Some Casino Action for the Old Folks

Well, we finally did something a bit different. You know how Donna is; she needs her casino fix from time to time. We received some nice offers from Inn of the Mountain Gods in Mescalero, New Mexico (near Ruidoso), and we just couldn't pass them up.

We played a little at this casino back in August one day, then hit it both going and coming on our November trip to Laughlin, NV. That's not a great deal of play, so we were pleasantly surprised when each of us received an offer for 3 free nights as well as some generous food credits. so on this past Monday, we headed over for a 3 night stay.

It's a long trip for us, almost 400 miles one way. But it is closer than Shreveport, and the drive is much less stressful. There are no big cities to pass through, and no heavy traffic areas. The worst part of the trip is the 90 mile or so stretch from the Texas/New Mexico state line to Roswell on US 380. Along that stretch two-lane, there is only 1 town, tiny Tatum with fewer than 1,000 folks. There are  absolutely no passing lanes on that long stretch, and the speed limit is 65. The road surface itself is good, with a good shoulders, but it is a long, monotonous stretch.

We got our first glimpse of Sierra Blanca about 20 miles or so east of Roswell. That means we were seeing this beautiful mountain from a distance of about 100 miles. At 11,981 feet, Sierra Blanca is the 8th tallest mountain in New Mexico, and the highest in the Sacramento range. 3 of the 4 tallest peaks in New Mexico are all located in the Taos range north of Santa Fe, including Wheeler Peak, the highest peak at 13,167 feet.

I snapped this photo just west of Roswell. If you click to enlarge the photo, you'll see snow-capped Sierra Blanca straight ahead down the highway. To the right is Capitan Peak at just over 10,000 feet. No snow on it.

Our favorite part of the drive is the approach to Ruidoso along US 380/70 from where the highway first enters the foothills around the tiny community of Riverside. From that point west, the roadway dips and weaves its way toward Ruidoso following the Rio Hondo and, later, the Rio Ruidoso. It's truly beautiful country.

We stopped in Ruidoso for a late lunch at Garcia's Cafe, a nondescript eatery on Sudderth Drive. Donna enjoyed a plate of bean chalupas while I dove into a plate of cheese enchiladas with red sauce. Everything was fresh and tasty, and the salsa had a nice bite that got you in the back of the throat. Good food and good service at a good price. We'll definitely return.

From there, we headed to the casino and checked into our room. The room was large and comfortable, with a balcony overlooking a lake. In the background, partially hid by another mountain in the foreground, loomed snow-covered Sierra Blanca, about 10 miles away as the crow flies. I took several pictures of the scene at different times of the day. In big sky country, I love the way scenery changes appearances based on light and time of day.

View of Sierra Blanca from our balcony.

I zoomed in for this shot of Sierra Blanca.

Looking in a different direction from our balcony.

Sierra Blanca near the end of the day.

We played a while on Monday, but I was rather tired from the drive. Since I was not doing well, I quit early. "Forever Young" Donna continued mercilessly pounding the machines for a while, though. I prefer to play early in the morning, so on Tuesday I rose early, got a nice cup of coffee and sat at my favorite game and had a good play. I was able to win a little money during that session, then moved to another machine and had another good session, hitting a $150 jackpot. Donna was not having any luck on that day, though.

We used some of our food credits for a nice lunch at the buffet. I'm not big on buffets, but I enjoyed this one. It had a nice variety of entrees, and everything was tasty and well prepared. I'll certainly eat there again.

Hotel lobby. Because of lighting, you cannot see anything out of the large picture window.

Here is the view from the hotel lobby. I could sit here all day!

After lunch, we retired to our room and watched the weather change from sunny and bright to cold and snowy. It did not snow a great deal, but we lost our view of Sierra Blanca for quite awhile. And then, just as suddenly as the snow had moved in, it moved out and the sun returned.

A light snow moves in. Where did Sierra Blanca go?

The snow got a bit heavier!

Wednesday dawned at a low of 9 degrees. Brrrr! We had planned to go into town that day, but decided we would just stay put in our warm casino. And the good folks at the Inn of the Mountain Gods do keep the casino warm. It is pleasant to play there. Today would be Donna's day at the machines. She hit quad deuces on the deuces wild video poker machine she was playing for a total of $250. For lunch on Wednesday, we dined at the Broken Arrow Tap Room. Donna had a turkey sandwich and I enjoyed some really tasty brisket tacos.

The next day, beautiful weather returned. We didn't get much snow, but you can see a light cover on the ground.

After 3 days, we left the casino about 7:00 AM (local time) to head home. We had a good time during our stay, and we definitely plan to return. Alcohol is not served on the main casino floor. There is one designated bar in the casino area, and neither Donna nor I played there. I liked that. The place is pretty smokey, though, and I definitely do not like that. We were very happy with our room and the eateries we tried. Self-serve drink stations are located in the casino area, and we found the coffee there to be quite good.

I snapped this photo as we were leaving Thursday morning. You can see the top of Sierra Blanca greeting the morning sun. Casino is on the left while hotel and restaurants are more towards the right.

Entrance to casino. The picture just above this one was taken up the slope in the background.

We played quite a bit, so we are hopeful we will get some more offers in the mail. We would like to return in the summer so we can sit out on the balcony and enjoy that beautiful scenery.

Just Waiting for Some Warm Weather

We've had quite a bit of cold the past couple of weeks. In my previous post, I mentioned the light cold and freezing temps we have had. We did manage a couple of nice days last weekend, but this week we have had some more cold and about three-quarters inch of rain. Add to that some really cold northerly winds, and we just haven't had any desire to get out.

We did manage to get out and watch a movie this week, though. We saw 1917, a World War I story about two young British soldiers and their efforts to warn a couple of brigades about a planned offensive about to be launched. The scenery and landscape in the movie actually becomes a major character. I really enjoyed the movie, though Donna was affected by much of the gore.

I'm still adjusting to my new phone. When I purchased the phone from Target (they are affiliated with my provider, Consumer Cellular), the young lady there swapped the SIM card from my old phone into my new phone. Well, that caused quite a bit of trouble. I was able to use my phone in my home when connected to my network, but away from home, I had nothing. I made a call to the Consumer Cellular help desk and a patient young lady named Sonia worked me through my problems. Everything now seems to be working well. I continue to be pleased with the customer service provided by Consumer Cellular; I wish I had switched to them years ago.

Spring will be here in another month. I look forward to warmer weather. I'm ready to get out and do some walking and hiking. I always feel better when I can get outside.

A Little Snow and a Cancelled Trip

Yeah, as noted, we've been a bit boring lately. We had plans to rectify that situation, but things did not go as planned.

We had made reservations to take a cruise with Vanishing Texas River Cruises over on Lake Buchanan near Burnet, Texas. In fact, we had already purchased tickets for the Scenic Wilderness Cruise. But the weather did not cooperate. A winter storm blew through the area on the date we had scheduled the cruise, so we wisely cancelled a couple days ahead of time. San Angelo was on the low side of the storm, and we only received a trace of snow. But daughter Courtney and the band of assassins she is training to the north of us received a great deal more snow. Because the public schools closed due to the weather, Courtney was able to provide some special snow training for her young assassins.

As you can see, most of the snow we received stayed on the rooftops, though a patch or two of light snow did settle on the ground.

Looking out our front door, snow is mostly on the roof and the top of our brick wall.

 It did get quite cold here. The low one night touched 20, and the high did not get above 35 or so on Tuesday. I'm glad those cold spells do not linger long.

Well, my phone has died on me. Guess I'll have to replace it. I hate that I have become so dependent on that thing. Now, I don't use it while driving, or while I'm walking, or any time like that. To be honest, I rarely use the phone feature; anyone who knows me knows I hate talking on the phone. But I do like the convenience of picking it up while watching a travel show and researching a destination being discussed. And Donna and I both rely greatly on the calendars on our phones. And when we are large grocery stores, at casinos, or otherwise apart, the text feature is a handy way for the old woman and me to keep tabs on one another. Donna has a bad habit of wandering off and making me look for her. She often won't even respond to my texts. Guess she just wants to get away from me sometimes.

So, I'm in the process of securing a new phone. I believe I've found one through my provider that I like, so hopefully I'll be up and running soon.

Another note on the weather. It is raining here today (Monday). We haven't had much rain, less than a quarter inch, but we should get more today and tomorrow. We've had a decent amount of moisture so far this year.