ALAMOGORDO PISTACHIO NUT ORCHARD 2/14/11

We stayed Saturday night in a church parking lot and then went to church there Sunday morning.  We sure love going to church in different wards each Sunday.  We get to see the church in action in all the different communities and seehow stable the world wide church is.  Though we may be in a different place each Sunday, we are always home and it is all run the same.  There is comfort in uniformity.
Sunday, after church and lunch, we pulled our rig to the Wal-Mart parking lot and set up for a relaxing Sunday afternoon and evening.  We stayed the night there too.
Monday morning we did some errands, then drove north of town to tour a Pistachio Orchard and processing plant. 

 We got there a little early for the scheduled tour, so we set up near a wonderful covered picnic area and had lunch.  They were remodeling the inside of the visitors center there and Wayne got to spend quite some time with the tile layers that were laying a beautiful pattern.  Wayne now can't wait to lay some more tile!

 Then Wayne, always looking for new trucks to haul our trailer with, found one that he wanted to try.  But, the owners would not trade!

 As we toured the processing plant, we saw some of the workers as they helped the processing.  These ladies sit here 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, picking out and sorting pistachio nut meats.  There were many thoughts that ran through our minds as we watched them work.

 Part of the plant.  It was a fascinating tour.  We love seeing how things work in different parts of the country.  Did you know that pistachio trees are really a bush and that they come from Iran and that area of the world.  They only grow in 3 places in the USA!  They are a desert plant.

After the tour, we drove Northeast towards Lincoln, NM.