A Little Trip to Southern New Mexico

Hubby had to attend a conference for work in Ruidoso, New Mexico and his employer provided nice accommodations. I was fortunate to be allowed to accompany him, stay in the hotel room and spend a few days checking out the little touristy town of Ruidoso.

Suffice it to say that this not the season to be a tourist in Ruidoso. At least 90% of the shops and restaurants are closed weekdays until their summer season begins. As we were there during the week, there was not much to do there. Boring. Boring. 

The Texans invade in winter for skiing and in the summer to cool off a little. Spring is apparently way OFF season. I don't know what the attraction is even in season, other than a place where wealthy rednecks get together to drink and shout and drive their big trucks and eat beef. I guess lots of locals also drive excruciatingly loud pick-up trucks, obvious looking for attention as they drive the main street in town. Fortunately our hotel was a bit off the beaten path.

Every town in New Mexico has the "BEST GREEN CHILI CHEESE BURGER" and sometimes more than one restaurant in town claims it. And finding anything besides burgers and fried foods in Ruidoso was a challenge.  I think every average New Mexico eatery buys their food from the same big restaurant supply warehouse because it all seems to look and taste the same. 

I should do a post on the scarcity of interesting, healthy food in New Mexico. Maybe I'm just not looking in the right places. I am not crazy about Mexican/New Mexican cuisine but the beef fajita at the Hacienda in Ruidoso was very good. 

The highlight of my day on Wednesday was buying food at the grocery store for our dinner.

The hotel was quite nice and our room/suite was probably the nicest one I've ever had the opportunity to occupy. We stayed four nights. Free breakfast with just about everything you could want for an American style wake-up.

There must be carpet designers especially for fancy hotels.

The highlight of our little trip was the Valley of Fires, a Malpais (Badlands) area of ancient lava flows. There was a very nice one-mile nature trail with interesting flora and lava formations. 

I like rocks and plants, so this was my kind of tourist attraction. Here are a bunch of photos, but it's better in person.

Another Chapter of "Life in the Land of Entrapment"

 We are in Grants, New Mexico for the holiday weekend. Staying in our camper at a KOA Campground. The reason for choosing this exciting destination is that Leon is on assignment as a Ranger (filling in for someone on vacation) at El Malpais (Badlands) National Monument (the BLM section, not the National Park section).

Bird on Lava

Spending time in Grants, New Mexico is about as exciting as waiting for a bus. (Especially as I had a gout flare up just as we arrived - something that happens once or twice a year at most for no apparent reason except for glucosamine chondroitin (2x) and large quantity of shrimp (once) or possibly dehydration). I ventured out yesterday to the Ranger Station and to see some rocks. The outcroppings are kind of spectacular, or maybe just photogenic. But as with most of the scenery, after you've seen 100 different rock outcroppings, it kind of loses its thrill.

The Arch - La Ventana

The Last Cholla Flower

 

And as to why 114,276 acres of lava would be declared a National Monument, the only reason I can think of is "What else can you do with 114,276 acres of 3,900 year old lava?" (some is actually 700,000 years old).

Mount Taylor

The landscape can be interesting, if monotonous at times. You can drive for hours with only a few changes in the terrain which is vast and intimidating. I cannot imagine the Spanish explorers (plunderers?) arriving at the edge of a lava field that where mountain goat wouldn't go and which stretched as far as one could see.

Lava Bubble

Vegetation in the Crevasses of Dry Mud

It is also "monsoon" season here in New Mexico. We have seen more rain in the past few weeks than in the past six years, and that is not saying much. It is especially dangerous for areas around the "burn scars" of forest destroyed by recent wild fires. 

In summary, if I have to vacation in an area that is covered in lava flows, I really think Hawaii would be my first choice.