Ruidoso & Cloudcroft

We got up early and had a nice breakfast and then headed for Cloudcroft, NM to see what was there. The downtown area is constructed in the old west motiff and had the usual jewelry, t-shirt shops and clothing shops. 

We picked up a couple geocaches along the way and then visited The Lodge which is 100 years old, was built by the Alamogordo & Sacramento Mountain railroad early last century. The interior was beautiful and they had a nice sitting area around a fireplace. It was too warm for a fire so Herb & I sat around waiting for the girls to do some more shopping. We walked around the grounds outside and were impressed with the view. The Hotel is having a hard time staying open in these difficult financial times and I hope they make it.

We drove back to Ruidoso through the Mescalero Apache Reservation. They have signs up along the side of the road clearly stating the reservation is off limits to outsiders. Non Indians! Too bad, there were some neat place that they could develop into tourist areas with very little effort.

They really don't need more touristy places since they own the Inn of the Mountain Gods hotel, casino, golf course, restaurant complex. It is one of the nicest Indian Casinos we have visited. The buffet was very good and they had a large selection of food to tempt you. The casino managed to take a few dollars from us, but we had a good time there.

This was St. Patrick's Day and it is usually a great day for me since I have a lot of Irish heritage.  My very good lifetime friend, Gerry Cavanaugh is Irish through and through.  I received word that Gerry passed away on St Patty's Day after a long bout with cancer.   We will miss Gerry terribly and hope that he is up in heaven enjoying a Jamison.  Here's to you old buddy.