White Sands National Monument, Alamogordo, New Mexico

Located near the Holloman Air Force Base, White Sands looks like a beach in the middle of the Tularosa Basin surrounded by mountains, only there is no water. The sand is made from gypsum, which flows down from the mountains and is deposited in a lake on the western side of the basin.  As the water evaporates, the wind blows the gypsum across the land, eventually breaking it down into grains. 

Pistachio Tree Ranch, Alamogordo, New Mexico

The McGinn family started their 90 acre pistachio orchard in 1980. Today, the orchard contains over 12,500 trees. Fourteen acres of grapes are also grown at Pistachio Tree Ranch and 18 different varieties of wine are made at McGinn's Arena Blanca Winery on site. 

Deming, Luna, Mimbres Museum, Deming, New Mexico

We visited the Deming, Luna, Mimbres Museum here in Deming dedicated to the history of the town and Luna County, as well as the people of Mimbres. It houses early American memorabilia, along with other artifacts of the area. Deming was formed in 1881 when the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe Railroads came together. The next year the Harvey House was built and served as union station, restaurant and hotel.

Tombstone, Arizona

The town of Tombstone, Arizona is famous in history. This is where Wyatt, Virgil and Wyatt Earp with help from Doc Holliday, had a shoot out with Billy Clanton, and Tom and Frank McLaury.  This is the infamous "shoot out at the O.K. Corral." We always hear about the gun fight taking place at the O.K. Corral, but in reality the gun fight took place in the middle of town, even though people still spread the legend of it being in the corral. 

Saguaro National Park, Tucson, Arizona

The Saguaro Cactus are remarkable plants. Some are hundreds of years old; they grow very slowly and grow arms as they age. After 15 years a seedling may be only 12 inches tall. At about 30 years saguaros begin to flower and produce fruit. By 50 years it can be as tall as seven feet. After 75 years it may sprout its first branches, or arms. Branches begin as prickly balls, then extend out and upward. By 100 years the saguaro may reach 25 feet.

Caywood Farms Tour, Casa Grande, Arizona

Jim's brother gave us the suggestion to check out Caywood Farms.  So, I went on their website to find out what they were all about.  All I found out was that they were a cotton farm and did tours of their farm. I scheduled our tour for their opening day at 1:00 pm.  We were able to sign up and pay on line as well as sign our waiver, which was great - it saved a lot of time and everything was done by the time we got to the farm.  Nancy greeted us upon our arrival and welcomed us and the other tour members.  We went into a little rec room where she and her husband serenaded us with guitar and fiddle songs.  Afterwards, she opened up the power point presentation on her laptop and told us about the farm.

Cotton Field

Dwarf Car Museum, Maricopa, Arizona

The "Father of the Dwarf Car," Ernie Adams, hand-builds operational classic car replicas at 5/8 scale. It takes between one and five years to make one, and he builds them entirely by hand. They are fully street legal. You'll see finished and in-progress versions of these one-of-a-kind creations. The mini machines started as race cars meant as affordable alternatives to stock cars, and the "Dwarf Racer" circuit Adams created still exists today, but nowadays he only builds the sexy "cruisers." He never sells anything he builds, so don't even try to buy one. "I don't build things to make money," he said. "It's what I do to have something no one else has got. "Every day at 4:30pm is 'break time,'" when nearby friends and neighbors stop whatever they're doing to gather at the space and shoot the breeze; this is the best time to visit.