First Visit to the Mountains

Today we made our first trip into the eastern mountains of the Tularosa Basin, where the city of Alamogordo, NM  resides.  The Sacramento Mountains, is also home to the Lincoln National Forest (http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/lincoln/) which is quite a treat to be able to live in a high desert environment and then 20 minutes later you find yourself in a Pine Forest.  Below is a map of Southwestern New Mexico.  We live in Alamogordo, and Holloman AFB is just 7 miles south east of the town.  Today we went to Cloudcroft, which sits at 8,600 feet, which is around, 4,200 feet of elevation change from Alamogordo.

Here is the Cloudcroft Hotel, just one of the sites around this small mountain town...

Cigars or yogurt smoothie...I will take the smoothie!

Dancing at the Jukebox.

Driving down the mountain...nice view, unfortunately you cannot see the "gypsum"storm that was brewing over the White Sands.

Not today, but thought this was neat.  Thunderstorm building over the Sacramento Mountains looking from our temporary lodging.