New Mexico's weather changes on a dime. We arrived in a bit of hailstorm, so that should have been our clue I guess. All evening the clouds around us were darkening and we had Weather Alerts scrolling across the television. We had lightning and thunder, a bit of wind, so Gary got the radio set up. About 4:15AM we received the first alert - woke us both up - and almost immediately the storm was upon us. The skies opened and the rain and hail were upon us. I was a bit shook up (to say the least) but they had kept saying all evening there was a low level of risk for a tornado, and the wind wasn't too bad. It was just a "severe" thunderstorm. So I hunkered down in bed and watched from my bedroom window and listened to the plummeting we were getting. Gary had gotten up and listened to the radio, checked his phone weather apps and then just didn't come back to bed. Here he was sitting up front in the passenger seat with the front shade open and watching the skies - in his underwear! Yikes! I would have thought if he was really considering that we might have to leave the MoHo, he may have put his jeans on but no. He came back to bed and we got another alert on the radio. Another severe thunderstorm with large hail in the area. The registration desk at the RV Park told me in case of severe weather we could shelter in the interior portions of the clubhouse. I didn't see a soul out and about or headed that way, so we sat it out. But like I said wind was not a factor and that would really be the big issue for us. The hail may break the air conditioning shrouds or the skylight in the bathroom but as far as we know no damage.
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| This is the aftermath, lots of puddles |
So when we finally got up this morning we had planned to head towards Las Cruces and visit the Old Mesilla Village. So we got ready, tried a local place for breakfast (not so good) and headed east on Interstate 10. Well the clouds along the way were incredible and of course I had Gary snapping away.
We found the plaza of the old village and started walking and exploring. The dark clouds started rolling in. We ducked into a fantastic Mexican restaurant in Old Town, La Posta. Really pretty great food. It had started to sprinkle a bit as we left the restaurant so we ducked into a pottery shop (where the potter herself was) and did some shopping and chatting. We left there and it was sprinkling a little bit more. We entered our address in GPS and headed out to the interstate - O M G! The heavens opened up, the hail was tremendous, pounding on our roof, bouncing off the windows. It was probably for me the worst weather I have had to drive in. Semis were pulling over to the side and I quickly realized how slippery the interstate had become with all the hail on it. I was not inclined to stop on the side of the road, my thought was to just get the heck out of there and hopefully out of the storm's path. Within less than 5 miles we were out of the worst of it. Phew! No bueno.
So here we are, safe and dry, inside but we are under a severe thunderstorm warning again! Honestly I can't complain. We have had fantastic luck with the weather this whole trip. We don't leave here until Friday and we will be heading west, so hopefully we will miss any more of the nasty stuff.
So here are some pics of Old Mesilla, quaint little village, established in 1838. Mesilla was a stage stop for the Butterfield line that ran from St. Louis to San Diego from 1858 to 1862.
Billy the Kid also stood trial in Mesilla and that building, the jail/courthouse, is now a souvenir shop. The restaurant we ate in was the oldest building in Mesilla.
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