Las Cruces may be a small town but in our lives it's a b - i - g city. It is the crossroads where New Jersey meets California and the rest is as they say - history. What a long haired Spanish-speaking boy from New Jersey wanted was to go to college where there was a spanish influence and perhaps some pretty senoritas too, and so NMSU was his new temporary home. It was there where he found other long haired, motorcycle riding engineers to hang out and share the college experience with. On the west coast, a hispanic girl hoped to finish her tennis career at NMSU after a disappointing year at the rival University of Texas El-Paso. Happy to join the Aggie team, she lived on campus, practicing, studying, and enjoying the fruits of a full-ride scholarship. Her only friends were other athletes on the team and so she ventured often alone to the cafeteria for three meals a day. Decked out in t-shirts, shorts, tennis shoes, and a ponytail, fashion was clearly not her thing but developed leg muscles and dark skin showed many years of dedication to a sport played outside. Jersey boy noticed California girl in the cafeteria dining alone, and asked her to join him for breakfast. A bit taken aback and startled at first, she agrees and they get to know each other over eggs and cereal.
(Original cafeteria is gone, and the current one is under reconstruction. But this is the place!)
After breakfast NJ, in quite gentlemanly fashion, asks to walk CA to her class. She agrees and they head down the main walk to the Hershel Zohn theater for her first class, Introduction to Drama.
He proceeds to ask her out to the upcoming football game, but she declines as the thoughts, "I don't know you well enough" and "too much too soon" come to mind. They part and make no definite plans to get together again, but sharing the same cafeteria or crossroads will bring them together almost 3 times a day, and that was all it took.
New Mexico is known as The Land of Enchantment, and for Rob and I, I would say that is appropriate. Whether or not enchantment occurred at breakfast in the cafeteria or sometime later, love did blossom there and so NMSU and Las Cruces will forever be special to us. It's been about 12 years since we've been back, and returning with Sienna and Spenser was really neat. They both seemed genuinely excited to be on campus and find out where, when, and how mom and dad met, lived, and experienced college. Let's continue our trip down memory lane, shall we?
The bookstore is now affiliated with Barnes and Noble, which makes it look pretty fancy.
Of course we spent some too much money in there buying NMSU wear and vanilla bean frappucinos, but who knows when the next visit will be - so no need to leave empty handed. The bookstore used to be located in Corbett Center Student Union where we are pictured in the next photo, but improvements demanded a move and after seeing it, rightly so!
Sienna acted as photographer, and thought this tree made for a good backdrop.
Spenser and Rob are sitting in front of the old library, a hangout spot for Rob and his buddies to take a break and scope chicks. Tee hee! Rob could be found here often in his levi's and muscle tanks!
Can you find Spenser in the next picture?
A trip to campus wouldn't be complete without a visit to the tennis center. Of course the one I played at had been removed, replaced, and much improved, just like the bookstore. My coach Carlos set us up there to play one morning and we posed for a few pictures.
Everyone is decked out in their bookstore purchases! Carlos let us borrow rackets and balls so I could share NMSU tennis with the next generation. It was pretty hot so we didn't play for long, but both Sienna and Spenser were able to play with mom for a little bit. Here I am feeding balls to Spenser.
And here he is hitting one back.
Hard to believe that 20 years ago, this was my life!
But as one chapter closes, another one begins, and trading tennis for starting a family is one of the most rewarding parts of the book.
While in the Southwest, one must also soak in the southwest decor, play tourist, and buy stuff! This shop in Old Mesilla was awesome! As you can see, the size of the pots has no limit, and I was able to find blankets and pottery to take to the relatives in California. Score!
It was a fun trip down memory lane, which traveled to Las Cruces, New Mexico via New Jersey and California. Now that Sienna and Spenser have visited too, it's a memory we all can share!
