(07-21-2020 11:52 AM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  

(07-21-2020 08:36 AM)PojoaquePosse Wrote:  

(07-20-2020 06:49 PM)Trod0 Wrote:  

(07-20-2020 01:37 PM)PojoaquePosse Wrote:  

(07-20-2020 11:44 AM)NotANewbie Wrote:  Four hours I do on a whim. Seven to 10 hours I have to think about a little. Twelve or more I usually plan ahead.

Exactly. I drive to Las Vegas (8 hours), Phoenix (7) and Los Angeles (10-11) pretty regularly. My wife, on Mother's Day, wanted to do a day trip to Las Cruces (3) just to eat lunch and grab some custard. I've driven to Amarillo (4) and back in one day.

PoJo, where did you guys eat in Cruces? I’d assume it was Caliche's for custard?

Ding, ding, ding!! Yes, Caliche's for custard.

When I left Las Cruces for AZ, the place was called Scoopy's. I used to go to the one on Valley Drive. The building was a converted Blake's Lotaburger drive up. If I remember correctly, the owner had to change the name because there was already a franchise back east operating under that name. So, he changed it to avoid copy right infringement. But that place has been around for many years. I've been in AZ for over twenty years now. Before Caliche's (Scoopy's), I used to always stop by a Dairy Queen which used to be located on the corner of Valley Drive and the Avenida De Mesilla. My grandmother was partial to a pineapple sundaes when I would come visit her on Sundays. A good memory from back in my college days.

Anyway, from Las Cruces to Phoenix is about 6-7 hours by ground transit. By Air, its probably closer to 4 hours total; when you take into account travel time to El Paso, check-in time at the airport, and travel from the airport to lodging near GCU. GCU probably has the easiest travel in the WAC; being well placed for ground transport to CBU (approx. 5 hours), NMSU (approx. 6 hours), Dixie State (approx. 7 hours), and Utah Valley (approx. 10 hour). And, a short flight to all. The most difficult travel in the WAC is probably Seattle to UTRGV (Edinburg, TX); which requires at least a 6.5 hour flight time with one stop in Dallas before landing in McAllen, TX. Its a whole day of travel just for the team to get settled in. I can imagine a trip from Seattle to Stephenville might be just as difficult.

I don't remember Scoopy's or Caliche's from my time in LC. Even if it was there, I doubt I could afford it. But it is a family favorite now. My nephew, who graduated from NMSU about 5 years ago, turned us on to it.