Do you or your student know about the NMSU Chile Pepper Institute? How about the Prehistoric Trackways National Monument? Well if you don’t, today is your lucky day.
The Chile Pepper Institute, established in 1992, is a hidden gem on campus that not many people know about. It is dedicated to its research on chile peppers and if you were to go to the museum and gift shop you can learn some cool facts about chile, and the research being done there. It is also the only international, non-profit organization devoted to chile peppers, so we are very proud to have it on our campus. Although due to COVID-19, it does have its doors closed, we can only wait until they open their doors again to get the full experience. However, they do have an online shop that sells a variety of chile themed goods from seeds to brownies as well as some virtual tours and demos. You can access it all on their website at cpi.nmsu.edu and to go directly to their shop you can go to chile.nmsu.edu.
The Prehistoric Trackways National Monument is something I didn’t know about until I was looking for things to do around Las Cruces during quarantine and since hiking is a big thing here, this place was perfect to go with friends for a great workout and adventure. It was established in 2009 to conserve and protect the land that has so much to offer. Whether you are here in Las Cruces or not, putting this on your to-do list won’t be a bad choice. You can go with your student as a family trip/hike or tell your student about it if you think it’ll interest them so that they could go with their friends. Or just go by yourself or with a loved one to take some time to take in nature. When I go on hikes with friends, I tell my family all about what I did, and when they come to Las Cruces to visit me, we try to tackle some of the trails I have gone on. If you or you know others who might be interested here is more information about it and the directions on how to get there: https://www.blm.gov/visit/ptnm.
Happy Friday, Happy early Valentine’s Day, and I hope you and your students had a great week and 3-day weekend.
