I don't recall how many times I made this statement, but I uttered it numerous times this weekend in a state of pure disbelief....
How do people live here?
Or...
I would need to go on anti-depressants if I had to live here.
Or...
What do people DO here??
What is this place I speak of?
Alamogordo, New Mexico. Just Southwest of Roswell, NM...or north of El Paso, TX. I wonder what drew aliens to such a desolate and depressing part of our country back in 1947....
This is where my husband is living for 4-5 months, in a desolate & dark hotel room, learning how to fly his platform of the MQ-1. As he showed me around base, I did comment, "Well, if you crash, as least there's nothing to hit."
I am glad I chose to "sit this one out", and stay home (instead of accompanying him like I did to San Antonio). As I'm pretty sure I would have lost my mind, had I joined him.
Saturday night we decided to "hit the town". I was determined we would find a cute, eclectic little restaurant/bar to have cocktails and a good meal for a date night.
We drove up and down the street (yes, the street) for about 30 minutes, before we realized, "Yep. Applebee's it is!"
In fact, this "tour de Alamogordo" had us laughing until we were nearly in tears. I know this makes us sound kind of snooty, but there is just really NOTHING to do in this town. Not even a hole-in-the-wall dive bar! (Unless it's exclusive to Alamogordians only?!)
And I think I can say this with confidence. I grew up in small-town North Dakota. But there were still things to do. There were lakes and rivers. And Wahpeton, ND has it's share of unique eateries to satisfy the foodie's pallet.
Alamogordo has a desolate, barren desert, with missile fields and Applebee's, Buffalo Wild Wings, and a Kmart. They don't even have a Walmart. (I was surprised)
And .... wait for it....
They don't even have a Starbucks!! Unreal! I couldn't get over it. Ryan had to explain to me several times that, "There are some regions of the country where people just aren't willing to spend $5 on a cup of coffee, Abby....."
No wonder White Sands Missile Range exists in this area. Someone must have said, "Well, if things go array, we aren't losing much!"
I apologize to any native who loves this area that may be reading this, but really - I just feel sorry for you! I feel sorry for the stay-at-home wives who have to live here because their husband got stationed. What do they do during the day?!?! There's no running paths, I didn't see any parks, not even grass to play in.....Can't plant a garden! It's too dry & hot.
Now my rant has a point to it...and that point is that despite the fact that my husband I just spent a weekend in no-where-ville....it really didn't seem to bother us. In fact, we were quite content and had the most wonderful weekend. Which makes me smile, and reminds me why I married my best friend. I can be happy anywhere with him.
**I just couldn't not rant about this sad town...**
And Saturday morning he did take me out to the White Sands Missile Range to see the dunes - and it was pretty amazing. I will give them credit for that! Unfortunately, we couldn't hike or go sledding -as it as seriously like a snow storm! The winds were crazy, there were snow plows (except they plowed sand, not snow).
If you are ever driving cross country, and find yourself on I-10 going through Las Cruces, I suggest you pull off on Highway 70 and drove about 40 minutes off track to see this natural wonder.
(If time allows, of course). As it's pretty cool.
Despite my ranty review on Alamogordo as a whole, I had a really great weekend- and just valued every second that we got together. It was a simple weekend, but perfect. There is nothing like catching up on life face-to-face. Phone conversations and face-time just aren't the same!
Is there a town or region of the country/world that you could just never ever live in? I think I've found mine.
How do people live here?
Or...
I would need to go on anti-depressants if I had to live here.
Or...
What do people DO here??
What is this place I speak of?
Alamogordo, New Mexico. Just Southwest of Roswell, NM...or north of El Paso, TX. I wonder what drew aliens to such a desolate and depressing part of our country back in 1947....
This is where my husband is living for 4-5 months, in a desolate & dark hotel room, learning how to fly his platform of the MQ-1. As he showed me around base, I did comment, "Well, if you crash, as least there's nothing to hit."
I am glad I chose to "sit this one out", and stay home (instead of accompanying him like I did to San Antonio). As I'm pretty sure I would have lost my mind, had I joined him.
Saturday night we decided to "hit the town". I was determined we would find a cute, eclectic little restaurant/bar to have cocktails and a good meal for a date night.
We drove up and down the street (yes, the street) for about 30 minutes, before we realized, "Yep. Applebee's it is!"
In fact, this "tour de Alamogordo" had us laughing until we were nearly in tears. I know this makes us sound kind of snooty, but there is just really NOTHING to do in this town. Not even a hole-in-the-wall dive bar! (Unless it's exclusive to Alamogordians only?!)
And I think I can say this with confidence. I grew up in small-town North Dakota. But there were still things to do. There were lakes and rivers. And Wahpeton, ND has it's share of unique eateries to satisfy the foodie's pallet.
Alamogordo has a desolate, barren desert, with missile fields and Applebee's, Buffalo Wild Wings, and a Kmart. They don't even have a Walmart. (I was surprised)
And .... wait for it....
They don't even have a Starbucks!! Unreal! I couldn't get over it. Ryan had to explain to me several times that, "There are some regions of the country where people just aren't willing to spend $5 on a cup of coffee, Abby....."
No wonder White Sands Missile Range exists in this area. Someone must have said, "Well, if things go array, we aren't losing much!"
I apologize to any native who loves this area that may be reading this, but really - I just feel sorry for you! I feel sorry for the stay-at-home wives who have to live here because their husband got stationed. What do they do during the day?!?! There's no running paths, I didn't see any parks, not even grass to play in.....Can't plant a garden! It's too dry & hot.
Now my rant has a point to it...and that point is that despite the fact that my husband I just spent a weekend in no-where-ville....it really didn't seem to bother us. In fact, we were quite content and had the most wonderful weekend. Which makes me smile, and reminds me why I married my best friend. I can be happy anywhere with him.
**I just couldn't not rant about this sad town...**
And Saturday morning he did take me out to the White Sands Missile Range to see the dunes - and it was pretty amazing. I will give them credit for that! Unfortunately, we couldn't hike or go sledding -as it as seriously like a snow storm! The winds were crazy, there were snow plows (except they plowed sand, not snow).
If you are ever driving cross country, and find yourself on I-10 going through Las Cruces, I suggest you pull off on Highway 70 and drove about 40 minutes off track to see this natural wonder.
(If time allows, of course). As it's pretty cool.
It's almost hard to see the hills around me, because the wind was causing low visibility.
Below are pictures that my husband Ryan took the week before when he went out hiking. Much better visibility as you will notice.....
Despite my ranty review on Alamogordo as a whole, I had a really great weekend- and just valued every second that we got together. It was a simple weekend, but perfect. There is nothing like catching up on life face-to-face. Phone conversations and face-time just aren't the same!
Is there a town or region of the country/world that you could just never ever live in? I think I've found mine.
Comments
I loved seeing the white sands, though. I thought it was stunningly beautiful and my photos just didn't do it justice. It was so cool. So I am glad you had the chance to see that but it's too bad it was so windy!