Monday, December 11, 2006
SKP Co-Op "The Ranch", Lakewood, NM - Nov 11-Dec 10
The Ranch considers itself the friendliest of the SKP parks, and many visitors agree. We enjoyed a yummy Thanksgiving dinner here -- The Ranch provided turkey, stuffing, and gravy, and each table (of 10-12 people) got together ahead of time and agreed on what everyone was to bring. At every other park when we've eaten a big dinner, there are usually a number of cliques that get together & reserve all the room at their table (heaven forbid they would have to sit with a stranger!). Here, the largest group that can request to sit together is 4 -- groups, singles & couples names get assigned to tables randomly. It's a good system & makes for a fun afternoon. We had a great "hostess", which made the day especially festive.
We heard about "Christmas on the Pecos" while playing bridge. This is a "must see" in Carlsbad at this time of year. The Pecos River winds through Carlsbad, and homeowners along a 2-mile stretch of the river decorate their yards with brilliant light displays, which can be viewed from the river by boat. 
If you don't have your own boat, the city runs passenger boats for a reasonable fee. We picked a perfect night, clear and warm, to glide up and back down the Pecos. Three other couples from The Ranch also happened to be on our boat, and we all enjoyed the quiet serenity of the boat ride illuminated only by the holiday lights. The calm was disrupted when we were 2 minutes from the dock by a sudden windstorm. We were barely able to dock before the rain started. As we were dashing to our vehicles, the four couples agreed to meet for dinner, adding further enjoyment to a wonderful evening.
The storm turned out to be the head of a cold front that plunged The Ranch into winter for the next two weeks. Icy winds, sleet & snow were the order of business. During that time, we played lots of bridge and visited the Living Desert Zoo & Gardens in Carlsbad and Carlsbad Caverns Natl Park west of town.
The Zoo specializes in native species of the Chihuahuan desert and was truly enjoyable.Click here for More Zoo Pictures.
Carlsbad Caverns NP was overwhelming, even though this was a repeat tour for both of us. The Big Room alone is 8.2 acres of unimaginably beautiful formations.Click here for Cavern Pictures.
We drove to the Caverns in a rental car -- our truck was in the shop having major front-end work done. Our plan was to leave on Sat, and when we took it in for regular maintenance on Thurs they checked out a shimmy and discovered the bad news. 
That gave us an excuse to stay for the bridge club's Christmas party on Sunday, and everyone was pleased to hear that we'd be attending. The Carlsbad bridge group is as nice a group as we've ever played with, and the local newspaper prints their results, so we got our name in the paper 3 times (two firsts and a second) for November alone, and it will be there more times for December.
We have spent many months in various parts of New Mexico. It is truly a wondrous state, with many different and enjoyable areas. There is much beauty and also a lot of "dumpy" areas. There is one really quaint law here for state elections that end in a tie. After the courts certify that the election is truly a tie, the election must be decided by a "game of chance", the game being determined by the two candidates. Thus the mayor of the small town of Edgewood was decided by the highest card drawn. At least it's better than a duel. On a more disgusting note, cock fighting is still legal here, and there is a place where it occurs close to The Ranch.# posted by Doug and Willie @ 5:34 PM 
