Blogs from Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico, United States, North America

We had a quiet day. We hit a few flea markets and thrift stores, then took a ride thru the Upper Canyon. We came back to camp early to get our contribution to tonight's meal ready. It was so cool this morning that we turned on the heater for a short time this AM to knock the chill out of the motorhome. We might not of needed it ourselves, but we knew that it would be too cool for Walter & Thelma. We hadn't tested the heater yet. So, it was a good test. It really warmed it up in here in a hurry. We are just so pleased with our Seneca. We haven't regretted our choice for even a moment. OCS group had hamburgers for dinner. They were wonderful and we had half a dozen ... read more

We went to Odessa last weekend for our brother-in-law's funeral in Odessa. A funeral is always a sad occasion, but it is nice anyway to get to see family there. The deceased was Wayne Brashier, Les' sister, Lori's husband. Lori seems to be doing very well. I know the days and weeks to come will be difficult, but Wayne is no longer in pain. Lori, more than anyone else, is relieved to see his battle over. One our way to Odessa, we found a tow dolly on Craig's list. We called and come to find out, it was for sale at Big Tex Trailers, where our friend Darrell Thornton works. We were able to seal the deal by phone and we picked it up the next day after the funeral. We are relieved to have that ... read more

Wednesday we took a drive through the Upper Canyon. This whole area is beautiful, but the Upper Canyon is extra pretty. We saw a number of deer. One was so unphased by our presence that I was able to get some good pics. This was the pleasant part of our day. Earlier in the day we were notified that Les' sister Lori lost her husband Wayne. Wayne had been fighting cancer for a couple of years The last few weeks had been rough ones for Wayne, so we were all happy to see his suffering come to an end. But, this is the beginning of Lori's pain and grief. For that we are very sad. Wayne was her whole life. She will miss him terrilby. We will be going to Odessa for Wayne's funeral & the ... read more

Last Sunday, on our first night at Circle "B", the park hosted an ice cream social. They also had a guy who played and sang. He specialized in Country and Gospel music. It was great. We really enjoyed it, but didn't really meet anyone, as I'd hoped we would. Every day we are out exploring & seeing the sites. So far we have toured dozens of RV parks around here, looking to see if there are other places we'd like to stay around here. Monday we went to Pistachioland, The Old Apple Barn, Cloudcroft that day for lunch at Mad Jack's Mountaintop Barbeque and then home. Another day we went to Fort Stanton and also geocached in the Merchant Marine's cemetery. We also went through the Smokey Bear gift shop in Capitan. Saturday we drove out ... read more

It's not often that we find ourselves in the right place at the right time on our travels. It's quite normal for us to miss some event that we would have gone to by just a day or two. So, imagine our surprised when our timing turned out to be perfect for the opening weekend of horse racing at Ruidoso Downs. Off we went back to New Mexico dreaming of making a fortune as winner after winner came in. Sadly, that really was just a dream! The reality was that in the opening five races we had won the grand total of ZERO. Still, the view was nice as the racecourse is beautifully located with a backdrop of pine covered mountains. The beer was pretty good too, and we even succumbed to some new baseball caps ... read more