The hospital Sheryl works at had there Christmas party the other night, free dinner, a gift raffle and entertainment, Hey, you can't pass that up!!! Besides it gave Sheryl a chance to smooze with the bosses alittle.....lol. Dinner turned out to be very good, we didn't win any prizes but it was a good time never the less.

Socializing before dinner.

The venue was the Civic Center in town, much nicer than we expected for small town NM.

Sheryl's favorite doctor and friend. We had a good time as it seemed everyone else did. Thats it for now and until next time......................

Westside Rd, LNF, 19 Dec 09

Saturday, Sheryl and I, along with some folks from El Paso and here in town took a little trip up into the Sacramento Mountains. We all met here in Alamogordo, after refueling, we headed toward the town of La Luz and the La Luz Canyon Rd. After a short drive on La Luz Canyon we headed east on Calico Peak rd.

We made a side trip up to Calico Peak, there was just enough room for our party to fit there rigs in the turn around area and the view from the overlook were great. Then it was on to Westside Rd. toward the southern Sacramentos

We had a diverse variety of vehicles, from Land Cruisers, FJ Cruisers, Jeeps and a Pick-up. All toll we had 7 rigs in the group.

We went in search of snow and managed to find some, but mostly what we found was mud and lots of it!!! Due to the snow melt the road was pretty bad in spots, but nothing the group couldn't over come.

After about 3/4 of the way, we stopped at an old corral for lunch, the corral was pretty damaged by the high winds we had eariler that week.

After Westside Rd. we headed over to Bluff Springs and the waterfall (one of the few in the area) still quite a bit of snow at the falls and the ice on the falls was still plentiful. Made for some good pictures and the kids had a ball playing in all the snow.

Once again a good time with great folks, what more could you ask for!!! No wonder we love our life so much!!!

Last Weekend, one of the new doctors intown and friend of Sheryl's invited us to a holiday party at their practice. It just so happened the party coincided with the cities holiday parade and their office just happened to be on the parade route.

We were surprised at the number of people that showed up for the party, and the Doctors sure put out a spread of food and drinks. Turned out to be a good time.

The other surprise was the number of people that turned out to watch the holiday parade. The parade lasted for 1 1/2 hours, seemed like if you lived in town you were either at the parade or in it!!!

Just a quick update, we have another holiday party this weekend put on by the hospital. So we'll let you know how that one goes, everyone says it a great time also. See ya next week.

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving 2009, my daughter and her husband invited us out to do Thanksgiving with them in Dallas, (hmmmm...no cooking, cleaning, , stress or houseful in our house) of course we had to say yes!!! They had just moved into their new home and wanted to begin their family traditions and memories with a houseful. The dinner and days were great and the kids have a beautiful home. We didn't take a whole lot of pictures, were just enjoying the days.

Here the girls are getting the feast started (Sheryl, Kayla and Tiffiny)

Sheryl showing Kayla the finer points of pie making......and man were those pies good!!!

The FEAST!!!

After a couple of days in Dallas with beautiful weather, we returned home to a bit of snow. This is up in the mountains just east of home. What a perfect way to end a perfect holiday with friends and familiy.

Otero Mesa, NM. Nov 09

The Otero Mesa is a large expanse of BLM land approx. 1.2 million acres. The area sits in Southern Otero County in South Central NM. Myself and some others from various adventure travel sites got together for a weekend of exploration. Kirk and I stayed for the weekend and the others were just out for the day. Above are Sheryl and I, Kirk and Jose, all posied at the trailhead and getting ready to roll.

Shane and his Cherokee from Miitary Jeepers.

Kristin from Military Jeepers and Jose from Expedition NM.

Headed into the mesa on NM 506 from Hwy 54.

Once up on the mesa, we turned north toward and into the Southern Sacramento mountains. This area traversed several deep canyons as we made our way up into the mountains.

Once up on the mountains the road leveled off abit, but still continued to roll upwards.

We passed through the small town of Pinon, where we found pavement for a few miles. Once back on gravel we stopped to decide on lunch and a needed break. The wind was begining to pick up, so we pressed on to find a less exposed area.

We found a less windy canyon and and as luck would have it, a Geocash spot for Kirk, and a great little place to stop for lunch.

Kirk had scoped out a few Geocash spots along our planned route. We may have to look into this as it ads another sense of adventure as well as added fun to traveling.

As we headed south, the scenery began to change from the higher mountains to the desert foothills. It was bcoming time to start looking for a camp site. It was also time for Jose to leave us so he headed back toward home as we scoped out a good area to camp.

We found a nice dead end road off our main route, at the end of the road was a cattle watering area, nicely graded, with a large water tank we could use as a wind break. Camp was set up and Sheryl began a great dinner of smoked sausage w/peppers and fried potatos.

Kirks trailer and roof top tent.

The evening brought a beautiful sunset. This view is looking east toward the Guadalupe mountains with sunset creating a nice soft orange glow to the mountains.

Looking west, we were camped in a horse shoe like area, surrounded by the foothills on three sides.

Of course what in camping without a roaring campfire. The wind was picking up and temps were dropping, but the fire and good company made it all bearable.

The following morning bought clear skies and colder temps as we packed up and got ready to head out of the foot hills and back onto the mesa.

For such a desolate area there are many small ranches scattered throughout the area as well as many old corrals.

Out of the foothills and back on the mesa. Miles and miles of roads out here to explore.

One of our destinations for the trip was the Cornudas Mountains along the TX/NM State line.

We made it into the mountain range where we found a small lake, we stopped for a break and found the wind had picked up tremendously. The wind had become very cold and biting so we decided to call it a day and head for home since our adventure was coming to a close anyway. We'll head back out a explore this area during better weather.

We turned our vehicles north into the mesa and back toward the trailhead. It was a great weekend of exploring and meeting new friends. This is what traveling is all about so until next time, keep lovin your life as we do ours.

First Snow of the Season

We had quite the winter storm roll through yesterday. Temps dropped from a nice fall 70, to a chilly winter 38 this morning.....burrrrrrr. We only got alittle rain here on the desert floor, but up in the mountains behind the house.............6-8" fell, making the first snow of the season a winter wonderland. So this morning after getting Sheryl off to work, I just couldn't resist a drive up to see the snow.

Really hard to believe how beautiful the mountains are when blanketed in snow. I drove up to and around the town of Cloudcroft via unplowed Forest Service Roads which wind there way through the backcountry.

Just a quick couple hour drive and back home again. Seeing the nature at its beautiful best is what it's all about, makes you love life even more!!!