Buddy Holly Experience

During our travels in April, 2016 we found ourselves in Lubbock, Texas...birth place of Buddy Holly.

We spent some time at the Buddy Holly Center which features a permanent exhibit on the life and music of Buddy Holly. 

Personal collections from his family tell about his early life: born September 7 1936 in Lubbock, Texas Charles Hardin Holley (nicknamed Buddy) was the youngest of four children. Musical talent ran in the family, and the children were encouraged to play. 

In junior high (1949) Buddy and a friend Bob Montgomery formed a band and played for local events.  In 1955 Buddy was offered a recording contract with Decca Records in Nashville, but most of his recording was done in Clovis, New Mexico.  Norman and Vi Petty Recording studio helped develop the sounds and talents of the Crickets and Buddy Holly.  As a side trip, we drove to Clovis and toured the Norman and Vi Petty Rock & Roll Museum, and drove by the recording studio building.  

His career was cut short when a plane crash in 1959 near Clear Lake, Iowa took Buddy's life.  We saw his gravesite in Lubbock.

White Sands and Pistachios

From Deming we set up camp in Alamogordo, NM.  We spent one day exploring White Sands National Monument.  Located in the Chihuahuan Desert of Southern New Mexico, White Sands National Monument is the world's largest gypsum dune field, covering 275 square miles.  Layers of gypsum buried in the surrounding mountains are eroded by wind, rain, and snow and deposited into a shallow lake bed. Crystals form as the water evaporates; the crystals are broken smaller and smaller by strong south west winds.  The winds blow the crystals into dunes, which are continually shifting. In this stark white environment native lizards and mice have evolved lighter body colors, to protect them from predators.

Touring a pistachio farm was another agenda item.  We learned New Mexico is 2nd largest producer of pistachios in the US.  Our guide showed us both male and female trees, and we observed new nuts just starting to form.  We learned how the nuts are harvested (by shaking the tree), sorted, stored, and roasted. And, we were able to sample and purchase some of the tasty treats before we left for the day.

City of Rocks State Park New Mexico

From Deming, NM we drove to City of Rocks State Park.  The rocks forming City of Rocks were produced by a very large volcanic eruption that occurred millions of years ago.  During this violent eruption large volumes of ash and pumice were deposited on the earth surface.  This would have been followed by a hot molten layer that welded the ash and pumice into dense rock.  Over time cooling caused long perpendicular cracks to occur.  These cracks widen with erosion processes such as freeze-thaw and wind, along with roots of vegetation that eventually grew in the cracks. 

 The end result are the large pillar-shaped rocks that appear to jump up from the surrounding desert floor.