Sept 21st to 23rd - Roswell NM

Sept 21st - Mon - Roswell
Was going to do one load of laundry this morning and ended up doing 3. The park has 1 washer & dryer that are not coin-operated. You put a note with your site #, what you purchased and the money into a metal box on the office counter. Nice to see trusting and trusted people are still around. The washer was large and spotlessly clean (like the rest of the park) and very close so the trips back and forth were no problem.
We drove a few miles to Bottomless Lakes State park - where we were heading before we stopped here. There is a very nice campground at the state park with large sites, covered “patios” with a picnic table and a pavilion and swimming beach right next to it. You can make reservations so this would be a great spot to go with a group of friends.
We had heard, at the visitor center, about a farm where raspberries were being picked so we headed west towards Ruidoso to try to find it. After about 15 miles we figured we missed it and turned around. On the way back we stopped at another museum (Historical Center for SE NM) and the lady there said the farm was probably 25 miles away. The museum was a very large house built in 1912 (14 rooms, 3 baths). Some of the rooms were furnished as they would have been nearly 100 years ago and others were used to display various historical collections. We learned that the extra wide front door was called a “casket door” for the obvious reason of allowing a casket to be easily carried in & out according to the customs of the day.
We stopped at the municipal golf course to see if we needed a tee time for tomorrow. Terry suggested 10 but I thought it would get too hot as it was over 90 when we were there. The guy there said it was going to cool down a lot with a front coming in so we decided to wait and see.
And cool down it did! There was a nice breeze when we sat out before dinner and then the wind picked up and clouds moved in about 6. Lightning, thunder, very gusty winds - and the temperature dropped to 52 by about 9. Luckily, the storm moved through as fast as it approached and only the cooler temperature remained.

Sept 22nd - Tues - Roswell
Cooler temperature makes for great sleeping conditions so we were late getting going this morning. Also decided it was too cool & breezy for golf. After a late breakfast we went to the Bitter Lake Wildlife Refuge which is on the migration route for sandhill cranes and Canada geese. We took the 8 ½ mile auto tour around lakes & marshes but this is the wrong time of the year for birds.
We hit WalMart and Home Depot on the way back and then went to yet another museum - Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art. Not sure how I ever convinced Terry to visit this one! I continue to be fascinated by what can be displayed as art in a gallery. I sometimes wonder if the artists are making jokes or laughing at people who pretend to “understand” their creations. But of course there are also incredible works of art that even I can appreciate. When Don Anderson (of the museum name) had his 90th birthday, friends and artists were given diamond shaped blocks of wood to decorate and then they were fit together like a quilt on 2 long tables. Very interesting to see the imagination and diversity of the results.
The cook got a break tonight and we went to CiCi’s pizza for dinner.

Sept 23rd - Wed - Roswell
Another lovely, lazy morning catching some favorite shows on HGTV. Spent quite a bit of time on the computer trying to decide where we want to stay this winter but didn’t make any reservations yet.
We had some lunch before we left to play golf and take advantage of the warming weather. We played at the municipal course and had a lot of fun. The course is in good shape but they had just applied some dried sludge fertilizer (fluffy “dirt”) in front of the greens so you couldn’t count on any roll up to the green.
Then a repeat of other evenings - sit out with a drink, have dinner and watch Dancing with the Stars.