I finally have Wi-Fi AND phone service. I’m in Albuquerque, and it’s Thursday morning. It seems like we’ve been gone a week, but it’s only our 4th day. I’m going to recap everything we’ve done from the start, which was Monday morning at 5:10 am.
Monday:
We drove from Richardson to Carlsbad, arriving there about 2:30 pm MST. (3:30 our time) Not a bad drive, and not as boring as I’ve heard. Of course, we four never lack in things to laugh about. We did take pictures right outside of Abilene because it was non-stop wind turbines.
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Our drive thru the city of Carlsbad, and the reviews of the motels in Carlsbad led us to the conclusion that only thieves and people infected with bed bugs spend the nights in Carlsbad hotels. We couldn’t find one we would feel safe sleeping in, and that was just from the outside. We went on to Carlsbad Caverns, as they had some motels rated 2 ½ to 3 stars. We drove by the RODEWAY INN, it had a couple of water park-type tube slides, and pirate ship, and children’s water park side, and an adult pool. Look brand new on the outside, as did the inside of the rooms. GREAT. We got a great price of $95 for one night via price.com or something like that. We checked in, and off we headed for the caverns.
What a fantastic, beautiful places. Chloe and I were partners, and we took the elevator down, but walked everything from there. Still, quite a lot of walking was required.
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We came back to the entrance, and went to the bathroom. As we were leaving, a nice guy walked up and informed me that I had toilet paper coming out the back of my shorts. I thanked him, went back, and pulled out about 5 feet of toilet paper from my shorts. I have no idea how I got that much in there. Morgan said I looked like a bride. I was blushing, that’s for sure.
We drove around for a while, then went back for the bat flight at twilight. It was beautiful, for the first 30 minutes. They said it could take one to two hours for them all to fly out. We decided after about an hour that we’d had enough. We tiptoed out, and went to the motel…. We were exhausted.
Angie started doing some transcription work she’d brought with her. The girls wanted to swim, so out we went. They turned off the water park right as we walked up…. Too late. The girls weren’t upset, just said they’d do that in the morning. They played in the pool, and I watched. All of a sudden I was being eaten alive by “something”. We went in. The three of us showered and went to bed. The shower was only cold water, but that’s what happens when everyone else in the complex has showered before you. The room was warm, but we presumed it was because we’d only had the air conditioning on for a few minutes.
TUESDAY
After a long sweaty night, we got ready for the water slide and pool, which opened at 10. Well, sort of. It was still warm in the room, and we decided we’d call, cause the water park wasn’t open yet like it was supposed to be. The phone didn’t work, so I went to the front office. They informed us that only the pool opens at 10, the waterslide opens at 1pm, and the man who checked us in should have told us. I told him the phones didn’t work. He said yes, he knew. He’d only gotten one at the front desk yesterday. (DUH???) I asked why there wasn’t hot water, and he said because they were working on it. I asked why we weren’t told at check in, and he said he didn’t know, but we should have been told. I said, “In other words, we paid $95 for a bed, no hot water, a pool, no air conditioning, and no water slide?” And he said yes. He would knock $20 off of our bill. I said I’d get back with him.
Long story short, Angie went and raised hell, and we ended up getting all but $40 back. What was a clincher for her, he was the one that checked us in and told her all the crap about the water slide, etc. She’d paid with a debit card or we would have had more pull. Oh well, live and learn. So much weird happened to us, that we decided it was meant for us to be in Roswell, where weird is normal. Off we go.
We went shopping, and went to a winery (yes, there will be a wine tasting party), and we went to a store called “the Alien Zone”. There were all kinds of neat things there. They had an “Area 51” that allowed you to enter their special area. For $10 for the four of us to enter, so in we went. Here are just a couple of pictures of what happened. There will be no further explanation or description of what happened, cause we cannot tell for fear of our lives.
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We decided after that hilarious experience that it was time to get to more normal activities. We headed for Ruidoso. Long story short, Angie used Pricefinder.com or whatever it’s called, and we got a room. Due to a mix up in locations and info, we ended up in Ruidoso Downs at the 8DAYS Inn. We’d paid for what we thought was a double room, but it ended up being a king size, and no changes allowed. I want to say right now, that Angie has never had trouble like this before, so we were again surprised at the problem. At least it had air conditioning and hot water. I called Gerry W., we played phone tag, and ended up not seeing each other . We ate dinner at K-Bob’s steak house, ok, but reminded me of Bonanza Steak House…. But for 1 chicken fried steak with fries and salad, one sirloin with salad, and one baked potato, and four teas, it was $45. That was ridiculous. Whatever, off we go for some much needed sleep.
WEDNESDAY
We got up, took hot showers, and Gerry called. We told her our plans, and agreed to meet in the afternoon. We headed for the White Sands National Monument. We found another winery, and we bought some more wine and some pistachio goodies. We finally got to the monument and rented some sleds for the girls. All four of us tried the sleds. I did one crash and quit. We all ended up crashing at one time or another.
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It was a blast, but a little on the hot side. What was weird, the sand wasn’t hot at all, but the temperature was. We headed back to Ruidoso to meet up with Gerry, covered with gypsum from head to toe.
We met up with Gerry at a grocery store in Ruidoso, and I went for a tour with her while Angie and the girls went on a self guided tour of souvenir shops and TCBY. Gerry took me to see all 3 golf courses, and a few scenic spots. Then we went to her house, and she and Don and I visited for a few minutes. There were actually two deer resting under her next door neighbor’s deck, all of about 20 yards away from us. She has such a cool house there. Almost as much deck as house….. which is good. Gerry then took me to her favorite wine store, where they did me a wine tasting. Gerry asked me my favorite, and I named it, and she bought me a bottle. That is also her favorite, so she bought herself a case. No, I didn’t feel slighted. We then met up with the girls, and we followed Gerry to a spot where she wanted pictures of us taken.
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We did that, and then Gerry had us follow her to a restaurant that she wanted us to try. It was Farley’s, and that’s where I ate my first Rabbit Turd. They were fried and delicious. The girls had burgers and corn dogs, and Angie and I shared green chili stew and red chili polozo. The red chili was HOT, but very good. It just needed beer with it, and I was driving so I couldn’t cool my throat. The green chili was extremely flavorful, spicy, but not too hot. Delicious. I recommend everyone try it.
We then drove to Albuquerque, and checked in to the downtown Hyatt Hotel. The girls decided they don’t like motels, and Angie and I assured them it was a New Mexico thing, not a motel thing. We did agree however to get a nice hotel. We checked into a beautiful suite, web TV, Wi-fi, and a beautiful view. The only drawback, water is $5 a bottle. Oh well, we have a Star Bucks in the lobby.
THURSDAY
Angie bought us breakfast. I’m blogging by the pool. Angie and the girls are swimming. It’s a tad too cold for me to get in. We decided today was a loll around type of day. Tomorrow, Chloe and I will do our Segway tour, and while we’re doing that, Morgan and Angie are going to “Build a Bear”. The cost is about the same for both of us.
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After swimming, we all headed for Sandia Peak. We got our tickets, and rode the Tram to the top of the mountain. I did great, took a few pix and everything, then we hit the half way point and sped up going down slightly, as we were crossing between two tower supports. There went my stomach. I moved to the middle of the tram car and stayed there till we arrived at the top. I immediately went to the restaurant and ordered a margarita. I waited there for Angie and the girls to tire of being atop a windy mountain peak, and picture taking. A couple of margaritas later, they arrived, and we had lunch. Now, here’s the total of our bill and what we had. 3 margaritas, 2 colas, children menu burger, children menu chicken strips, nachos, chips and salsa, one cup of green chili stew (to die for), and one order of nachos. Total…… $85. Wow! As Chloe said, no wonder the name of the restaurant is “HIGH FINANCE”. Angie finally convinced me to post for a couple of pictures, then I went and made sure I was first in line to get on the tram and reserved the center pole for myself. Guess I looked pale, cause the guy running the tram offered me some drugs. Said I didn’t look good, and that he did have medicine that he was authorized to give me that would help me if I was getting ill. I toughed it out.
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We came to downtown and went to Old Town Plaza for shopping. We each got some trinkets we couldn’t live without, that will soon be in a garage sale, I’m sure. We did have fun though. I made an appointment for Chloe and I to do our Segway Tour. We are scheduled for our tour to begin at 10am. We will have some great stories tomorrow to blog about. We also attempted to get into Sadey’s Cantina and Restaurant, but decided we didn’t want to wait an hour to get a table for four. We ended up getting the girls Starbucks and a pizza from Pizza Hut. We’re going to turn in so we’ll be rested for our big day.
FRIDAY
Chloe and I got up ready for our Segway tour. We took a few minutes of training, and we were off. It wasn't really a tour, we found out. It is basically a very difficult ride. There were no explanations of anything we saw. We just rode and rode. Mainly on sidewalks, and on a Segway, I can be decapitated by any tree that's near the sidewalk. I spent most of my time bending over while continuing to ride. Chloe did great. She only had one crash. She bailed off just as the Segway ran into a wall. Neither was hurt, thank goodness. She and I both had fun, but we were tired. We never got a minute of mental rest due to the turns and traffic we encountered.
After lunch at a great little shack that had a line out the door for to go food, we headed for Sante Fe. We planned our trip so we could go thru New Madrid. What a change since the last time I was there. It is now a tourist town, and more Yuppies than old hippies. We did make a few purchases there.
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Next stop, Sante Fe. We checked in to the Hilton, Old Sante Fe. It is beautiful. The girls and I swam and did the hot tub. Then we went out for dinner. Of all things, settled on the Baja Grill. It served mexican food, and we lucked out by getting a patio seat. It was nice and cool, no cold or hot, just right. We were all exhausted, so we hit the sack early.
SATURDAY
We got a good nights rest, then first thing, we load up the car and the girls go shopping. I decided I'd see enough souveniers to last me a while, so I stayed at the hotel. It's nice to be alone and just chill out. Decided to catch up on the blog. In about an hour, I'm gonna get them and we'll head for Colorado. A surprise invitation from my step-dad, Frank, to come visit him. He's got his classic Corvette out of storage, and he's ready for a road trip to site see with the girls and me. Guess we'll stay there a couple of days, then head home. That's gonna increase our home drive to about 18 hours. Oh well. I'm gonna go find the gals.....
later..
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