia and Carlsbad.

The folks at the RV park were nice enough but vast majority did not stay there during the summer. I'll have to disagree with how long the summer excess heat lasts though.


Our place in Arkansas is in the Ozark Mountains and sorta resembles Cloudcroft in some ways (except we have lakes and rivers). Not quite the elevation but lots of trees and mountain terrain.

[Falcon]

Originally Posted by mtlakejim

We lived in Carlsbad, New Mexico for 1.5 years due to work. The people there are very nice but there is absolutely NOTHING about the state I would have anything to do with again!!! The desert sucks, no water no shade nothing to do but roast!!! So happy that other than visiting our grandkids, we will never have to spend time in that awful state again!!

Ha ha! I'm sorry you don't like it, I don't either. I've been here for 35 years and never did like the heat and the poor ground that won't grow anything. Colorado for us next year, but that's not a lot of improvement.

[mtlakejim]

Originally Posted by Falcon

Ha ha! I'm sorry you don't like it, I don't either. I've been here for 35 years and never did like the heat and the poor ground that won't grow anything. Colorado for us next year, but that's not a lot of improvement.

Egads, 35years. We did visit White Sands while there. That was interesting. Sorta strange to dive off the cool temps of Cloudcroft down into the basin heat.

On the other hand we liked Sliverton, CO at least during the summer. Not sure I would care about some things in the state that I can't mention here (same reason I wouldn't want to live full time in California).

I know some people like it in the desert. I don't know why but they do. But even a LOT of the locals would tell you they would rather live someplace else. Of course you will hear that in other areas of the country as well but it was more common around SE NM.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by Falcon

Ha ha! I'm sorry you don't like it, I don't either. I've been here for 35 years and never did like the heat and the poor ground that won't grow anything. Colorado for us next year, but that's not a lot of improvement.

Red above ^......You should have worked on that soil. We used to have some of the best gardens anyone around had seen (Hobbs) - we loved it (the garden). I did however spend an inordinate amount of time gathering pickup beds full of cow manure and tilling it in...but stuff would sure grow...

[mtlakejim]

Originally Posted by sourdough

Red above ^......You should have worked on that soil. We used to have some of the best gardens anyone around had seen (Hobbs) - we loved it (the garden). I did however spend an inordinate amount of time gathering pickup beds full of cow manure and tilling it in...but stuff would sure grow...

In RED above. You had to add a lot to that soil to get anything to grow. Face it the soil is poor in the part of the country and more importantly water is scarce. They made us use reject water from the well water processing system at the RV park we were at to water the two or three little plants we had. It was a MAJOR pain in the butt. They really preferred you not to have any plants and were always watching the water consumption extremely close. Without the reverse osmosis filter system I doubt the water would have been drinkable it contained so many contaminates. We wouldn't drink it even after filtering. The lack of water is a big reason I did not care for the desert. We love to fish, kayak and watersports. Obviously not much of that in the desert.....

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by mtlakejim

In RED above. You had to add a lot to that soil to get anything to grow. Face it the soil is poor in the part of the country and more importantly water is scarce. They made us use reject water from the well water processing system at the RV park we were at to water the two or three little plants we had. It was a MAJOR pain in the butt. They really preferred you not to have any plants and were always watching the water consumption extremely close. Without the reverse osmosis filter system I doubt the water would have been drinkable it contained so many contaminates. We wouldn't drink it even after filtering. The lack of water is a big reason I did not care for the desert. We love to fish, kayak and watersports. Obviously not much of that in the desert.....

I/we get it that you don't like SE NM, you've made that abundantly clear. I don't particularly like it either but AZ Traveler nailed it about as close as you can get it. If you don't like it that's fine and you've expressed that multiple times. Not really any need to jump in and try to counter anything anyone says positive (or not) about the place.

And BTW, the comment about the cow manure was just a "tickle" for Falcon and his comment about not being able to grow anything in Alamo from a fellow former New Mexican - not asking for a broadside about me having to "face" anything....I lived it.

AZ Traveler also had it right about the wife crying - when she (my DW) came into this town the first time....just burst into tears. Now, 31 years later, I've offered to build a house in a dozen beautiful places and she won't budge.... We've got the RV she says.

[mlh]

Every body thinks where they live is the best place in the world to live. I’m sorry for everyone else I know I live in the best place in the world. If you don’t believe it just ask me.
Lynwood

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by mlh

Every body thinks where they live is the best place in the world to live. I’m sorry for everyone else I know I live in the best place in the world. If you don’t believe it just ask me.
Lynwood

^^^^I think this is true. We like, or accept, what we are used to. I grew up in SE NM and loved it; not because it was pretty but because the bird hunting was so good. I grew to like the desert and the sand hills. But, I always wanted to be in trees and by water, in the mountains by a stream....all those things that weren't in SE NM so we constantly went to the mountains, lakes and streams in other places. Eventually I owned 4 homes in various places that had different draws for us. When you get older the maintenance becomes a real aggravation so sold them all but the main house and got a bigger RV. Now we can go see what we want when we want - sort of the best of all worlds....and NO MTCE. EXPENSE!!! Life would be really boring if we all liked and did the same things....maybe even frustrating.

[Mikelff]

Originally Posted by mlh

Every body thinks where they live is the best place in the world to live. I’m sorry for everyone else I know I live in the best place in the world. If you don’t believe it just ask me.
Lynwood

Lol! You must live in Texas!!!😎

[mtlakejim]

Just for clarity. DQDick was our next door neighbor in New Mexico. He is a great guy. The vast majority of New Mexicans are very nice folks. They just live in a terrible environment. The summers are triple digits for about 3 months straight and it doesn't get below about 80 at night. That wore out both of our roof units in the 1.5 years we were there. There is very little rainfall and water shortages/rationing is a very real possibility (the park keeps a real keen eye on everyone about water usage). There is zero shade and when the wind is blowing it is carrying dust. As in dust storms are a very real thing and fairly frequent. Anything you might want to see or visit (IE: white sands, Carlsbad caverns or the mountains) are at least an hour or more away. When your not in the mountains your baking in the sun. And don't give me that well its a dry heat. 110 with no shade and dust is still hell on earth!!


IF you have the luxury of having a summer home elsewhere and just staying there in the winter then ok I guess (although it is still a nearly barren wasteland desert). Some folks like it but I don't get the attraction.

[Ahdmeyer]

wow some people sure have a positive attitude towards what where and how we all live! Not sure I would want to live by them whether it was in new mexico or bee branch Not saying who it may be have a wonderful day, and stay out of the sun
al meyer
3931fb
in that nasty state of az

[mtlakejim]

Originally Posted by Ahdmeyer

wow some people sure have a positive attitude towards what where and how we all live! Not sure I would want to live by them whether it was in new mexico or bee branch Not saying who it may be have a wonderful day, and stay out of the sun
al meyer
3931fb
in that nasty state of az

I did say the PEOPLE were nice. I just don't like the desert! If you like then great, not everyone is going to like the same thing. But as I said, I don't get the attraction of the desert. Ok if you do, enjoy.

One thing for sure being stuck anywhere you don't like due to work is vastly different from being able to move around freely to take advantage of different climates.

[mlh]

I don’t know what all of this is about. Just to settle things, we live in the best place in the world. We have mountains a little bit of flat land not too hot or too cold. Now it’s settled.
Lynwood