Arriving in Las Cruces

We left Belize, Central America and flew to Dallas, TX. When we left Belize it was a balmy eighty degrees. When we arrived in Dallas it was in the low forties. Going through customs with three large suit cases and a dog was no problem except we had to give up the small supply of dry dog food that Diane had brought along. The agents were extremely helpful and even helped us get all of our stuff out of the terminal. Our travel plans included renting a car in Dallas, staying in a Fort Worth Motel, and then driving to Las Cruces, NM the next day. We started early the next day on our drive through the state of Texas. The seventy and eighty mile per hour speed limits on the highways enabled us to make the trip faster then we planned.

When we left Belize, we could not take everything. A lot of our belongings had to be sold, including our new diesel pickup that we had bought in Belize. We did ship some of our personal items from Belize to Las Cruces. These items arrived about two weeks after we arrived and I had to arrange for them to go through customs in El Paso. We have been very busy buying things like a car, furniture, dishes, pot and pans, etc. We love shopping in American stores. We decided to rent for six months before buying, as that would give us time to learn about the community and look for a house. We live in a modern town home (with a yard). It also has a pool and exercise facility.

We are finding the people to be extremely friendly and helpful. The weather is perfect. Today's weather forecast is Low 55, High 79, Humidity 5%, Sunny. We have found some really good Mexican restaurants. "La Posta" is about the best and very reasonable. The area, being a desert, is nothing like the lush green of the Belize rain forest. We have been here for nearly a month and a half and it hasn't rained yet. The trees are starting to get leaves and I assume it will get somewhat green in some places.

Casey and I have been going for long walks in a very large nearby field that has bushes, cactus, a few trees. We have seen quite a few really big rabbits as well as roadrunners. So far we have gone in the afternoon. I know with the approach of summer and very high temperatures, we will have to take our walks in the early mornings.

Here are some pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jmadeira/LasCruces/photo?authkey=IZVgYmYc5fk#s5175766904878296562