Meanwhile, Back at RCW

Whenever we take a trip, it always takes a while to get caught up once we return home. Now, after being home for about 10 days, I'm just about caught up on everything.

It's been a pretty busy 10 days.

First, I wanted to write all those blog entries about Ruidoso before I forgot what we did. I'm getting to the point in life where details seem to slip away rather quickly.

We've also had some visitors. Our broker, who has become a very good friend over the 30 years or so we've been working with him, stayed over one night. We enjoy visiting with him so much. He is a real easy guest to entertain: he's quiet, he picks up after himself, and he's low maintenance. And we were able to take care of some business while he was here.

Daughter Courtney and her 3 offspring came for an overnight visit as well. I think they enjoy their visits here, as it gives them a chance to be in a decent sized city for a while. They currently live in a very small town, so getting to San Angelo or Midland or other towns of size is a real treat for them. Eldest grandson Xander enjoys all the dining opportunities in town, especially sushi.

Donna and I have been keeping an eye on Dorian for several days. Brother Larry and his wife Nancy live on Florida's east coast, so they have the pleasure of riding out storms such as this from time to time.

And Donna becomes more and more immersed in the social life of RCW (Rio Concho West). She's involved with a gang now, and they play Hand and Foot ( I call it Hoof and Mouth because it really seems like a disease) at least twice a week for several hours. It seems to be a pretty serious game. There are usually only one or two shootings or knife fights during their games, so they keep things pretty tame.

The heat continues here. We are not experiencing triple digit temps every day like we did in much of July and August, but we still have several days each week over 100. But fall is only about 2 weeks away now, so good times are ahead.

Keep cool!

Donna Found Her Casinos

I was hoping our trip to Ruidoso would be all about being tourists, but if there is a casino within 100 miles, Donna is going to sniff it out. This time, I'm rather glad she twisted my arm to visit a casino.

Our first casino visit was to Casino Apache. Located on the Mescalero Apache Reservation on US 70 just a few miles west of Ruidoso, the casino is actually a "Travel Center". Not only can you gamble to your heart's content, but you can refuel your car, get it washed, grab a bite to eat, and do various other things. Actually, we found some rather decent games there for video poker -- 9/5 Jacks or Better at quarter level, among others. I did not check the pay schedule for dollar machines.

We only stayed a short while, though, just long enough to see what was available. We then drove a few miles to Inn of the Mountain Gods. Both casinos are owned by the Mescalero tribe, so both accept the same players' club card. The Inn of the Mountain Gods is more like the casinos we frequent, complete with hotel, buffet, and other amenities. As regards video poker, we found basically the same games that we discovered at Casino Apache, so we decided to play at the Inn. We had a good time.

We sat down at some quarter machines with 9/5 Jacks or Better. I was having a bit of luck, winning just a tiny bit. After about 3 or 4 minutes, Donna complained that she was not hitting anything. That's odd, because Donna always hits something. Suddenly, things got quiet at her machine. I glanced over and saw a lot of hearts lined up on her base line. She was having trouble figuring out what she had; about that time, I said, "Hey, old woman, you hit a royal." Sure enough, the old gal had a royal flush in hearts, good for $1,000. I would go on to eventually churn out $300 myself, so we left the casino with much more than the $200 we had decided we would play on. That was the first royal Donna has hit in almost 2 years, and it has been longer for me.

After I cashed out, I walked the casino and hotel, looking at all the Apache art work and admiring the beautiful views from the hotel lobby. The setting for the casino is gorgeous. I'd love to see it in winter when snow covers the ground. Now that we had some luck there, I'm sure Miss Donna is going to insist that we return in the near future. I'm game.

Below are some of the many pictures I took of Inn of the Mountain Gods.

Tribal artwork in the valet parking area.

Some of the cultural art work that lines the walls of the casino and hotel.

Mescalero Warrior

View from inside the hotel lobby

View from balcony outside hotel lobby

View from balcony outside hotel lobby

Miss Donna in front of waterfall outside hotel

Diamond Donna with her winnings. We can't figure out where the 1 cent came from. Since they are multidenomination machines, someone playing pennies must have left it on the machine.

Cloudcroft, New Mexico

Event date: Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019

We got a slow start this morning. We had a good breakfast at the hotel, then set off for our daily adventure. Our destination for the day was Cloudcroft, about 40 or so miles south of Ruidoso.

We set off west along US 70 for several miles before turning south on New Mexico 244. The entire drive along NM 244 was great. It is a very rural area with great scenery. There are numerous mountain meadows, and the pine covered hills are lovely. The speed limit ranged from 35 to 55 mph, occasionally dipping to 25. There was very little traffic, so it was a very pleasant drive.

Much of the drive from Ruidoso to Cloudcroft was through heavily forested country such as this.

I love a lush mountain meadow such as this.

On the return trip along US 70, we watched the hulking presence of Sierra Blanca approach.

Fewer than 1,000 people live in Cloudcroft, which sits at an elevation of 8,600 feet. Summers there are pleasant, and it is a popular getaway for West Texans who are trying to escape the heat. But there isn't much here. If you like small towns, though, it's a nice place. The downtown district sits 1 block north of the highway, and it is lined with businesses that, for the most part, cater to tourists. We stopped in for a cup of coffee at the Black Bear Coffee Shop. A delightful young couple run this place. While visiting, we discovered that they had connections to San Angelo; both had attended classes at Angelo State University previously. They make a great cup of coffee there, but it is a bit steep. I suppose in such an isolated location, prices tend to be a bit higher.

Black Bear Coffee Shop at the west end of the business district in Cloudcroft.

Looking east through the Cloudcroft business district from in front of the Black Bear.

Some of the businesses in downtown Cloudcroft.

The Cloudcroft Hotel is in the center of the business district.

Looking west from the east end of the business district.

We scouted around town looking at cottages and such where we might spend a week or so next summer, but we decided Ruidoso was probably more to our taste. 

Fort Stanton and Capitan

Event date: Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2019

After our tour of Lincoln, we drove a few miles up US 380 to Fort Stanton. The post was established in 1855 as part of the campaign against the Mescalero Apaches. It also witness some action during the American Civil War when Confederate troops from Texas attempted to secure New Mexico and the West for the Confederacy. Later, it also had a minor role in the Lincoln County War.

Over the years, the fort served numerous purposes, including a tuberculosis hospital in the early years of the 20th century and as an internment camp during World War II. After the war, the fort became the property of the state of New Mexico. In the ensuing years, it saw service as a hospital for the "mentally challenged" and later as a women's low security correctional facility. Today it serves as a museum and is designated as a New Mexico State Monument.

First stop at Fort Stanton should be the Museum and Visitor's Center, erected in 1855 as barracks for enlisted me. The center contains numerous exhibits and information that will guide you through the remainder of your tour. More than a dozen buildings are open to the public. If old military posts are your thing, you can probably spend several hours here.

Fort Stanton Museum and Visitors' Center

Cavalry exhibit in Visitors' Center

Quadrangle at post

Barracks

Room in hospital building

Trees and buildings laid out with military precision.

The Fort Stanton-Snowy River Cave National Conservation Area is located nearby. A room in the Fort Stanton Visitors' Center is devoted to the cave. The Conservation Area includes over 100 miles of multi-use trails. Wow! I could spend some time here.

After our visit to the fort, we continued our drive up US 380 to the small town of Capitan. We enjoyed green chile cheeseburgers at Oso Grill, which won first place in the New Mexico State Fair's Green Chile Cheeseburger Challenge in 2018.

After the burgers, we moseyed across the street to visit the Smokey Bear Historical Park. Although most folks are familiar with Smokey Bear (note that it is NOT Smokey THE Bear), few are aware that there was an actual bear that served as the living symbol for this campaign to prevent forest fires. The actual Smokey Bear campaign was already in place when a 5 pound, three month old bear cub was found in 1950 after the Capitan Gap Fire. The small cub, whose legs had been burned, was rescued by local fire crews. At first, the cub was known as Hotfoot Teddy, but later his name was changed to that of the fire campaign icon.

Smokey soon became a national celebrity, and he was shipped to the National Zoo in D.C. where he lived for 26 years. Smokey died November 9, 1976, and his remains were shipped to Capitan where he is buried.

Exterior of Smokey Bear Museum

Image of Smokey most of us recognize from the "prevent forest fires" campaign.

This shows how little Smokey was found after the Capitan Fire by fire fighting crews -- up a charred tree with injured feet.

Smokey's final resting place is under this rock, hauled from the mountains where he was found as a frightened cub. The caption says: "This is the resting place of the first living Smokey Bear. In 1950 when Smokey was a tiny cub, wildfire burned his forest home in the nearby Capitan Mountains of the Lincoln National Forest. Firefighters found the badly burned cub clinging to a blackened tree and saved his life. In June 1950, the cub was flown to our Nation's Capitol to become the living symbol of wildfire prevention and wildlife conservation. After 25 years, he was replaced by another orphaned black bear from the Lincoln National Forest."

After paying our respects to Smokey, Donna and I returned to Ruidoso, passing through some beautiful mountain country around Alto. Rain began falling as we entered the northern part of Ruidoso.

Historic Lincoln, New Mexico

Event date: Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2019

I've had a love affair with the history of the American West since childhood. Beginning with the Lewis and Clark exploration of the newly acquired territory (Louisiana Purchase) in 1803, I'll read anything about the American West I can get my hands on. The Lincoln County War has always held my fascination.

Since Ruidoso is only about 35 miles from Lincoln, we decided to drive over there one morning. We had passed through the small village once or twice before, but we had never stopped. This time we stopped and toured the old courthouse and the Tunstall-McSween store.

The Lincoln County War had simmered for some time prior to the murder of John H. Tunstall in February, 1878. But it was his death that served as the official start of the war. It officially ended in mid July of the same year with the "Battle of Lincoln," when Tunstall's friend and business partner, Alexander McSween, was killed. In between these two dates, numerous killings occurred, all because of greed and the desire to control a monopoly in the area. And violence related to the "war" continued well past the "Battle of Lincoln".

Several notable historical figures played some part in the so-called war. These included Lew Wallace (NM territorial governor and author of Ben Hur), John Chisum (cattle baron of the Pecos River country), Pat Garrett (buffalo hunter turned bartender turned lawman), and of course William H. Bonney (later known as Billy the Kid). Numerous lessor figures of historical importance also participated, and their names are easily recognized by Western historians: John Poe, Charlie Siringo, Jesse Evans, Pete Maxwell, and Jimmy Dolan, to name a few.

Our first stop of the day was the Courthouse Museum. Built in 1873-74, the building served as headquarters for the Murphy-Dolan business enterprise, one faction of the upcoming Lincoln County War. It was sold to the county in 1880, and served as the courthouse for many years thereafter. Following his trial for the murder of Sheriff Brady, Billy the Kid was held upstairs and guarded day and night by two men while awaiting his execution by hanging. Before that event could occur, though, the Kid made his escape, killing both guards in the process.

US 380 is the only road through Lincoln. The Courthouse is on right. The white picket fence in center of picture is location of the Wortley Hotel, from which Deputy Bob Olinger emerged after hearing gunshots from the courthouse. He didn't know it, but he had only seconds to live.

After a visit to the privy, the Kid and Deputy Bell reached the top of these stairs. No one knows for sure what happened next -- there are several theories -- but the Kid was able to get his hands on a pistol. As Bell fled down the stairs, the Kid snapped off a couple of shots. Bell staggered out the back door and died moments later. The hole in the wall at the bottom of the stairs was supposedly made by a bullet from the Kid's gun.

The area where the Kid was held while awaiting his execution. Lincoln didn't have a real jail, so the Kid was held in chains, with leg irons attached to the floor. After killing Deputy Bell, the Kid broke into the gun room, took down Olinger's double-barreled shotgun, and waited at the window at center of picture for Olinger to return. As Olinger approached the courthouse, someone yelled to him, "Bob, the Kid has killed Bell." Olinger looked up and exclaimed, "Yes, and he's killed me, too." About the same time, the Kid yelled, "Look up, old boy, and see what you get." Olinger was struck in the head and chest by both barrels and died instantly.

The Wortley Hotel, just across the street from the Courthouse. Olinger had taken some prisoners here to be fed.

The Courthouse, as seen from near the Wortley. The Kid was in the upstairs window at left, just above the white sign, as he waited for Olinger to return to investigate the shooting. The steps leading up to the balcony in front were not in place then. Most people going upstairs would have gone around back to enter the building.

Back of the Courthouse. Deputy Bell stumbled out the door on the right and died only a few steps from the door.

The museum, of course, has exhibits covering all of this, but it also contains photos, relics, and exhibits on law officers of Lincoln County, the history of the Masons in the county, and the history of the building in general.

From the Courthouse Museum, we moved down the street to the old Tunstall-McSween store. This building was a major reason for the war. The Murphy-Dolan faction did not like competition, so when Tunstall and McSween partnered to open the store, it was just a matter of time before violence erupted. One of the neat things about the store is that many of the items on the shelves are original. It's interesting to look at some of these old items.

Exterior of Tunstall-McSween store. The two men formed a partnership to compete with the Murphy-Dolan faction. The partnership would lead to their early deaths.

Interior of Tunstall-McSween store.

19th century merchandise on the shelves of the Tunstall-McSween store.

Tunstall's quarters in the store. He lived on his ranch but would stay here when in town. According to a sign, the hole in the floor next to bed is said to be where a wounded Billy hid following the Regulators ambush of Sheriff Brady. However, according to sources such as Robert Utley -- who is a leading Lincoln County War researcher -- it was Jim French who hid in the flooring, and it was in the McSween home, not the store. Who knows for sure?

We drove up and down the only street running through town. There are historic structures on both sides of the highway. If you decide to venture to Lincoln, be forewarned that there is no gasoline available there. The nearest gas stations are in either Hondo or Capitan, both about 10 or so miles away.

The old Ellis store.

The Torreon was built about 1850 or so by early settlers in the area as a defense against Indians. It also served as a defensive position for the Regulators during the Battle of Lincoln in July 1878.

Old church.

I snapped this photo from behind the Courthouse to show the weather. Every day, storm clouds like these moved in. We enjoyed rain every single day of our trip.

Cool Ruidoso, New Mexico

Donna and I just returned from a 4 night stay in beautiful Ruidoso, New Mexico. We primarily went there to escape the heat of San Angelo. We were very successful in doing that.

For those of you not familiar with this little mountain town, let me give you some background.

First, Ruidoso is just under 400 miles from our home in San Angelo. Now, if we want to see mountains, the Davis Mountains in West Texas are a bit closer at about 250 miles. And we love the Davis Mountains. But the mountains in Ruidiso are true alpine type mountains. In fact, if you live where we do and you want to do a bit of snow skiing in the winter, then Ruidoso and nearby Cloudcroft are the closest places to do so. I read somewhere once that Cloudcroft is the southernmost ski area in the Rocky Mountains.

Ruidoso sits at an elevation of just over 6,900 feet. It is surrounded by the beautiful pine-covered Sierra Blanca mountain range, and there are numerous babbling brooks throughout those mountains, including Rio Ruidoso (which translates as "noisy river"). The range is dominated by 12,000 foot Sierra Blanca, home of Ski Apache, a ski resort owned and operated by the Mescalero Apache tribe. The tribe also operates nearby Inn of the Mountain Gods resort, which includes a casino.

The city of Ruidoso has a population of about 10,000, but the surrounding areas brings the total population to about 20,000 or more.

We stayed in a hotel in the "Midtown" area of Ruidoso, which is an area dominated by tourist shops, restaurants, and related businesses. We were easily able to walk 3 or 4 blocks and find a place to eat. Each day started cool, usually about 60 degrees although one morning was in the mid-50s. It would warm to the mid- to upper-70s by noon or so, then the rain would move in, cooling things back down. Yes, it rained all 4 days we were there, roughly about the same time each day. Donna wore a light jacket everywhere she went, and I wore one a time or two as well. It was great! We wanted an escape from the heat, and we got it.

We had a schedule of activities everyday, so we stayed pretty busy. I'll be posting our activities as quickly as I can; I'm still processing the pictures.

I did not take many pictures of Ruidoso itself, but I'll share what I did take. But I think I have some good pictures of the surrounding country, and we did see quite a bit of it.

For now, I'll leave you with the following pictures to hold you until my next post.

This is our hotel, located on a rise and surrounded by pine trees.

This photo was taken a few blocks east of our hotel, and it looks west towards Sierra Blanca Peak.

A sampling of some of the shops along Sudderth. Love to see those trees!

We awoke our first morning to discover a herd of elk grazing behind our hotel. What a great way to start the day. Imagine seeing elk right in the middle of town!

I included this picture to show you how undisturbed the elk were by traffic along the side streets behind the hotel.

Nice shot of these female elk (cows).

This is the only male (bull) I saw in the bunch.

Love this shot of the calf nursing.

Waiting for Fall

Well, things haven't changed since my last post. It is still hot and dry here. As I write this, we are on our 23rd straight day of triple digit temps, and the upcoming forecast is simply more of the same. We've not had any real rain in a long, long time, so everything is very dry. This is compounded by the good rain we had in the spring. As a result of those generous rains, we now have some very tall grass in the countryside that is dry and ripe for a grass fire. In fact, we've had several small grass fires in the area. It's a real tinder box out there!

Donna and I tried a new restaurant a few days ago. The Indian restaurant we enjoyed when it first opened several years ago finally closed its doors, and that is a good thing. It had changed hands several times, and each change resulted in a downgrade in quality and service. When it first opened, we ate there at least once a month, but in the last couple of years, I think we ate there only once, and we were extremely disappointed then and vowed not to return.

So, it was replaced by a new Asian restaurant that serves Thai, Japanese, and Vietnamese food, among others. Donna had some noodles while I had a bowl of Thai curry. We both agreed that the food was rather lackluster. It wasn't so bad that we won't give them another try, but we agreed that the other Thai restaurant in town does a better job. But we will give these folks one more try.

Donna is getting caught up in a game at the clubhouse. She and a group of ladies meet there once or twice a week for afternoon sessions of a game I think is called Hand and Foot. I'm not sure of the name, so I just call it Hoof and Mouth. Anyway, it gets the old girl out of the house an afternoon or two during the week, and I'm grateful for the peace and quiet that provides me. She seems to really be enjoying herself.

Donna has cleaned out more of her flower beds. Not much is left now but the desert plants and herbs. I don't know if she has plans to put anything in for the fall or not. Right now, it's really too hot to even think about getting out there.

Our two oldest grandsons started school last week. Xander just has 2 more years. Wonder what that rascal is going to do with his life. It will be interesting to watch him over the next few years.

So, right now we are just waiting for the weather to cool a bit so we can get out and enjoy ourselves a bit more.