Aug. 27 & 28

Tuesday - up early, Ginger was leaving to go to a cousin reunion in Nebraska & Winston had things to do.  We packed up & moved back to the motorhome at the ranch.  Watched Winston working his horse and 2 buffalo he has there.  We went through our mail, Katie had mailed us the first package of things that had accumulated since we left.  Then off for a hike.  Winston directed us to go up the forest road and then hike further up.  We parked the car at a wide part of the road (it was mostly one lane otherwise) and hiked up the road.  The trees in that area had burned last year in the forest fires, but the new undergrowth was a beautiful green.  We watched carefully for snakes, elk, wild pigs and bear - but did not see any.  I guess that is a good thing.  Toward the top we stopped and watched logging trucks taking out some of the burned trees.  Hard to believe those semis were going to take their loads of logs down the narrow, rough road we had come up.  It was a good workout for us and beautiful to see.  Back home we sat outside and enjoyed the day.  Gary washed off the motorhome, it got pretty dirty driving in on the rainy day.  Winston came & we drove in to Ruidoso for supper.


Wednesday - the weather report when we woke up talked about rain and a flash flood warning for the area for today and the next.  We decided it would be best to move to firmer ground & roads, so packed up and moved in to the Mama Bear RV park in Capitan.  This area was the birthplace of Smokey the Bear, the museum was across the street.  We drove back to Ruidoso for shopping, I ended up finding a dress for the October wedding at Bealls there.  Why is it you find the best things when you really aren't looking for them?  So that's done.  Then we found the Dancing Waters Winery & Cheese Store.  Yum!  Asadero Cheese, used best with Mexican dishes, but good by itself.  The Breckenridge men would like it.  Ended with a treat & munchies at Grace O'Malley's Pub.  Returned to the motorhome, Gary had a RV Inspector webinar to listen to and I did laundry.  Turned out it did not rain all day or night.

Aug. 25 & 26

Sunday - we went in to Capitan for 8:30 Mass.  A small parish, but very friendly. Six different people invited us to join them for coffee & cake, so we went and visited.  Then we went to the ranch to the motorhome to get the Peppers & Shells recipe and to Ruidoso to get the groceries.  Back to Ginger's house, took naps, then sat on the front porch and visited.  Ginger took Gary behind their home where there is a cemetery.  Some of the grave stones were for Civil War soldiers, the 1st Mexican Calvary..  Ginger gave me the tour of their home, a beautiful adobe style with 5 bedrooms, great kitchen and more.  She is a fabulous decorator!  Gary started cooking and we all enjoyed watching him and enjoying good wine.  Gary shared his Grappa, found another follower - Winston liked it.

Ginger & Winston's home

View from their front patio

Monday - Going sightseeing today.  Had breakfast at the ranch in the motorhome.  Beautiful scenery there too.  Drove south to Ruidoso, then took #244 through the reservation UP to Cloudcroft.  A quiet road with gorgeous meadows and mountains.  We went way up in elevation on windy mountain roads.  Then back down to Alamagordo to the Museum of Space History.  Did I ever tell you I married an astronaut want to be?  He loved it and knew all the names of the astronauts and spaceships displayed there.   Saw a real roadrunner in the parking lot that day.
Then we drove up to Tularosa and found the Tularosa Winery.  They grow Mission grapes there to make wine, these grapes were brought over by the Spaniards and grown by the monasteries.  Their Mission red wine is very nice.  We visited with the owner who had been stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base and retired from there in 1976, moved to Tularosa and started making wine.  Then back to the house, Winston and Ginger made us their specialty, Red Chili Enchiladas - yum.

Meadow on Hwy # 244

Looking down at Alamagordo, White Sands Nat'l Park is the yellow in the background.

Aug. 23 & 24

Friday AM - pull the slides in, hook up the car and leave Santa Fe.  We headed southwest on Hwy 285, destination Lincoln, NM to visit my cousin Ginger and her husband, Winston.  Ginger advised us to fill up with gas at Corona, then we drove on to Carrizozo, where we unhooked the car before heading up the mountain grades to reach the ranch.  As we drove through Nogal it started raining hard.  Winston met us and led us on the 3 miles of gravel/dirt roads to the ranch, where we were parking the motorhome.  They were solid roads & luckily not slippery from the rain.  They have a hookup pad at the ranch for motorhomes/campers.
Their lovely home is about 20 miles from the ranch, so we packed overnight bags so we could stay with them for a couple days.  (Night driving is challenging there with the deer & elk crossings).  We had a great evening together getting caught up.   The mountain ranges are beautiful here.

Saturday - a cloudy day with more rain predicted.  We all slept in and then headed to Ruidoso for the day.  The skies opened up and it rained hard, somewhat flooding the streets there.  Destination, Ruidoso Downs for the horse races.  I had never been to them, so another first in my world.  It kept raining, I felt sorry for the horses & their jockeys.  We did see several times when the horses slipped & bumped each other, luckily no accidents.  Gary & I were lucky betting several times and walked out a little ahead, that was a nice change. We had a great time and a lot of laughs.  We stopped for supper at the Cattleman's Steakhouse, then went back to the house for more wine & fun.

Aug. 22, Thursday

Our last full day in Santa Fe!  Ran some laundry and started packing up for traveling mode.  We went downtown for lunch to join my cousin, Ginger and her friend Jo.  Ben joined us for a short time, he had to be out at the opera for his exit interview and house audition (to possibly be chosen for next year's program).  We stopped by St. Miguel Church, the oldest church building in the US, then ran a few more pre-departure errands for supplies.
Ben, Lacey and Samantha joined us at the motorhome for Happy Hour before their evening commitments.  Ben stayed for supper (we grilled our last package of walleye) and then stayed to play a rousing game of Progressive Rummy!  Just like the good old days, once again the Queen of the house was victorious.    Santa Fe has been Awesome!

Aug. 20 & 21

Tuesday - a slower day.  I went to the dentist to find out why my new crown is sensitive and then some shopping errands.  Gary worked on projects and experienced the heavy rain storm that came through.

Wednesday - we went to the 9:00 AM opera house tour given by volunteers at the opera. santafeopera.org. Very informative, we would recommend it if you have any interest in what goes on back stage for the performers, costumers, set movements, tech people, etc.  They also told us the history of the Opera House & the area.  Then we went downtown and toured the Loretta Chapel. Very interesting.  lorettochapel.com/history.html.   Had lunch on the deck of the Marble Brewing company, which overlooks the square.  Great pizza!
Then we came across The Big 5 Sporting Goods store.  Score!  We each found shoes for our Amazon job, a hydration bag, walking stick and water bottle.  Great prices too.  Home for a nap, (we can do that now) and then enjoyed a nice evening on the patio.

Another beautiful evening!

Aug. 18 & 19

Sunday - picked up Ben & Kelsey.  A sad day, Kelsey has to go home.  Took her to ABQ to the airport, her flight was at noon.  We drove back to Santa Fe on the "Turquoise Trail" Hwy 14, a scenic drive.   Went to the motorhome and had lunch.  Ben taught us how to play cribbage, it will be a good game for the two of us.  Gary took Ben home & stopped for supplies for setting up the computer desk.  We went to 5:30 Mass at Santa Maria de la Paz.  It was the youth led Mass and another great homily by the priest there.  Came home, Face Timed with the grandsons and saw another beautiful sunset.

Monday - picked Ben up early & headed to the Kasha-Katuew Tent Rocks National Monument for a hike.  We did the Canyon Trail, a 1.5 mile one way hike through narrow rock openings on the way to the top.  Amazing rock formations, many with "tent-like" tops.   It was warm and a climb with increasing altitude - the boys were fine but I struggled a little with my breathing and racing heart.  But, I made it!   Again, amazing beauty.   As we started down we ran into several groups of junior high kids headed up and before we were halfway down some of them were jumping & running back down.  There were a lot of places with slippery footing on the rocks, but they just jumped and slid as they RAN down.  Oh to be young and fearless.  We took a lot of pictures, every turn was fascinating.  We highly recommend it.
There were storm clouds rolling in, so we finished the hike and headed to town.   Ate lunch at Los Amigos with Ben and then took him home to prepare for the evening opera.  
That night we headed to the Opera House again.  We weren't sure we would get to tailgate, there were rain clouds filling the sky.  When we arrived, we could see it had rained there already, but was ending with a few sprinkles.  We tailgated again in the car and watched the many groups of experienced tailgaters.  The opera this evening was La Dona del Lago with Joyce DiDonato leading.  She and the other principals did an outstanding job, we knew we had experienced a true professional opera and enjoyed every minute. Ben had many appearances in the chorus, wearing kilts with armour and blood.  We went back stage to see him and congratulate them all.  We saw Miss DiDonato and he said we had missed seeing Robert Redford - darn!

Aug. 17, Saturday

Up early to clean my house, company is coming!  The Arizona family arrived, Dan & Connie, Deb & Joe.  We sat outside & enjoyed the cool breeze on our patio and enjoyed our view of the mountains and machinery.  For lunch we met Ben & Kelsey at the Second Street Brewery.  Sat outside on the patio (we love eating outside so often) and had a great visit.  We all went downtown for the "Indian Market", the largest event in Santa Fe every year.  Native American artists and jewelers only can bring their products to sell and to win the best of show awards.  Thousands of booths and people, we saw beautiful art, jewelry, pottery, sculptures and more.
Ben & Kelsey went to join friends and the 3 brothers and we "outlaws" headed out of town to explore.      We were all able to fit in our car so we had time to visit and a lot of laughs.
First stop (after a few loops trying to find the entrance), the Don Quixote Winery & Distillery.  They make wines, vodka, port, brandy & Grappa!  We were joined at the tasting bar by girls having a bachelorette party - they had started at 10:00 am!  Gary was thrilled to find a new bottle of Grappa.
Next stop the Estrella Winery,  very picturesque place.  They had some great wines, their signature was "Holy Mole"' a nice red wine.  We took some fun pictures there.  Then on to Chimayo again, unfortunately we got there just as they closed for the day, but we walked around the grounds to see the outdoor shrines & exhibits.  Joe left his "Live like Mike" wristband on one of the crosses, special prayers for Mike and all of us.
Then we went to the opera grounds to pick up Kelsey.  Ben was performing that night, so she was able to join us for supper.  We took the group to the Tesuque Market we had discovered earlier in the week.  We had a great dinner sitting outside on the deck, a beautiful night.  We dropped Kelsey back off at the opera to join Ben & then took our guests home to their hotel.  They were going to get up early for 7:30 Mass & then head home, so we said our goodbyes, until we see them for Dan & Connie's wedding in October.

At Chimayo

The "Outlaws"

3 Handsome Men