Earlier this month I went to Ruidoso, New Mexico with Nathan and his parents. We had a blast and here are some of my favorite moments. Before we left, I dropped Chloe off at Barb’s and Nathan dropped Freddie off at Doggie Digs. Scout, one of his parent’s dogs decided to get behind the wheel and drive us for a while…
It was an 8-hour drive but really flew by. We drove through a little rain as we got closer Ruidoso.
The house they rented was great, it was right off the two main streets and also ending up being literally right on Cree Meadows. They found it on VRBO.com. My parents have used that site as well and have also had good luck.
We had multiple wonderful meals on our trip. This evening we had an awesome fried artichoke appetizer, which I think I was the only one who really liked it, but that’s okay – more for me!
The house they rented sat on the tenth hole at Cree Meadows Country Club. We played there once and then typically walked Scout and Buster along several of the holes each night. Believe it or not, but Nathan was able to add 50+ golf balls to his bag. I still can’t believe we found that many!
Buff, a family friend of mine, was able to get us on Rainmakers Golf Course and it was truly unbelievable.
One afternoon we drove up to Cloudcroft and had lunch at The Lodge. Afterwards, Nathan’s mom enjoyed a lovely massage and I played golf with the boys at the really cute 9-hole golf course up there.
On our final day, we had breakfast a cute little local spot followed by lunch at the Inn of the Mountain Gods and did a little gambling. Gary and I were both losers but Nathan came out a winner. We didn’t play golf there but decided that we’d definitely add that to the list on our next trip.
On our way out of town, we drove through Roswell, NM, which is where my Aunt Shirley lives. Nathan and I stopped to have a lovely breakfast with her, we had really tasty green chili quiche. Before we left Roswell, I had Nathan drive us by the New Mexico Military Institute. Dad went to high school there and I thought while we were in town, I’d grab a couple of photos of his old stomping grounds.
Ruidoso was really fun and it was such a great break from this Texas heat. In fact, I think every day that I’ve been back in town it’s been over 100 degrees. This makes me even more excited for our upcoming trip to the Cottage in Ontario.
Oh, and here’s a planet panorama I took at Rainmakers.
Caprock Canyons State Park in Quitaque is the home to the Official Bison Herd of Texas. Nathan and I went camping there with Brian and Eric and had an awesome time. There are bison and prairie dogs everywhere! While we were there we went fishing (no catches but lots of nibbles), hiking and horseback riding. In fact, I even slept outside under the stars one night in the hammock I bought last year. We all had a blast and this past weekend went by way to fast!
In 2006 I was fortunate to join my mom and Troy University for a study abroad session with a focus on British Broadcasting. Here are my favorite moments.
Here I am with several London Police Officers in one of the many train stations we visited.
Me with Trey and JW / Lindsay and Kaetlin
The whole group after seeing Mary Poppins on the West End. The Mary Poppins Musical originated on the West End before moving to Broadway at the end of 2006.
The Cavern Club in Liverpool, England was a popular little jazz club that a lot of famous musicians got their start. The Beatles made 292 appearances there and other frequent performers include The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Queen and The Who.
Here is William Shakespeare’s wifeAnne Hathaway’s cottage in Stratford-Upon-Avon. This little community south of Warwickshire, England is the birthplace of Shakespeare as well as the home to The Royal Shakespeare Company and The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, one of Britain’s most important cultural venues.
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in Wiltshire, England. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is the remains of a ring of standing stones set within earthworks.
While we were at Stonehenge there was a torrential downpour – it was hilarious.
Bath is a city in Somerset, South West England. The city became a spa when the Romans built baths and a temple in the valley of the River Avon.
Getting a behind the scenes tour of the BBC was the highlight of the few weeks we were in London. We also had the unbelievable privilege to be in the studio audience of the very last live episode of Top of the Pops – the BBC’s iconic weekly music television program. We saw McFly sing “Don’t Stop Me Now”, Snow Patrol sing “Chasing Cars, Lemar’s “It’s Not That Easy”, The Strokes’ “You Only Live Once”, Alesha’s “Lipstick” and Gnarls Barkley’s “Smiley Faces”. If you look hard enough, you can see me right in-between the two hosts as they say their final farewells. That is a moment I will never forget.
British Parliament behind me at night.
The group after seeing Billy Elliot, which also made it’s debut on the West End in 2005, before coming to the States in 2008.
My mom and me next to the Penny Lane sign, a street in Liverpool, England that was made famous by The Beatles.
In 2006, my dad and I drove from London to the beautiful country of Scotland. We played four rounds of golf and had enough wonderful memories to last a lifetime.
