More from New Mexico - Christmas Day

The Great Poker Run:  we lost.  We are in the middle of a 7000 acre ranch; there's an annual event called the Great Poker Run.  Lots of the semi-permanent and permanent residents have ATVs for exploring the desert and the park owner has four of his own.  (We rode with him.)  There is a course onto the 18 miles of trails and at four stops, you draw a card.  When you return to the camp, you draw a 5th card and the best poker hand wins.  Mike and I together couldn't  get a decent hand.  It was lots of fun and I was glad the camp owner was driving, as it was a rough ride in spots.

The dogs are living their dream here.  Once we are off the park grounds, they can be free and explore.  So far they have been good about coming back when called.  The ranch has cattle, horses, goats, jack rabbits, coyotes and who knows what else so they are busy cataloging new smells.  As the weather warms up, we will need to watch for rattlesnakes, as they are also common here.  Needless to say, they come home from their walks exhausted (see photo). 

Mike went back to KC to have his new cornea checked and he is doing fine.  Our daughter-in-law Michelle is improving every day and we are feeling pretty good about the important stuff. 

We will be here until March.  When we were staying at the park in Sequim WA we had an offer to work camp this coming summer.  Mike will contact the park owner to see if her offer is still good.  If it is, we will head north and travel up the West Coast and then on to Sequim for the summer.  Plan to return here to Hidden Valley next winter.  It's just a great place.

We bought a new barbecue smoker which is propane-fired and about 25% of the size of the one we had in Leawood.  Mike has done a test run with brisket.  It was tasty but not as tender as he likes.  Wyatt says that the beef here is not equal to the Midwest beef we are accustomed to using so Mike will need to adjust his techniques.  We have problems remembering the altitude here in 4800 feet.  Stuff cooks differently than at 700 feet.

We hope you all have a wonderful holiday and we will be reporting again soon.  (Mike has ordered a signal booster for the park WiFi so I should be able to get onto the internet more reliably.)

Catching up at last

Mike is on his way back to KC to get his new cornea checked so I have some time to update without his assistance.  Below is a photo of what we see in front of our trailer:

We watched the Chicago-Dallas game last night and don't miss Chicago one bit.  By the end of the game it was something like -11 with the wind chill.  Kansas City has also been slammed with the extreme temps and assorted other bad weather.  While it can be chilly and sometimes windy here, I will take it over snow/ice/sub-zero temps.

The park is lovely and very, very quiet.  And we are in the middle of the WEST of yesteryear.  See below.

Note the bullet holes in the sign.  You have to watch for loose cattle on this road as they can pop up out of nowhere. 

The dogs are in a state of ecstasy....all these new sights, sounds, and especially smells.  Coyotes and bobcats are known to come onto the park so we are careful with Snack1 and Snack 2.  They, of course, have no sense of danger (or any other type of sense for that matter).  Lots of other dogs around but all on leashes and well-behaved. 

The park specializes in ATV'ers.  There are lots of ATV trails out into the desert and we are hoping to get an invitation to take a ride one of these days.  Until then we are walking the dogs.  Just have to be careful to keep them out of the various spikey, spiny, sticky vegetation.  All new to them and Muppet likes to stick his nose into everything. 

We have been into the closest town, Deming, a couple of times.  Although it's the county seat, it's really small and doesn't look much changed in the past 40 years.  Just on the other side of Deming is the border with Mexico.  My son's mother-in-law has offered to take us into Palomas, the town across the border, after the holidays. 

We are giving each other a propane-fired bbq smoker for Christmas since our old smoker from the house was way too big to bring.  I am looking forward to good 'cue again soon as the local joints leave a lot to be desired.  Mexican food here, obviously, is great everywhere. 

The Weather

Bright sunshine here and  temps will hit 50 today.  We are grateful we are NOWHERE IN THE MIDWEST as it seems everyone is getting slammed with snow, sleet, ice, temps in the teens and lower. 

On the Road Again, Finally

My, my, it certainly has  been an interesting four months.  Our return to Kansas City for Mike's unexpected cornea transplant went well.  Except for the 14 degree night that froze our hoses, etc.  That wasn't all that great.

As soon as Mike could see clearly enough to drive we left Kansas City one jump ahead of a winter storm.  Stayed ahead of it until Amarillo when we had to get off the road for two days due to high winds.  And of course it was very cold.  And I picked a park that was right at the end of a private airport runway.  Nothing personal, you understand, but I will try not to go through Amarillo again...ever.  Tucumcari is only 113 miles from Amarillo and we had to get off again, this time for snow.  Sat three days in that park waiting for roads to clear and then finally drifted into Albuquerque.

We were supposed to have Thanksgiving with my son Wyatt, his wife Michelle, and their two daughters, Taylor and Madison.  By the time we got to Albuquerque, Michelle was very ill, in the hospital, and had three hours of surgery the day before Thanksgiving.  Mike and I cooked Thanksgiving dinner and Wyatt spent most of the day at the hospital with Michelle.  She is now doing much better and hopes to leave the hospital this week. 

We left Albuquerque headed south to a wonderful park outside Deming NM.  I will try to post a photo (I am still figuring out this application.)  Both of us hope your Thanksgivings were a lot less stressful than ours.