Ruidoso or Bust! Part 1

I have to say the trip to NM wasn't bad at all. Contrary to the night before with its storms and hail and tornados, Friday morning was lovely! I got the Monkey Bunch all settled in for the long trip ahead and off we went. Admittedly we did make a quick pit stop to grab donuts. I know, donuts. But seriously, I can't start a trip without donuts, it's sacreligious! Because of the donut stop, I managed to bypass rush hour traffic and zoomed out of town. After the rain from the night before, the Hill Country was gorgeous... fresh air, dewey sun-kissed leaves and a general feeling of life and well-being. We made a quick stop just west of Stonewall to pick up a basket of Texas peaches and some okra. There is nothing like fresh produce straight from a roadside stand! The peaches were luscious, absolutely dripping with sweetness, YUM!

Shortly thereafter, the kids started hollerin' for a potty break. And just so you can understand my pain, I took this trip right smack in the middle of potty-training the Piggy-Poo, and yes, I am the "Queen of Shitty Timing"! Anyhow... we saw a sign for a rest stop just before Fredericksburg. As I pulled into the parking area I was stunned! That was the most gorgeous rest stop I have ever seen in my life! It was a limestone building with solid wood doors, flowers everywhere, a nice little playground, picnic tables, a HIKING TRAIL!?! The actual restrooms were unbelievably clean, so much so I didn't even cringe once when the Piggy sat on the toilet! So if you're traveling that direction, I highly recommend you bypass the gas stations in Johnson City and hold "it" until you reach the rest stop, it will be a much more pleasant experience I assure you!

And then we were off again, enjoying the sights of the Hill Country. We saw deer, antelope and buffalo, not to mention a couple of camels! Camels, I shit you not! I wish I could have stopped for a photo, but we had already wasted entirely too much time and I had to motor on to that big ol' interstate. We stopped for lunch at the DQ in Junction and I have to say, it was a decent place. I'm not one for fast food and most certainly not a DQ fan, but it was clean, the food was hot and fresh and they were snappy! With lunch out of the way, I hopped on I-10 and discovered something quite amazing. That freeway has a speed limit of 80 mph! Oh my lead foot was so happy! I put the pedal to the metal and the scenery faded to a blur. I have to admit, I prefer the slower, more relaxed pace of the backroads, but when you've got a potty-training toddler and a bored 7 y.o. making all sorts of annoying and obnoxious noises, all you want to do is get to your ultimate destination at warp speed!

All that speed aside, we had to take a couple of potty breaks, one of which landed us at the busiest 7-11 on I-10! This is where I had the pleasure of meeting a nice lady traveling from Florida to California with her mother and her 7 kids! At that very moment I realized traveling with my two twerps was child's play! My hat is off to the woman who can man the 15-passenger van and organize 5 boys and 2 girls into an orderly triage line for potty necessities, get all their hands washed and marched back out of the store with snacks and drinks in tow, all with a smile on her face! I'm not worthy! The last potty break before the kids passed out was at a Fina station between Ozona and Ft. Stockton. I've been to this one before and it's a craphole in the middle of stinkin' nowhere, but its one saving grace is a picture autographed by Johnny Depp when he was driving through one time. Oh how I wish I'd been traveling in the armpit of Texas on that day! (Please cue my own sick version of the infamous "Fast Times" scene, but with Johnny Depp instead of Phoebe Cates--oh shut up, a girl can dream!)

With the kids finally passed out and the iPod on shuffle, I FINALLY passed the New Mexico state line. And no, we weren't stopped by the border patrol! ;)

We finally pulled into my cousin's house in Carlsbad around 5pm. The kids and I were completely tuckered out! My cousin and his beautiful wife took good care of us though. They threw some awesome chicken on the grill and made homemade, let me re-iterate, HOMEMADE macaroni and cheese and he even bought me a sixer of Negra Modelo (the closest thing to a "dark beer" that Carlsbad has to offer)! So we kicked back, swam a little in his pool, drank beer, chowed down and went to bed at the respectable hour of 10pm. The next morning we had a leisurely breakfast, packed up the car and headed off to Roswell to visit with my grandmother.

My Ma-Maw is a hoot! She is 93 years young and is ornery as hell! She doesn't use the computer any more, but when she did, she used to send me the foulest jokes I'd ever seen! I love that about her. She tells me all the time that she's gonna die soon, but then again, she's been telling me this for 20 years. My bet is she's gonna outlive us all! She and the Monkey Man played the Wii. She's not able to do the baseball or tennis, but the two of them have some fierce bowling competitions. I love that she still plays with him. The only great-grandparent I ever knew never played with me and hell, hardly spoke to me, so I cherish the relationship that she has with my kids. Unfortunately, by the time I left, I was loaded down with Cabbage Patch dolls and ancient Furby's. The Furby's aren't so bad, but I'm pretty sure one of those Cabbage Patch dolls is gonna go all freakin' "Chucky" on us some night! It was a great visit though, I LOVE my Ma-Maw!

Finally, we were on the last leg of the trip, the winding roads from Roswell to Ruidoso. The weather was pleasant and I noticed the temps on my thermometer dropping the closer we got to Ruidoso. One last pit stop in Picacho for cherry cider! If you've never had Carrizozo Cherry Cider, you need to get some! It's amazing! Just be forewarned that children who drink cherry cider from cups end up with "Joker Mouth" worse than Heath Ledger! Aahh, but it's so worth it!

We rolled into Ruidoso with a late afternoon breeze and temps in the mid 80's, SOOO NICE! The kids were a big help unpacking and I opened all of the windows of the cabin, brought all the chairs out on the deck and got ready to just chill. Just as I was ready to settle down and prop my feet up, the Piggy pointed and yelled, "Mama, what's that?!?" Well, the welcoming committee of course...

I LOVE RUIDOSO!

More trip tales coming soon!