Seniors Visit The Tularosa Basin

The Tularosa Basin in southern New Mexico is full of cultural history and is part of the White Sands National Monument. Seniors driving through New Mexico will find The Basin is in the Chihuahuan Desert, east of the Rio Grande River.

From about 7 miles north of the New Mexico-Texas border, the Tularosa Basin is a closed basin that extends 170 miles northward. The nearby city of Tularosa has a population of just over 3,000.

 Senior Oenophiles Enjoy Historic Grape Stock

Senior oenophiles, I counted eight wineries in the Basin. In the early 1500’s the first Spanish explorers and settlers, brought their European wine grapes with them as they settled into the sunny and lush Rio Grande River valley. These initial grape stocks remain the source of many of New Mexico’s vineyards today.

Wine making started in the 1580’s, by missionary priests producing sacramental wines. The rebirth of the New Mexico wine industry began in the late 1970’s and is showing an increase. Today New Mexico now has over 50 wineries, which produce almost 350,000 gallons of wine a year with over 5,000 acres under cultivation.

And for you “rock jocks,” as we called them in college, here is a pdf file with tons of geological specs. https://pubs.usgs.gov/wsp/0343/report.pdf.  And senior historians, you will find the The Alamogordo Museum of History, formerly the Tularosa Basin Historical Society Museum, housing a fine collection of historical photographs, documents, and relics from Otero County. The museum is in Alamogordo and is owned and operated by the Tularosa Basin Historical Society.

Research, Wine & Music And Balloons

For you “aqua fiends,” The Brackish Groundwater National Desalination Research Facility is nearby.  The Center provides state-of-the-art research facilities for researchers involved in desalination research studies, pilot-scale projects and small demonstration projects. You may find this site of interest.

Mark your calendar for the upcoming Tularosa Basin Wine & Music Fest held in Alameda Park in Alamogordo,  celebrating its 8th year on September 20-21 from noon till 5 p.m. The combined Rotary clubs of the area come together to promote New Mexico’s historic wine industry, showcasing the best of the state’s wines, along with local and regional artists and live music all day.

This event takes place concurrently with the White Sands Balloon Invitational (this is a biggie), drawing pilots and crews, along with balloon enthusiasts from around the state, to Alamogordo. Sounds like a fun time to me. How about you?

So come on down to White Sands and check out the Basin for yourself.  Senior visitors will find New Mexico a place of interesting sites, history and for you gourmets…lots of super local food dishes.  jeb