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Published: June 25th 2015
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Our base in New Mexico was Ruidoso, a small town in the Sierra Blanca mountains. From there we had some great days out, but there was also quite a lot for us to explore within easy reach of Liz and Steve's cabin. The cabin itself was wonderful. It's one of life's pleasures to soak in a hot tub on the terrace, sipping a cold bottle of beer while watching the hummingbirds come and go!
We found the town of Ruidoso quite charming. It's full of lovely little shops selling all sorts of tempting gifts. Wooden carvings are prolific and feature bears, eagles and aliens. There are some great art and furniture stores too. It's just a shame that we didn't have enough room to bring the things back that we would have bought. Still, we're not exactly sure where the "Day of the Dead" ornate garden bench would have gone anyway. Had Russ had better luck at the casino, perhaps we could have shipped it back. The "Inn of the Mountain Gods" is quite a complex and well worth going to, even if it is just to see some of the native American artwork which adorns the walls. It is
fabulous.
As you know, we like getting out into the fresh air and the countryside. Ruidoso is on the edge of the Lincoln National Forest and there are several easy walks nearby. We found it wonderful to see family of deer wandering along our route, but we never did find the local river, the
Rio Ruidoso, from which the town gets its name. We can only conclude that it isn't as noisy as the name suggests. It's also
Smokey Bear country and you'll see this cute bear's face everywhere warning you about the dangers of wild fires.
About half an hour's drive away is
Fort Stanton . This civil war army base was where the original "Buffalo Soldier" regiment was stationed consisting of soldiers of African descent. It has also been used as a TB sanitorium and there is lots of information about this part of the base's history. Intriguingly it was also used to house 411 German sailors from the luxury liner, SS Columbus, who were free to roam around the USA until the country joined the war, and then they had to be contained. They didn't lead too bad a life there though, and they certainly weren't treated
in any way that we normally think of with prisoners of war. At Fort Stanton you can discover the history of several of the buildings and visitors centre is excellent. Nearby is the
Fort Stanton Merchant Marine & Military Cemetery where we paid our respects as it was Memorial Weekend.
On our way there we had a good walk in the spectacular countryside. Our goal was to see the petroglyphs which were carved into a rock by the river a long time ago when only the Native Americans were there. It wasn't difficult to find, but the walk back up the hill in the blazing sunshine was a bit of a lung buster as it is at 7,000 ft above sea level!
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taracloud
Tara Cloud
Hot tub and hummingbirds!
I'm amazed you two moved off the porch at all! I love the petroglyphs and all the amazing history out there in the backcountry! Sweet deer and forest trails too--the real Southwest!