Originally we planned on going north into Colorado but oncoming polar vortex gave us pause. The weather forecast for the next ten days called for subfreezing temperatures almost everywhere on the northern route. We made a decision to take the southern route home to avoid as much of the cold as we could. We continued southeast on I-10 and reached Las Cruces late Tuesday afternoon and set up in an RV park about a mile from Mesilla, a quaint historic town just outside Las Cruces. It is low key with southwest architecture, a few restaurants and a winery. The historic plaza is its center.

A local priest bakes banana breads which are sold to raise money for his drug and alcohol treatment program. Gabriel, below, is one of his messengers.