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.)