2024-8-17 Flying J Ranch, Alto NM

 On Saturday night, a group of us went to the Flying J Ranch for a chuck wagon dinner and a night of western entertainment. I highly recommend it.  We had a wonderful time. The ranch is family owned and has been putting on show for over 30 years. Alto is right outside of Ruidoso.

It starts with a visit to Bonita City.

There are shops with some things for sale but the real draw is the fantasy it creates for you.

Of course there is the requisite Boot Hill.

There is an Indian teepee nearby.

Kids were having a great time panning for gold.

You can visit the blacksmith shop.

This guy will tell you all about it if you sit a spell.

There is a church. They even do weddings here.

There is a sheriff in town.

And, of course, there is a gun fight.

After the fun fight, it's time for the chuck wagon dinner.

This is where dinner is served. Brisket or chicken, baked potato, chuckwagon beans, biscuit, and dessert. It was delicious.

First we saw these performers playing outside.

But they put on a full blown show after dinner and they were outstanding performers. Family plus friends.

We had a great time at the ranch and would do it all over again!

2024-8-17 Winfield Park, Ruidoso Downs NM

Another drive through town on the way to Walmart led us to Winfield Park in Ruidoso Downs which is right next to Ruidoso and is where the Racetrack is located. Due to the fires around Ruidoso and to the floods which followed, the racehorses were evacuated and won't be back until the damage is repaired. Driving down the highway, you can't miss these beautiful iron statues. They are huge and so magnificently done.

Each horse has a metal plaque telling about the particular breed.

These two particular statues appeared to defy gravity with only one or two feet attached to the grouund.

This view shows it even more clearly.

We also found this plaque which looked like it was an actual grave. If you liked western movies, you will know this actor. There was also a museum here. The Hubbard Museum of the American West, a Smithsonian Affiliate, is one of the most respected museums in the southwest region, and home to an extensive collection of magnificent carriages, wagons, saddles, firearms and Indian artifacts as well as changing traveling exhibits. Unfortunately for us, it was closed for remodeling but it is something to look forward to on a future trip.

 On to the wild horses of Ruidoso!

2024-8-16 Inn of the Mountain Gods, Ruidoso NM

The day we arrived in Ruidoso, we took a drive up to the Inn of the Mountain Gods which was just a couple of miles north of our RV park. It's owned by the Indians and located on the reservation. It's beautiful. We just went up to take a look but I won't say that several ladies made a couple trips back to play while we were in Ruidoso. I had to take this photo on the move so it isn't great.

The art work in the drive is beautiful.

This is the back of the building. It's a hotel as well as a casino.

There are places to sit and relax in the lobby. This is only one end and each end has a huge fireplace.

The view out the expanse of windows is beautiful.

It's well worth a visit just to check out the scenery. There are two more casinos in town but this one is the most beautiful.

2024-8-16 Rainbow Lake RV Park, Ruidoso NM

I just got back from a two week trip to Ruidoso NM to escape the heat. I thought I would start my posts with some pictures from the RV park where we stayed. It was not a rally but there were a whole group of my RVing Women friends there when I arrived at Rainbow Lake RV Park and Cabins. 

This is one of Harley's travel positions. He is a fabulous traveler and experienced RVer.

I had a pretty decent site between the picnic pavilion and a large class A. There were Quite a few other RVers from San Antonio here that were not part of our group. 

It was a relaxing time.

A friend caught these deer photos in the meadow right behind the park.

We had group dinners a few times. But we did a lot more which you will see in other posts.

This is Rainbow Lake which is really more of a cement pond with a creek running through it.

Barb's dog Retta was very interested in walks around the "lake". 

It's a good thing that it had a good fence around it or she would have been in the water "fishing" in a flash.

Pretty sure these are rainbow trout in with the carp.

This is what happened when I threw some fish food from the machine into the water. They followed me around the lake after that.

It was really nice and quiet as well as dark at night because everyone turned their porch lights off.

Lots of stars and moonlight.

Ruidoso went through fire evacuations and then floods so they were really happy to see tourists who came after and didn't cancel. The floods actually did more damage in town as the fires were on the outskirts. We had two friends who had to evacuate without their RVs due to the fires but everything was fine when they returned. If you were planning a trip this fall, please don't cancel. They need your business.