Nuthin' Much

I don't even know why I'm posting today...maybe it's out of a little extra energy and time I have at this moment. First of all, I want to thank you, my friends, for all your prayers for my lovely friend, Anne. I will say this much, they're working, so keep them coming!

My honey surprised me with a weekend getaway, starting tomorrow. We're driving up to Ruidoso, NM and staying at the Mescalero Indian resort, Inn of the Mountain Gods. We're leaving tomorrow morning and will return Tues. I mentioned to him earlier in the summer that we both have taken many trips, usually to visit kids and grandkids, him to Houston, and me in Austin. We hadn't taken any trips together since Sept. of '10 when we went to Chicago to visit his daughter and her family; again, kids and grandkids. So I asked him when we could get out together, just the two of us, no kids, no grandkids, no relatives at all!! Since money is tight, and when isn't it, he made reservations at the Inn for weekdays, better prices.

I then received an email from my bud in Austin that she and her hubby were coming to El Paso and then going to Ruidoso at the same time we would be. It's her hubby's birthday and he wants to celebrate it at the Inn. Today, she and her hubby, cousin, cousin's hubby and best buddy took off and will be staying at the Holiday Inn this evening. Tomorrow, the buddy and relatives will be returning to El Paso, but they will be checking in at the Inn Sunday afternoon; we'll probably meet up with the whole gang for lunch somewhere in town tomorrow and do a bit of shopping, or in my case, lots of window shopping. Personally, I would love to have lunch in Alamagordo, NM, on the way up, at Blakes...chile cheeseburger and fries....oh hell, just yummers!! Chile in these parts aren't the stew, with hamburger meat and beans, but beautiful NM long greens, roasted and served with just about everything. Anyway, later on we're planning on having drinks, dinner, drinks, do a little gambling, drinks, chatting, drinks, well, ya get the picture.

The first time I went to the Inn, I was pregnant with my first child, Joel, who is now 35...do the math. I was about 7 months along and my sister had come in from CA and spent almost a month with us. My parents, 2 brothers, sister and I went up for a nice weekend. That first night, the electricity died and they were serving all kinds of free goodies downstairs in the dining room....I recall sending my little brother several times for some desserts...well, lots of desserts. The next day, they all went on a canoe ride...my dad didn't let me go along due to my condition...like I couldn't swim in my condition?? LOL He was just concerned....that was my Pops. The second evening, I asked my sister, who I was rooming with, why she was sleeping with her camera tripod...she said it was to protect us from Sasquatch!!!! We were on the 3rd floor...unless Sasquatch was half-spider or fly, don't think we had much to worry about!!

This is a photo of the sculpture in the front of the Inn...it's a group of Katchinas or as my daughter said when she was a little thang, cochinos...means, "dirty or pigs" in Spanish. We were at the gift shop in the Grand Canyon when she was about 20 months, remembering freezing are areses off because we camped it. Anyway, I had spotted some beautiful Hopi Indian Katchina Dolls, the real deal, and they were still at very affordable prices back in 1980, so I asked her if she wanted one for her doll collection...her reply was, "No, I don't like those cochino dolls!" My daughter began walking and talking at nine months and hasn't shut up since!! A year before, we were traveling back to El Paso after spending 3 years in Stuttgart, W. Germany, it was still West back in those days. We were at the Cracker Barrel, or something like it, in GA, and I she had just turned a year. I was carrying her on my back in a baby back pack and I showed her what is now the original Cabbage Patch dolls, hand-made. She said they were ugly, and I had to agree, but it was an original, hand-made and only for a few dollars....OY....pulling my hair out. Why I gave the 4 thousand year midget so many choices is beyond me!!

This is a photo of the large water fountain at the Inn. Wish I could find a photo of the fireplace...it's gorgeous! In the background are the Sacramento Mountains and Sierra Blanca, meaning "white mountain"...beautiful.


Below is a crappy picture of Burro Street in Cloudcroft, NM. I know the orgiginal structures burned down a couple of years ago, but the whole area was rebuilt. Cloudcroft, which I truly love more than Ruidoso, is a very quiet, quaint little town also nestled in the Sacramentos and just about an hour away from Ruidoso. We'll take the old road from Ruidoso and travel to Cloudcroft for an afternoon...maybe stop by the local grocery store for freshly made bread and pies and stop and do a bit of shopping or window shopping...lots of artists live in the area and have set up shops up there.



One of the other spectacular areas in NM is the White Sands National Park. It was always a destination for us as children, but only in the Spring, Fall and Winter...the sand is too hot to walk on during the summer. Unfortunately, the dessert is encroaching on it, so the dunes are slowly disappearing. I won't see that in my lifetime, but perhaps my great-grands.



Another spectacular view is the one from White Sands up towards Sierra Blanca in Ruidoso.

That's the snow covered peak, and the other white stuff below is the gypsum sand from the park. As you travel up the mountains to either Cloudcroft or Ruidoso, the view below is amazing...you're in this beautiful pine forest and just a few feet below, is the desert and the view of White Sands.

Ok, folks, hope you enjoyed my mini-tour of one of the most beautiful places in this country....world! I love NM and wish I lived there, but I'll settle for far West TX, almost in NM, since it is where I was born and lay my head each night. Peace out.