Thoughts about New Mexico?
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That's great coatofarms :) Interested to hear more when you're ready.
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Thanks forum-friends :)
Will try to write about my first/second day after work later today. It felt like a lot. Maybe will be easy to write. I'll try to include pictures. Not sure how they look though lol. |
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Unless you got some kinda affinity for arid, desert climates, you probably won't like it.
The most stable weather anywhere I've been is in Southern California. Right balance of rarely getting too hot, and never gets too cold. I don't remember it ever dropping below about 45 degrees when I lived there, and that was considered a cold snap. I remember lots of 70F days during the middle of winter to early spring. And sunny. What I hate most about Southern California is the people. Otherwise nice area, scenery, climate. I remember we drove through a city called Needles, in California, and it was like 100F in the middle of the night. Pretty close to the Nevada, and Arizona borders. That's why I don't like desert climates. I remember stepping out of the car and was legitimately thinking WTF? It's pretty bizarre being that hot that late at night. Gotta be pretty hardcore to live there. I live in Needles California, COME AT ME BRO! Kinda hard. Last edited by MrSmiley21 on Feb 19, 2019, 6:30:58 PM
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The only thing I know about it the poverty there is incredible. :(
Censored.
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I prefer it over traditional Mexico
I dont see any any key!
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Ok. So I liked New Mexico a lot. I stayed one and a half days in Albuquerque. I then traveled north to Santa Fe. Stayed in Santa Fe overnight and half a day. Then traveled south to Socorro. Then went South to Las Cruces. 5 day trip including the day I arrived and the day I left. 3 full days.
The tourist/national parks I went to were Meow Wolf, Albuquerque's Old Town, Albuquerque's Sandia Peak Tramway, Albuquerque's PetroGlyph Museum, climbed the La Luz Trail over on Sandia Mountain. Also visited Santa Fe's downtown. National Parks I went to included Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge and White Sands National Monument. I spent the most time at White Sands. It was fun. In case you don't know, White Sands is a part of the desert where the sand is completely white. The "white sand" is not actually sand btw, it's gypsum. Pictures below. White Sands has a 5 mile looping trail. I was completely unprepared for the trip lol. I was wearing short sleeves and I had no goggles/glasses. The beginning of the 5 mile looping trail started out nicely. There was no wind and the sky was blue and clear. But about 1/4 into the hike, the wind was so bad and the gypsum was flying everywhere. You couldn't see shit in the distance. There were times when I thought I was going to be lost b/c I couldn't see the red trail markers. Luckily I found my way out. I had so much sand in my hair/clothes/boots everywhere! New Mexico is very pretty. The sunsets were gorgeous. I loved seeing the mountains in the distance. If you aren't a big nature person, I don't think New Mexico would appeal to you. If you are into hiking and national parks you will like New Mexico. I also really liked how New Mexico is well above sea level. The air feels different. I loved how Albuquerque is 5 to 6 thousand feet above sea level. Las Cruces is around 4 thosuand feet above sea level I think. Albuqerque, Santa Fe and Las Cruces all had a Planet Fitness. I spent 3 mornings in one of the differen't city's Planet Fitness gyms (I ate so much mexican food during the trip lol). Exercise definitely felt more strenuous. So yeah, the highlights of the trip IMO were the gorgeous surroundings and the high altitude. It was really easy to get a tan (I got kind of reddish/orange lol) which was cool. Everyone was very nice to me too. The locals I talked to were super chill and friendly. Now about the bad. There is a lot of places in New Mexico that are dirt poor. Seriously, a lot of the living quarters are literally shacks. Albuquerque also has a lot of crime. I was told the good part of Albuquerque is above Interstate 40 more or less. The bad part of Albuquerque is below Interstate 40 more or less. Also, I drive a Prius. So unless I want to stand-out and make myself a potential target, I would have to live somewhere in the good part of Albuquerque. Most NM automobiles I encountered were pick-up trucks or beaten-up cars. Especially in the smaller towns like Alamagordo. So will I move there? I actually really want to. But my extended family wants me to visit San Diego. Maybe I'm being unfair, but I have the impression they would rather visit me in Sand Diego than NM lol. Pictures of White Sands I took below. https://imgur.com/a/13ktD8y Last edited by coatofarms on Feb 20, 2019, 9:00:12 PM
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" I know it's subjective of course. But why do you hate the people? Do you have an opinion about San Diego and the area surrounding San Diego? I was thinking about visiting San Diego. Specifically, I would check out the coast-line/neighboring hiking trails/national parks. " You might like to vacation in NM Charan. Might be fun for you and your g/f. I had fun. It's a very pretty state. " Yes. Literally shacks in a lot of places. It was eye-opening to see how the other half of us lives. I intentionally took a round-away "country road" path to get to Socorro from Santa Fe. Passed by Willard and Mountaineer if I'm remembering the towns correctly. " Where did you stay? I stayed in Old Town. I liked the San Felipe Church. This was Valentine's Day when I was in Old Town. So the restaurant I ate that night had one musician singing and another musician playing a musical instrument lol. Did you like the mountains? I really liked driving around the city and seeing the mountains in the back-ground. I thought that was exciting. Like living in a western movie lol. " Good analysis. Agree with you on everything you said above. Even way south in Las Cruces it was like 32F in the early morning. The locals told me it is unusually cold. Artists and poor is not wrong. I'm not sure it's a stereotype. Artists b/c I went to Meow Wolf in Santa Fe lol. Meow Wolf started out poor, but now it is very successful.. it took me 1 1/2 hours in line to get into the building. Before this trip I had the impression Santa Fe was a rich person's town. Maybe b/c I stayed overnight in southern Santa Fe .. but southern Santa Fe driving in to downtown Santa Fe .. it was really poor. I went to a grocery store the night before in southern Santa Fe and there was a security guard and every aisle had a security camera warning-off potential offenders. It was off-putting because I didn't feel threatened driving around and wouldn't have known the area was dangerous if I didn't visit that particular grocery store. Last edited by coatofarms on Feb 20, 2019, 8:48:13 PM
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I visit Santa Fe a few times a year but all my time is spent outdoors. It's like rich hippy types and vacation homes with very little middle class in my experience. The sky is amazing and hiking out and finding old artifacts is fun. I found a woolly mammoth tooth last time i was there. It's to arid for me but a nice place to visit.
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A wolly mammoth tooth? That's something I'd treasure finding. Cool!
" I quoted your whole post because it's a new page coatofarms, and also enjoyable to read in its entirety. You went to so many Parks. The pictures are beautiful. The wilds are clearly important to you, and that's worth being near. Go where you want to live. Your family will adjust. I guess you could check out Sand Diego (was that intentional?) - they could pay for the expedition maybe. Last edited by erdelyii on Feb 21, 2019, 2:24:19 AM
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My family thinks San Diego has a lot more economic opportunity than NM. I don't even know if that's true. I'm not even sure what that means. Nor how it applies to me.
Note that I would be an educator in the K-12 system. I would think that b/c the NM public education system is ranked so low, the state's education system is bad/needs help, which would mean NM would have more opportunities for me. " Did you go to Meow Wolf? Last edited by coatofarms on Feb 21, 2019, 6:40:24 AM
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