Weekend in Ruidoso

Once a quarter Holiday encourages us to have a weekend get-a-way. They really encourage us by reimbursing us up to $200 for a hotel, etc. We chose the quaint mountain town of Ruidoso [Ree-o-doso] in New Mexico. It’s a two hour drive and has the two key ingredients for a good weekend, a casino and shopping. I guess that’s a great weekend for MB. I loved the time to read a book and rest.

Driving up there was a snow storm. Now I’m not acosomed to driving in the snow, so there was an adjustment for me. The part where I noticed it was going uphill and when the tires would slip. They didn’t require chains, but I really wish they had. The time I realized this is when the GPS told us to turn at a little street and I didn’t see it until the last second. When I stepped on the brakes, I slid 100 feet past the intersection. As it turned out that was a lucky break as the next intersection was a main drag and it was a much better route. We discovered that when we were at breakfast the next morning there was a couple at the table next to us. They took the first way and were happy they had a 4-wheel drive SUV.

When we got to the hotel we were sooo impressed. It was a great place called the Lodge. Our room had a fireplace and a big Jacuzzi tub.

Then we discovered that they don’t have a restaurant and we weren’t going out in the snow again. Luckily Dominos was still delivering so we had Italian.

When we went to bed we opened the drapes and were greeted the next morning with an incredible scene…

You can't get a perspective of how deep the snow really was until you see our car….

Later that day we did go to the casino and what a view from their lobby…

There are seats in front of the window and enjoyed tortilla soup while watching the scenery.

Last we went to see a jazz concert. On the way we wanted to get a bite to eat. Now I discover New Mexico isn’t California either. No restaurants between us and the theatre. So we drive back into town and find a cute little Mexican restaurant and since we had left some extra time just in case - we made it to the concert in the nick of time.

The concert was coincidental to our weekend, but what a treat. It was the Ronnie Kole Trio doing a Christmas show and they were amazing. The most impressive part was after intermission. Ronnie went around the audience and asked for requests. People got silly and asked for Rachmaninoff and even chop sticks… he did them all!! Ronnie did a 20 minute segment weaving all of the requests into an amazing set. By the way, the couple we met at breakfast… Ronnie Kole and his wife.

Finally, how does MB end a weekend away? Shopping, of course.