Anniversary Part 3: Cloudcroft

We were cold and damp leaving Carlsbad Caverns, and hitting the outdoor air felt great for about ten minutes while we warmed up and the dampness evaporated.  We drove back into Carlsbad to visit the auto museum, and saw that it was either 100 or 102 degrees, depending on which bank thermometer you wanted to believe.  Yeah, it's a dry heat, but that's a little warm even for me, particularly since I was dressed for the cave in long pants, thick socks, trail runners, and a black shirt.  But it was cool in the auto museum, plus it was COOL.  Lots of neat old cars to look at.

I thought the New Balance sneakers with velcro on the dummy mechanic were a bit of an anachronism, but what the heck.












We left Carlsbad and headed for Cloudcroft, NM (pop. 750) which is in the Lincoln National Forest.  The village is at 8600 feet above sea level.  Stephen had made reservations for us at The Lodge in Cloudcroft.  When we arrived, the GPS on Stephen's phone said we were at 8800 ft.  The temperature had dropped from 102 in Carlsbad to a lovely 80 with a nice breeze.  There were aspens and ponderosa pine, and front yard gardens with poppies in bloom. 

 The rooms are charming, each with some antiques.  The nightstand is a Martha Washington like the one my Grandmother gave me.

 We don't play golf, but we thought this course might be somewhat challenging, being on the side of a mountain.
We had a delicious dinner overlooking the mountain view, listening to live cocktail piano.  I had chile relleno stuffed with potato, avocado, black beans, and green chile with a mild red chile sauce.  Stephen had red chile shrimp.  We had good food everywhere we went on this trip, including some little roadside places with a LOT of local color, but the Lodge was the best.

 

I had finished my book, so I borrowed one from the hotel lending library.   We walked around the grounds after dinner.

On Sunday morning we had another excellent meal in the hotel dining room.  I had green chile grits and a side of fruit.  Stephen had eggs Benedict with a red chile hollandaise sauce.  This is New Mexico, after all, red and green chile go with everything!  

After breakfast we went for a walk on some of the gravel roads near The Lodge.  It reminded us of the Adirondacks, with camps of various sizes and architecture, except that we would expect there to be a body of water near a group of camps.  Stephen said that instead of boat trailers, there were ATV trailers.  There is a ski area nearby, and lots of trails.  Cloudcroft has a rollerskating rink and a playground.  And we had missed a music festival and car show by a day.  Neat place, and well worth another visit.

The drive down the mountains through the Lincoln National Forest was beautiful.

 Past Ruidoso, we stopped to look at forest fire damage.  The fire was in 2012, and consumed over 44,000 acres and 250 homes.

 The town of Ruidoso was interesting.  It reminded us of Lake George, except there was no lake.  In fact, the whole mountain drive was a little strange because we kept expecting to see some body of water, but there wasn't a lake, river or stream on the entire trip that we could see from the road.

When we got to the bottom of the mountain, it was like the road just spit us out into the desert with no transition at all.  

We came to a wide spot in the road called Carrizozo, and decided to stop for lunch because the GPS said it was 80 miles to the next turn.
We ate at this little cafe.  The owner said, in a heavy drawl, "I know about vegan."  And he proceeded to make me a lovely salad with lots of fresh veggies and a side of pinto beans!  What a pleasant surprise.  Right in the middle of cow country.

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 When we got to I-25, about 90 miles from home, I took over the driving.  The posted speed limit is 75 mph.  I set the cruise at 80, pointed the steering wheel straight ahead, and stayed in the right hand lane so the other drivers could pass me, which they did every few minutes.  The most challenging thing is to remember that you're supposed to be piloting the vehicle, since you don't have to turn the wheel or touch the accelerator for many miles!