On the way back from the White Sands EPMINIS rally, I stopped to take a few pics of some old buildings in Old Organ on the outskirts of Las Cruces, along Highway 70:

The first set of buildings look to be part of some old motor lodge.  It had an attached restaurant that invited visitors with its selection of Sandwiches, Lunches, Beer and Dinners.

The old sign is still visible from the highway though I had a hard time making out what it said:

It most likely was Organ Mountain Lodge, with the O and R having fallen off long ago.  It was pretty overgrown and thick with weeds, locusts and large grasshoppers.

Every building has been broken into and has been subject to the elements for quite some time.  After walking around the property I headed over to a old gas station across the street.  It had pretty much the same story going on as the lodge, boarded up long ago and currently being used as storage.

 We were pretty burnt from the full day at whitesands so we hit the road.

More pics are here: Old Organ

Sunday was rally day for the EPMINIS and the day’s rally was set for White Sands New Mexico.  After 3 three days of rain it was nice to get out and enjoy the break from the bleakness.

The group met at the Starbucks at Redd Road and after a quick trip update, we were on the way.

There was quite a turnout from the El Paso crowd as well as some MINI motorists from New Mexico.  After a brief stop and Micky D’s on Highway 70 in Las Cruises Cruces it was a high speed burn out to the monument.  There had been reports that because of the rain we wouldn’t  be able to drive in far but the weather had turned in our favor and the road in was open.

There was some sledding:

and sliding:

Via marisoldiaz79 @ Instagram

There was plenty of great photo opportunities and the MINIs all lined up are always quite a show. After a couple of hours it was time to motor.

On our way back, we had a bit of a MINI excursion on our own. We stopped at a few old buildings on the outskirts of Las Cruces and I wandered around for some pics:

Here’s a full flickr set of the days activities: EPMINIS @ White Sands

Also check out the EPMINIS page for a feed of pics from other members of the group: EPMINIS