JAMSquared

Last weekend was a long weekend for James and I. We traveled to Ruidoso, New Mexico with James’ parents and nephew Dawson. Initially, his sister Tami was supposed to go with us also, but she couldn’t get off work. The trip was a lot of fun.

Friday, June 5, 2009

We left Midland about 9:45 AM for the 6-hour drive to Ruidoso. Our first stop once we arrived was the Billy the Kid Scenic National Scenic Byway Visitors Center.

We stayed at the River’s Edge Cabin. It was a really nice cabin, although the river out back was disappointing since the embankment was under construction. The cabin had games and we played an hour long game of Uno after arriving. I eventually won. Dinner was at Cafe Rio, which had excellent hand-tossed pizza. We then went to Pillow’s Funtrackers, where we played a round of miniature golf.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

We lucked out. Saturday was one of two free fishing days a year. So we dropped off Joe and Dawson at Grindstone Lake to go fishing. They had a raffle for the kids and Dawson got a New Mexico button-type pin and a goody bag filled with things like pencils and a Smoky the Bear ruler. While they fished, the rest of us went shopping in mid-town. Lunch was at Lincoln County Grill and it was quite tasty. After some relaxing at the cabin, we drove up to Monjeau Lookout. We climbed the many steps to the top of the solid rock tower built by the CCC in the late 1930s. Today it is used as fire station lookout. At 10,356 ft., the view from the top was spectacular. You could definitely tell you were at a higher elevation since it was 5-10° cooler and quite breezy at the top compared to down in Ruidoso.

After driving down the steep, mostly dirt road from the lookout, we went to the Flying J Ranch for their chuckwagon supper and western stage show. They had pony rides and gold panning for the kids. Dawson found 5 tiny pieces of fool’s gold. There was a gunfight between the “sheriff” and the two “outlaws” in the street of the “western village” before we went into the theater/dining hall to find our seats at table C6. After the dinner bell was rang by a little girl named Kate, we were directed table by table to the serving line. Dinner consisted of chicken or beef, beans, a foil-wrapped baked potato, chunky applesauce, a biscuit, and a piece of spice cake. After everyone finished eating, the Flying J Wranglers put on a show that consisted of  western singing and some comedy and was very entertaining.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

After spending the majority of the morning relaxing at the cabin, we went to Kidz Konnection, an awesome playground where James had as much fun as Dawson.

We then had lunch at Casa Blanca Restaurant. They served tasty Mexican food and had excellent service. Afterward, we dropped Dawson and Joe off at the cabin since Dawson didn’t want to go to the horse races and it was very windy. The rest of us then went to Ruidoso Downs, the first time I’ve been to a race track. The first race we watched was the 6th of the day. James picked #4 Eyejesslovelouisiana, Olivia picked #5 Jess a Candy Gal and I picked #10 Jess Sippin. If we had actually bet, Olivia would have been richer as #5 won. We also watched the 7th race, a Thoroughbred race before heading to the Racehorse Hall of Fame on the second level of the grandstand. We then caught the 8th race from the second level of the grandstand.

We cooked Salmon Macaroni Bake at the cabin for dinner, followered by viewing Kung Fu Panda before going to bed.

Monday, June 8, 2009

We left the cool cabin getaway by 8:30 AM New Mexico time and arrived back in Midland at 3:30 PM. James and I had initially planned to continue back to Austin, but ended up spending the night and getting back to Austin on Tuesday.