A Couple of Interesting Things I Learned While Shopping in Las Cruces

Friends know that I'm not much of a shopper.  Still, even I have found some interesting places to browse (and buy) while in Las Cruces.

Let's start with COAS Books.  This is a used bookstore, and has to be the largest one on earth.  Seriously, it takes several minutes to wind your way from the front of their downtown store (they have two locations) to the back even if you're not stopping to look at books.  It's amazing.  I could have spent days in this place, but ended up settling on three books on CD.  Aunt Susie insisted on paying for them, which at first I thought she was just doing to be hospitable.  The price to me would have been about $22 - a very good price.  But since Aunt Susie is a member, which means that she brings in her old books and has an account, she paid less than $3.  Yes, three dollars.  It's amazing.  Did I already say that it's amazing?  If I disappear while on my adventure, you might look for me at COAS Books.

Then there's San Saba Pecans.  (You may recall the name San Saba from my stay in Austin; San Saba County is a very good band.)  It's a pecan wholesaler and retailer; there's a sign in the front that says "If you've brought in pecans, wait here for your check."  I think it's kind of cool to be buying pecans in the same room where local farmers sell them.  (We saw acres and acres of pecan trees just southwest of town.  We also saw several cotton fields.  Where the water will come from for both of these endeavors is a very good question and it doesn't sound like anyone has a very good answer.  The Rio Grande, which is nearby, looks like this right now:

See the bridge in the background?  What goes under the bridge is the Rio Grande.  Right now, that is a combination of dirt and dust and grass and a very small amount of water trickling along one side.  We saw a guy walking on the riverbed today and his feet weren't getting any wetter than they would have been had he been walking along the road.)

But I digress.  Back to consumerism.

Saturday we also went to the market downtown.  In the summertime, this is either the largest or second largest market in the country.  In January, it was big enough for me and went on for several blocks, with a width of two to four vendors on each block.

This time of year there isn't much produce, of course.  To keep the market interesting and keep out the junk, Aunt Susie said that they have a rule that all products must be made in New Mexico.  This does prevent the garage sale atmosphere which can plague some farmers markets, and almost everything I saw was nice.  I bought a couple of beautiful rings:

I've got a real career as a hand model, don't you think?

Here's a product that you'll find nowhere else but New Mexico:

It tastes okay.  A little spicy for me at 10 in the morning, but probably would be better in the evening with a cold beer.  Everything in southern New Mexico is about green chilis, although I haven't seen a green chili donut yet.  But I haven't gone looking for one, either.

Aunt Susie knew a guy named Randy who offered us a chocolate cookie baked in a solar oven.

The temperature in the oven is 325 degrees (it was about 45 degrees outside) and he said it takes about 20 minutes to bake them (they were fat cookies).  This is another thing you can do with 300 days of sun every year.

And lastly, I took the following picture just because I wanted to write the caption:



Hot Dog!

Get it?  But not to fear, friends of animals, it wasn't at all hot outside.  The weather has returned to seasonal, which is to say sunny and 60's.  Yes, it is perfect weather for shopping!