Tuesday, Aug 9 Where's Martha?

Had a nice omelette that Kathi fixed.  We really do sound like moochers don't we?  I did bring chopped mushrooms and chopped the other veggies for her.  I am such a help!
After getting cleaned up we decided to go into town and do a little of the tourist thing.  It was then that we discovered we could not find Martha.  She had gone for a walk and was no where to be seen.  Steve and Al were very concerned as there are not that many roads in the park and driving around they could not find her.  I was just afraid she had fallen by the stream and could not get up, as she did not take her cane.  Kathi and I were going to be a little embarrassed when we had to report her missing and couldn't remember what she had on.  We decided we will take a picture of her every morning!  :)))))  Asked a family on bikes if they had seen her.  They came back a little later and said they talked to her and told her the family was worried about her.  She told them she didn't know why we were worried about her, she had just taken a walk.  I figured even if she got confused about where she was, she is smart enough to stay on the road or ask for help.  She had a grand walk and had to use the restroom, so had gone into the laundry mat and then started talking to people.  When we couldn't see her on the road, that is where she was.   Very nice walk for her, but gave us quite a fright.  If she wasn't 92, we wouldn't worry about her.
After that heart racing even, we loaded up and went into town.  There is a ski lift that takes you to the top of the mountain.  We decided to do that.  Al and I were senior rate and Martha was free.  The ticket guy said they should pay her to ride!

Kathi, Martha, Steve

Al on ski lift

10,350 feet

On

Martha was not satisfied with her walk this morning, she wanted to go hiking up the mountain ski trail.  Al and Steve went with her.  When they got to the top Al said some yodeling took place!

Kathi and I stayed back and fed the little ground squirrels/chipmonks

On the way down!

They were very nice and stopped the lift so Martha could get off.  Of course, she then wanted to have a conversation with the ski lift guy while everyone was dangling in the air waiting for it to start again.  We hustled her off and kept her moving so the next chair wouldn't topple her over!

That evening we took them all out for dinner as it was their last night here.  Went to a Mexican restaurant that has been here for over 30 years.  Martha said she didn't like Mexican food, but we thought we could find her something to eat.  I picked out a grilled chicken salad in a taco bowl.  She thought that sounded good.  When it arrived it was almost as big as she is.  Her eyes got big and she could not imagine that she could eat it all.  The waitress assured her that she would bring her a to go box.  She had never seen a taco bowl, so I showed her how to break it off and eat it with her salad.  We were all busy talking and eating our own great food.  Looked over, and she had eaten the whole thing except for a few pieces of lettuce.  It was amazing.  

Then they brought out sopillias (sp) and I showed them all how to eat them with the honey poured in the little pocket.  Martha said she could only eat a bite, so we had the waitress bring her a to go box for that.  The waitress was so nice and talked so Martha could hear her and told her that Martha had put a smile on her face as she had never seen someone so tiny eat so much and enjoy it so much!  She got a good tip!

Monday, Aug 8 On to Red River!

After breakfast we started the major packing up of the FW.   Steve finished his before us so came down to help.  He has had more experience!  He also brought his little air pump (put on our need list) so Al could check the tires and pump them up.

Packing up.

As much as I had visions of Lucy and Ricky in the Long, Long Trailer (a must see if you have not seen it), we made it over the pass and back down without any problems.  I think I still have teeth left after all the gritting of them as we went around curves, etc.
Pulled into our new campground and got registered.

The office

Steve in front, us behind

Martha-picture op!

 We found our campsites and set up.  We got backed in relatively easily.  Always have to make sure there is room for the slide to come out.  Got it level pretty easily.  I always hate this part as I am the one who has to stick the little blocks under the wheels so he can back on them to make one side a little higher than the other.   There are two tires on each side and I have to place the blocks in the right spot so that when he backs onto them, both tires are on the blocks at the right place.  I know, sounds easy, but I am always worried I will have them in the wrong spot.
After lunch we visited Steve's site and tried to get them hooked up to Skype.  Their daughter just moved to Virginia so they wanted to Skype with them.  The wifi here is verrrrry, verrry slow, so it was quite a challenge for Al.  He finally brought it up to our FW to work on it.   I put it on my computer, just to see if I could get it any faster.  It did seem to work a little better on my Apple.  Finally got both working, so I was outside, Al was inside and we were Skyping!

Martha amazed that she can see her granddaughter in Virginia.

Al getting Skype set up.

Sorry those last two pictures are backwards, but the internet is too slow for me to fix it.
That evening we brought hot dogs and buns.  After dinner we sat around the campfire.

Cooking the hot dogs.   We need one of these grills also!

Campfire was great.

Sunday, Aug. 7 Restocking day!

Today we drove to Taos to do some grocery shopping and camper supplies.  Stopped at Walmart and Albertsons.  The grocery store is Red River is small and expensive, so we wanted to get enough food for the rest of the trip.  Also stopped at a fly fishing store.  Alfie forgot his stacker (a device used in making your own flies) and we thought maybe we could find an inexpensive one.  He really didn't want to buy another expensive one as he has two at home.  Did not find one, but got him a pair of sunglasses that go entirely over his glasses.  He thinks they will be good for golf.
We did laundry and watched golf and went to Steve and Kathi's for spaghetti.  I brought a salad, so we were not complete moochers. 

Sitting by the chimenea was something we only did one night.  A lot of the extended stay people go down every night and share lots of stories.

Tomorrow is moving day, so we headed home and packed up as much stuff as we could.  Much easier just moving from one site to another on the same day.  We could leave a lot of items in the trailer and not have to pack the truck up.  We are excited about our new campsite in Red River. 

Saturday, Aug. 6

This morning we got up at 5:15 a.m. so we could be in Angel Fire at about 6:30 for the Balloon Rally.  15 hot air balloons were slated to go up.   We got there about the same time most of the balloon rigs were pulling in.  It was a beautiful morning, about 50 degrees, no wind and the sun came up over the mountain just as we were getting out of the car.
Neither one of us had been this close to balloons and their baskets.  Amazing how really small the baskets really are.

 

Al taking one of many, many pics.   He had a great time.

 

Al with his almost 92 year old mother, Martha.

Got back to the campground in time for our Chuck Wagon breakfast.  About 10:30 we all piled in the truck and headed for Cimarron, an old historic town.  We first visited the St. James Hotel.  Still an active hotel, with lots of history.  It's saloon, restaurant and 43 rooms were witness to at least 26 murders during Cimarron's wilder days, most committed in "self-defense".

Clay Allison, Black Jack Ketchum and Buffalo Bill Cody have all left their mark on the St. James, as attested by the numerous bullet holes in the tin ceiling of the main dining room.

Bat Masterson and one of the James brothers also stayed here.   We did not eat here, but would have loved to come back and had a drink in the bar. 

After we left the hotel we drove out to Philmont to tour the house.  http://philmontscoutranch.org/About/History.aspx

                                                          Listening to the tour guide before entering the house.

                                                Putting our shoes back on after the inside tour.  No shoes allowed!

 Some outside shots:

I did not get a shot of the front of the house.  So, you will all have to visit.   For all you Bartlesville folks, it really reminded me a lot of LaQuinta.

     If this was not enough for one day, we stopped in at an old grist mill, turned museum on our way home, back in Cimarron.

Went back to our ice cream store for a little snack and then took naps!

     Tonight I decided to cook some chicken tenders, baked potato, and salad.  After the first bite, we realized they were fish tenders!  I am not real good at reading frozen food labels.  I guess I just go by the pictures, and there was not one picture of a fish on the package!   We caught the last few minutes of the evening's entertainment.  A guitar and fiddle player.   I think we all hit the beds early tonight.

Friday, Aug 6 Vietnam Memorial

Just down the road from us is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial State Park.  Martha wanted to visit it as her second son, Henry, served a couple of tours as a Green Beret.  The Junior College that Martha taught at for years offers guided trips during spring break.  She has traveled on many of these including a trip to China and one to Vietnam.  So she was interested in seeing this Memorial, as were we.
The memorial was constructed from 1968-1971 and was the first major Vietnam memorial in the United States.

First Lieutenant David Westphall was among sixteen Marienes killed in an ambush in Con Thien, Vietnam.  The grieving Westphalls used David's insurance policies as a catalyst for the construction of the Peace and Brotherhood Chapel  and eventually the David Westphall Veterans Foundation was formed to support it.
There was an HBO film Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam.  Lots of Kleenex boxes in the theater.   Photographs from some of the 210 units that served in Vietnam and of over 1600 soldiers KIA.

The visitor center was completely renovated in 2009-2010.  It is worth a trip or a retrip if you have been before.
http://www.vietnamveteransmemorial.org/

We got back to the campground in time for the Farmer's market.  We were a little disappointed in the turn out, but did manage to buy cantaloupe and tomatoes.

Al buying a Rocky Ford cantaloupe from a man who knew his cousin and Aunt and Uncle in Colorado.

After lunch, in spite of the rain clouds, we decided to walk into town and get some ice cream.  Just as we got to some of the shops it started raining, so we stayed in one store as long as we could without buying anything waiting for the rain to stop!

Huddled under the doorway waiting for the shower to quit.

Found the ice cream store.  Martha, Steve and Kathi shared a banana split.  The people we shared a table with told us about the balloon festival in Angel Fire the next day.  We then learned that the man was originally from Slovania and spoke German.  Martha was in hog heaven!  They talked for a good 15 mins.  Found it amusing that she could hear everything he said, but can't hear Steve and Al!  :))

Martha and her new friend.

That evening at the camp gound they had an entertainer.  After dinner we sat and listened to him til we got too sleepy!

Thursday, Aug 4th Day of Rest.

Usual morning routine, up at 6, walk dogs, drink coffee, watch news, then to the Chuck Wagon for breakfast with the family.

Took the dogs for a walk in the state park area that is right across the street from the campground.   The Eagle Nest lake is in the state park and used to be a huge lake.  They are so dry that it is pitiful.  We walked out on the lake bed and were amazed when we looked back and realized where the shoreline used to be.

You can see where the flowers stop.  That is the old shoreline.

Babe in the lake bed.

Babe, wishing she had sunglasses.

Golf was on when we got back from our walk, so we watched Tiger play for a bit.  I took a nap while Al tied flies.  I also worked on this blog.  It is hard to find time in our busy day to put this all together!  :))

Steve, Kathi, and Martha drove to Red River and looked at our next campground and decided to extend their stay a couple of days and got a campsite.
After they got back, we went to their FW for a little conversation and serious truck talk.

I cooked another meal.  We had what I thought were chicken tenders, shared a baked potato and fixed a salad.   After the first bite of the chicken tenders we realized they were baby fish sticks.  So I don't read labels!  I just look at pictures and did not see one fish on the package.
The quiet day was nice, but tomorrow we will be on the run again!  Vietnam Memorial here we come.