MESQUITE--------ALAMOGORDO
62/29-----JAN------56/32
66/34-----FEB------62/36
74/39-----MAR------68/42
83/47-----APR------77/49
93/56-----MAY------86/57
102/63----JUN------94/66
108/70----JUL-------93/68
106/70----AUG------91/67
100/60----SEP-------86/61
87/49-----OCT-------76/50
70/36-----NOV-------65/38
62/30-----DEC-------56/31
Man, look at those sweet temp.'s for Alamogordo. I think that this one, empty_nester123, is going to hinge on how much of an advantage it is for you ta live near Lost Wages. You would only be 82 miles from Lost Wages. I like Lost Wages, too - I love ta cruise the Strip. All the entertainment you can want is all nearby.
We here in Alamogordo live about 90 miles north of El Paso. So the distance is similar. We have a pool run by The City of Alamogordo. It is an outdoor pool that the City has a cover system in place for winter time. But I don't know if they allow swimming when the cover is over the pool. The swimming pool is quite large and the kids of Alamo absolutely
love it.
The Alamogordo Senior Center is very nice and a mellow place ta be. My wife has been 60 since January and I turn 60 in 3 days, so, needless ta say, we've toured the Senior Center. Sounds like you can give $2.00 a visit and get lunch there if you want, too. I don't remember the price details for meals but I'm sure it's similar to many other cities.
We plan on retiring here in Alamogordo and bought a nice brick home here a year and a half ago. Alamogordo has a great library, too, if you like libraries. Never had any kind of complaint about them and we use the library a lot. There is a van service that will take you to medical/dental appointments here and I think you can bill it to Medicare or Medicaid if you have or will have either of them. You could find out online about that if you're interested.
We have hiking at Dog Canyon trail just south of town off of Highway 54. 5 miles in and 5 miles back and my wife and I have not done it and probably won't even attempt it. Apparently it's for experienced hikers only. But you can drive the 16 miles up Highway 82 that runs east and west on the north side of town and be in beautiful Cloudcroft, NM, pretty quickly. It's usually 10-20 degrees cooler up in Cloudroft than it is down below in the Tularosa Basin. Cloudcroft just screams tourist and hike and explore! I can not remember ever feeling gloom and doom feelings when up in Cloudcroft. Little shops downtown are fun to peruse.
South of Cloudcroft on NM Scenic Byway 6563 and NM 82 (16 miles south) is the village of Sunspot. The National Solar Observatory offers self-guided tours there and there are hiking trails galore with views down from Sacramento Peak (in Lincoln National Forest, home of Smoky Bear) of Tularosa Basin and the White Sands National Monument. The Tularosa Basin has more land in it than the state of Connecticut! The Dunn Solar Telescope is the main star of the show at Sunspot. It's now run by NMSU, which has been running it since October of 2017. That is when the National Science Foundation pulled out of the site. The site was built in 1947 by the U.S. Air Force, who realized in WWII that their communications were being affected by the sun. They wanted to learn more about the sun for pretty obvious reasons. In the 60's the National Science Foundation came in and took over the Solar Observatory. The Dunn Solar Telescope towers 136' high up in to the sky, but, interestingly, also goes down below the ground 228'!
There was at one time about 100 people in Sunspot. It was its own little village with its own fire station, post office, water tower and maybe a dozen Redwood houses and 20 relocatable houses. It was a busy place back in the 40's and 50's. The Air Force still had a presence there until 2010, when they moved the rest of their operations to Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque.
More on the Dunn Solar Telescope, because its pretty interesting. The structure contains an entrance window and two mirrors that guide sunlight down the tower in an evacuated tube from which air has been removed. Inside, the rotating telescope weighs 200 tons and is suspended from a right-shaped container that holds 10 tons of mercury! With this telescope, scientists are able to study granulation, sunspots, faulae, weak magnetic field, filaments and solar flares.
In an effort to cut budget the National Science Foundation has moved most of their operations from Sunspot and other facilities nationwide to Boulder, CO. NSF is also undergoing the construction of one of the most powerful telescopes in the world, that one being in Maui, Hawaii, atop the Haleakala Crater. Supposedly that telescope is to be built by 2019. The article I'm referencing was written in March of 2017. The Sunspot Observatory is still owned by the NSF, but it's now run by NMSU. The Observatory is open 9:00AM - 5:00PM Monday through Friday. It's open during the months of better weather, remember, it's 9,200 feet up there - so feel free to call the number below for all the information you want on this baby. Here's the number - more information can be found by calling 575-434-7190. You can also keep right up-to-date with the Observatory on Facebook at SunspotSolarObservatory.
I'm seeing if my wife and I can go up there again on Monday afternoon. It's typically 10-20 degrees cooler up there on Sacramento Peak. I plan on learning more about this local treasure and wanted to share what I've learned this afternoon (and early evening!!!!) with all of y'all.
Those in the know say this: there's no stores or gas stations or hotels up there, so bring with you all that you think you'll need, including a light jacket or a sweater. Tiny Timberon has a store open and, of course, Cloudcroft has what you'll need in stores but that's 16 miles north of the Sunspot Solar Observatory.
Timberon is a really small town about 16 miles further south from Sunspot. From Cloudcroft take New Mexico Highway 6563 (the Sunspot Scenic Byway) 16 miles to Sunspot. From Sunspot take County Road C001 (also known as 537) 16 more miles south to the little cute town of Timberon. We've been to the Sunspot Solar Observatory several times but we've only been to Timberon one time. I might hit up both of them on Monday. I'll come back and report on what I find on this thread or, possibly create a new thread on this subject, since it seems to tickle my fancy more than just a little bit.
BTW - those small highways are just two lane highways going south out of Cloudcroft. They're perfect for motorcycling, and of course your car or truck. But they would be great for motorcycling. And, to think further about it, a 2017 Nissan Sentra NISMO or a 2017-2019 Ford Fiesta ST Turbocharger. I even like driving my 2011 Kia Soul 5-speed stick my wife won't let me trade on those roads!
One final warning - watch out for elk and deer on or near those highways.
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