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| where I went in New Mexico |
New Mexico is the 5th largest of the states, which is saying something when the list begins with Alaska and Texas. That fact gives it plenty of room for geographic and biologic diversity, and the state takes full advantage of that.
Its lowest point is Red Bluff Reservoir at 2,844' in the southwest near the Texas border; its highest point is Wheeler Peak at 13,167' in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains near Taos. The 10,000' difference allows a wide range of habitats. In an easy one-day drive, you can cross New Mexico and find deserts and croplands and grasslands; flat land and hills and mountains; cactus and sage and lush alpine forests. And each of these areas has its own set of critters that call that area home. It's a remarkable variety for what's actually a fairly small area - I mean, even I can get to all these places in a day's drive.
New Mexico has its own collection of natural wonders, too. The Rio Grande Rift, formed by the earth simply stretching itself and then collapsing - not the usual natural method of forming a canyon. The Capulin Volcano created by its own cinders. Twelve-million-year-old Ship Rock and other volcanic leftovers. White Sands, the largest gypsum dunefield in the world, and both the coldest and the wettest desert in North America, besides being beautiful. Carlsbad Caverns, including some of the largest caves in North America. This state isn't a one-hit wonder.
New Mexico's people
Everyone I talked to was glad they were living in New Mexico and specifically glad to be living in whatever community they were from. Most people listed accessibility of outdoor activities as the prime thing they liked about living here. In fact, after listening to this same idea for a month I almost came to believe that only those who enjoyed outdoor activities would be happy here, though I'm sure that's not true. But there was a remarkable consistency in the answers I got.
New Mexico is unique among the states in having almost 50% of residents being of Hispanic or Latino heritage. Another nearly 10% is of Native American heritage. Add in other races besides caucasian and you can see how NM has come to be one of the few "majority-minority" states. And also unlike other states, NM seems to celebrate that diversity - at least in public. I'm still concerned about the controversy over teaching schoolchildren about the various backgrounds of their classmates - what on earth can be controversial about that? But at least for a casual visitor to the state, there seems to be pride in their diversity.
Driving in New Mexico
I did not find this a comfortable state to drive in for a number of reasons.
For one, as I mentioned above, I found many drivers to be reckless or careless or rude - or any combination of these. I learned to be cautious at intersections because of the large number of people who misunderstand the concept of "right turn on red." Or even the concept of safe driving. I can't stop on a dime in the RV, even when I'm going slowly, and I had a lot of close calls at intersections. And the same with merging onto a highway, where the people who are supposed to be yielding to those of us on the road apparently believe we're supposed to stop and let them whip in front of us. I really got tired of a whole month of this.
For another, as I mentioned several times in my daily posts, the New Mexico highway department and I don't agree on how to sign a roadway so as to be of help to motorists. I found directional signs hidden or even downright missing (for instance, turns were posted from one direction but not from the other). I found hills and curves that weren't marked and speed limits that didn't make sense. And I still haven't figured out why they decided a Friday afternoon was a good time to construct their own Jersey barriers in the middle of a busy highway near the state capital and why they couldn't buy them or make them elsewhere and transport them to where they were needed.
And for still another reason, I thought a lot of the roadway surfaces could have used some work. In fact, after awhile I started wondering what New Mexico spends its gas tax money on, because it sure didn't seem to be road surfaces. But adding rough roads to the other nuisances just made me wish the state were a lot smaller so I didn't have to drive so much in it.
What I didn't see that I wanted to see
Lots of things. My main problem this month was my various health issues that cropped up, making travel much more difficult. I mentioned a number of places I missed in my daily posts.
In addition, I missed everything west of I-25 and north of Silver City. That includes Gallup - which I've heard of as long as I've heard of Truth or Consequences, the Grants area including El Malpais National Monument and Acoma Pueblo (oldest town in the US - people have lived here since 1075), the Chaco Culture National Historic Park, and the Very Large Array Radio Telescope ("one of the world's premier astronomical radio observatories," they say). Actually, I did try to go to that last place, but found out online that they've closed it for tours until this stupid virus is under control. It's about an hour down the road from Socorro.
And I missed everything east of US-285. That includes Hobbs, Clovis, and Tucumcari. At Santa Rosa there's a place called Blue Hole, which is 80' deep and a constant 60° year round, used by scuba divers.
Because of dizziness and fear of ice, I chickened out of taking the scenic route between Taos and Raton. That meant that in addition to beauty spots like Angel Fire, I missed Cimarron, where the tin ceiling in the St. James Hotel reputedly still has 20 bullet holes left from the Wild West days.
New Mexico has a lot that's worth coming to see - both natural wonders and museums and other relics of the past, as well as equipment for the future (the Very Large Array, e.g.). I'm sorry I couldn't see more of it than I did.
My conclusion
New Mexico has a lot going for it, and I can easily understand why the residents are happy to be living here. And I should qualify my opinion here again because I felt so poorly so much of the time I was here that I'm not sure I can be fair to this state.
But even given that drawback, I know this isn't a place I could be happy to live in. Of course it's too far from any ocean - or even an ocean-substitute (like the Great Lakes). And while it has mountains, they seem to come to a halt south of Albuquerque, though my AAA map says I missed a bunch of mountains west of I-25. But what I saw myself in the southern 2/3 of the state was flat land or rolling hills, nice in their way but not mountains.
I was interested to note that Wikipedia says the 2020 census found that NM's population increased by less than 3% in the last 10 years, one of the slowest growths in the country and 2nd only to Wyoming in being the slowest in the western US. And these figures resulted from an unusually strong push by NM's government to count even those who live in very rural areas, where undercounts are common. And if it wasn't one of the most popular states for retirees in the country, the results could have been much worse.
I'm sure there's a lot here to attract retirees. Just not this particular retiree. Too bad.
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