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When this popped up to the top of the threads, I just had to take a look.
I was stationed at Holloman in 83-84. I lived on the base and didn't get around much except for a friend and I went to Juarez once a month to buy booze and we stopped in El Paso to get drunk in girly bars on the way back. I wasn't overly impressed with the area, but I wasn't bothered by it much either. When I left I figured it was the last time I'd ever see the state, city or base again.
I'm retired now (twice) and was thinking about where I'd like to live when my wife retires. I'm from the midwest and always hated it. (I'm only here now due to a volcano I got caught in, and the Air Force doing me a "favor" sending me back where I came from. But that's another story.) She's from all over, having moved to the northwest, south, northeast and southeast all while she was a kid. She'd never been to the southwest, though, and had no real desire to see it. So when we started talking about leaving the god-forsaken midwest in a few years, we didn't even consider New Mexico right off.
We planned the first of what we thought would be several trips. This one was going to take us to San Angelo, someplace in Oklahoma (I forget where now) and Alamogordo. I figured she hate it, and I didn't expect to have any better thoughts of it despite the passage of time and a bit of added age. But since we were going to be in the general direction anyway, we agreed to add it on.
I suggested we go through Alamogordo first and get it out of the way. I assumed we'd get there and she'd tire of it in a day or two, then we'd move on. I didn't expect I'd disagree with her on that, though it wouldn't bother me if we stayed a week or drove through and kept going.
When we got into town, that was it. She fell in love. The new impressions on me were a little better than my recollection of the earlier days, but it was a bit better. We stayed a week and she loved it. We drove through the mountains, went to Las Cruces and back, looked at housing areas, checked out what businesses and amenities there were, etc.
I couldn't believe she was all for it right from the start. The area is completely different from anything she'd ever experienced anywhere. But she loved the drier air, the mountains, the layout of the town (flat, not up and down hills everywhere), the people she dealt with and everything else.
The rest of the trip was a waste. We went to San Angelo. After Alamo, there was no point. It could have been Anytown USA in comparison. We stayed one day instead of 4 like we planned.
And when we went to Oklahoma? We kept driving. No need to stop. After Alamogordo she was so sold that even her beloved Portland couldn't have called her back.
That was it. We were going to head southeast to look at some areas in Alabama and Florida, possibly even parts of Mississippi. But once she saw that place, none of those were going to be satisfactory.
It's not much of an exaggeration when I say, if I didn't want to go with her to live there, she'd probably leave me and go herself.
But it wasn't just her impressions. My own were much more positive than I expected. Sure Alamo isn't ultra-modern and some areas could use some improvement. But name a place in the US that those things can't be said about. There's trashiness everywhere. Just that part of the country it's easier to see because it's not hidden behind trees, foliage and hills.
We went in the fall and I loved seeing clouds down almost touching the ground as we drove around. I loved driving through clouds to/from Las Cruces. I loved that the area thrughout town is flat. I loved that I felt safe everywhere in town I went even though I didn't have a weapon on me the whole time (I looked at crime stats and "high crime" areas before we ever went). I loved that I could go outside and the mountains are right there. I liked that I wouldn't be out cutting grass in the hottest part of the day. Most of all my sinuses loved the drier air. They weren't great when I was there before, but I could get along almost anywhere. Now they give me trouble most of the time. Except when we got there they cleared up a lot.
She'd have to give up her gardening (after she got me to build 3 raised beds), but she's fine with that if we can live in Alamo.
We've been back 3 times since then (I skipped one, my son went with my wife), and we're going to make another trip in a few months. Each time we're more determined to make this happen. Each time the wife tries to justify staying just one more day.
The only thing that will stop up is if real estate turns to garbage and we can't unload this place. (There are rumblings that not all is well, too.) If that happens, though, we'll come up with alternatives, make trips there or whatever. Maybe we'll see the signs of things to come early enough we can even sell this off sooner, before things tumble. But we're moving there if there's any way humanly possible. Because that is where we want to be.
I am so encouraged by your post and that you both have fallen in love with Alamogordo. There is a good spirit here - my wife and I love the place, too!
Then on to my real destination of Alamogordo. Arriving from Tularosa was quite a shock. I was in Alamogordo about 25 years ago and remember it as a nice sleepy town with the Space Museum being excellent. Now it has sprouted every fast food and motel chain on the face of the earth. I was struck also by the contrast between the beautiful mountains in the background with a trashy appearance in the foreground. Not my cup of tea. So will not be living in Alamogordo.
Hahaha, 8 years old but thats about what I've been trying to say only more blunt. Its a nice place to pass through but I wouldn't want to live there.
Hahaha, 8 years old but thats about what I've been trying to say only more blunt. Its a nice place to pass through but I wouldn't want to live there.
james57: "...nice sleepy town..." AND phydeaux3...WOW that's quite a 'dream message' that still is in the percolating stages? IMO bottom line: NM and the West is HUGE so lots to explore. It all comes down to WHO is walking in your shoes NOW? ONLY each of us can answer that. NM is our 5th largest state in sq mi and yet the only population bases (with services to speak of) are Albuquerque and Las Cruces (2nd). Santa Fe is politics and the "city different" for artists, celebs, and the rich. I have to agree with Deserterer...'gordo is a nice "pass through." BUT when I was asked 3 years ago in Scottsbluff NE: "well you've only been here 1 year, why are U leaving?" My reply: "I don't want to die here." People in the 'wagon trains' probably had the same answer. HaHa....Hi elko!
I have found a place that I enjoy living and working in, and this place is ripe for the takin.' There is more affordable variety here in housing that I've seen anywhere - and, in my medical career, I've traveled all over the west and midwest.
I was raised in the Midwest. Been assigned in Texas, Mississippi, North Carolina, Georgia, New Mexico, Illinois, Thailand, the Philippines, Korea and Japan. I've spent the last 25 years in the Midwest again. Took trips to Florida, California, Colorado. Traveled through Washington state a couple of times, spent a month in Vegas, made stops in Oregon, Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska and Wyoming. Been to Alaska, part of Canada, stopped once in Germany and spent a month in Jordan.
I'm moving back to New Mexico because I want to. I'll be visiting again in a little over a month. But I want to make it permanent in a bit over a year. Specifically Alamogordo, because that's what I want.
Some people need ocean. Some people need lakes and trees. Some people need other things, like big cities, or theme parks, or hunting. Everybody has the right to seek out what they like if the opportunity presents itself.
I know what I want. And I'm half glad not so many people want the same things I do because I'm not keen on overcrowding and slow crawls on highways.
You want a slow crawl on the highway? Head to Seattle, Washington, my birth place. I'm not only somewhat happier here in beautiful Alamogordo, NM, I am way, way happier living here. God Bless Alamogordo, New Mexico.
Tiebreaker, here: Ozzy Osbourne is a member of the Alamogordo Chamber of Commerce. He and son Jack paid Alamo a visit and loved the city so much that, while at the Chamber of Commerce, they made him a member!
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