[UPDATE 10/09/20: The above is, as far as I’m concerned, the proper courthouse for San Miguel County, but it wasn’t revealed to me until later. The photo below is what I got the first time…]
We are not impressed with this courthouse. Serviceable perhaps, but definitely missing that certain je ne sais quoi. Or, really, any je ne sais quoi. It doesn’t have style. It doesn’t have age. It doesn’t even have sheer brutality of function to it. It seems like someone tried to half ass all of them and the committee ended up agreeing on…this. I believe that the Abilene Paradox somehow reared its ugly head here. Then again, Abilene is a paradox…
This sort of central square, on the other hand, looks interesting. But not as interesting as…
…the cache location. You see, in the 1880’s, Las Vegas was the biggest town in the Territories and so a Victorian hotel was built to match its splendor. It has long since been overmatched by Albuquerque and Santa Fe, but the recently restored old lady waits to offer respite to the weary traveler or some kid of crap like that.
With lots of nooks and crannies where it could be, I despaired of getting out of here in a reasonable time. Then I noticed the hint: “Ask at the desk.” So I did. The lovely young lady at the front desk was happy to show me to the cache, which happened to be another part of the Santa Fe Trail Geotour. I signed and returned it, then ended up spending a few minutes explaining geocaching to her while a sudden rainburst (of course it was raining!) came and went. She told me geocaching reminded her of Cabinetlandia. As fate would have it, there’s a nearby cache so when I get to Deming, I might just head out there. The rain died down and time was counting down. After the nice distraction, she gave me a quick direction and timeframe for my next destination and I got back on the road, racing the setting sun. I knew I had one or two more courthouses before I was out of light and I needed to make them count. I flew with all haste until I got to…
Geocaching While Black 
That courthouse looks more like a jail
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Fun fact: I am LITERALLY in Las Vegas right now, and the building it’s connected to is the front an I got the wrong face! I’ll probably update it when I get home…
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