This may be of interest.....

Two years ago Colin and Anna and I were rained out while hiking the Trestle Trail in Cloudcroft.  This year, with Beverly, we made it.

Switchback Trail revisitedJuly 15th 2013

We have done this trail maybe three times before.  It is a 4.4 mile loop.  The first time we did it we missed a sign and made it into at least 6 miles-the last two uphill.  Then we had to walk downhill two miles to retrieve the scooter.....in the rain.

This time because of the cool weather, about 65 degrees it was a piece of cake.  I had made fresh cod butties and we had them sitting on a big rock about 2/3s of the way round.  Because of the cool, and it being Monday we saw no-one else at all on the trail.

Here are a few pics...

From My Point of View

We are in Cloudcroft, N. M.  Last night we went for a very short stroll up the street and found we were 1 block from this view......

Then we sat on the porch and I had this view.....

Which do you like best?

Sand Devil

As we were returning to our mountain top cabin in Cloudcroft yesterday we saw several zephyrs.  Here is one of them.

Here's Evie

Here's a vid or two of Christmas at RSF

http://youtu.be/-hD7gHug3_U
 and
Here

Later

I'll try for another on here because it would not load on the previous post....

Christmas in Rancho

So annoyed with YouTube.  They've changed the site so much and made it difficult for me to navigate. I had it down for years and now I'm addled.

Anyway I have a video to post and I'll try to get another loaded to post later....

Colin in Town......

Grandson Colin Oliver came last night to spend two nights with us.  Here is a video of me yelling at him.



Nana took Colin to the zoo this morning.  They came home tired and sweaty,  eeuww.
Then Col tried the pool-- water too hot to swim.   Next we had pizza. Sushi or Chuy's for dinner, we'll let him decide.

Wood Burning Pizza Oven

This is a great way to cook food.  Last night we had pizza and tonight we are baking fish.  Here are a couple of the pizzas we made and later I'll add a pic of the fish we bake tonight......gotta go out and catch them now.......

The fish turned out very well, but, sorry I forgot to take a picture in all the excitement of serving them up for dinner.

Here's Graham.....

Graham recited a poem in school today...

Evelyn.....5th Birthday ride

She rode a little today despite the cast on her left arm.

And Beverly rode today too..

As did I,......

Famous People Wax Museum

Graham and Paige were portraying Jackie Robinson and Shirley Temple today at school.

Here are videos of them talking about the celebrities they were portraying......

Rodeo 2012

We went to the rodeo yesterday.  It was spectacular.  Those cowboys really work hard. We were in a suite and had a great view of the events. There was lots of good food, wine and beer if you wanted it.

The National Anthem sung by the Houston Boy's Choir was excellent......here's the tail end which is all I managed to get recorded....

And here some of the group shows excitement at the bullriding skills of the cowboys.

After the rodeo there was a concert and the kids liked that....

Destin Revisited

We drove last Thursday past New Orleans to Slidell, Louisiana and overnighted there.  It was a 6 hr drive. Next day we went on into Sandestin - 4 more hours but it was relatively easy with the break in between driving days.

Although the weather was cold we had lots of plans for the long w/e.  There was a dog parade on Monday and Mardi Gras on Tuesday.  Patch and Maggie got blinged out for the doggie walk and we all had a great time catching beads and whatnot at the Mardi Gras parade.  I thought I would be a bit bored by it but, NO! It was a blast and we had a great time.

Patchie and her Mardi Gras adornments

Looking at the coast and beach

not many swimmers

She's working

Brian, Sandy and Bev enjoying CH wine

It's a bloody mary morning

At lunch in Ft Walton Beach

Martinis all around


One couple drove back to Ft Lauderdale on Tuesday and missed the parade.  Beverly, Brian and Eric drove back to Texas on Wednesday.  An
 11 hr drive non-stop at 70 - 80 mph.  Ugghh!

Annual Visit to Destin Florida

Our good old friends Brian and Sandy have a big beautiful new comfortable house on the golf course in Sandestin.  Along with another couple, Steve and Linda, we meet there every year.  We have been doing this for the past 12+ years.

Forty years ago when we were in our late 20s and early 30s we had many very good times together and we rehash all those memorable events every year.  Each year each couple prepares a dinner.  I've done Jennifer Shrimp, King Crab, Crab Souffle, tenderloin and several others that don't come to mind right now--(an irritating development). This year I'm making Meatball Stew a la Giada DeLaurentis with my own twist.  I saw her make it on TV two weeks ago and I tried it. But, I added lots of green chilis to it because we had enjoyed the Green Chili stew at The Cross-eyed Moose in Cloudcroft NM.  It turned out so good that I made it again this week and we're having it for dinner tonight.  We'll be having it again next Saturday night.


Here are the meatballs I just made along with Beverly's choc chip cookies and some libation we will be indulging in when we get there.

 Too bad you can't see the deviled eggs,...............but,

Here's a pic of a little girl showing her G'Dad
how she can wink.  That beats deviled eggs anyday.

RSF Revisited

I came out again today to Rancho Santa Fe

It is a really beautiful place and the first thing we did after picking up the kids from school was go to visit the horses.  Graham is still not feeling in top form so he did not ride but Evelyn and PK did.

Steph and I will do a trail ride tomorrow.

Someone asked what we would do for dinner and I suggested the club because I like the Wednesday presentation they have .  They go nuts with hamburgers and that's what we did. With the time change it is dark in California by 5.30 pm.  We were all tired and ready for bed.  I did get a pic of Evie and a video too.

These pics don't show how big her eyes are..too bad.  She's already telling time, counting in hundreds and doing simple add and subtract maths.

Osha Trail Once More....

We tried to bring Anna and Colin back to do the Osha Trail while they were here but every time we started out to hike the afternoon rains would nix the project.

Beverly and I did it yesterday and we took little Patch. It was a fine day and we decided we would do the course counter-clockwise to change the routine up a bit. It took 1.5 hrs and Patch walked most of it unaided.

Here are some pics and vids.

Bev finalizing some business deal....

 This is a shot of the old tressle from 1900 that was part of the train track from Alamogordo to Cloudcroft

 Patch and me on top of the mountain....

 Pretty Bev grinning all the way...

 Tired old fart taking a break......and his old dog

My sister said she was looking fwd to see more trail hike vids...

And Beverly took a couple for Norma too...

This is a revealing video because I got stung at the end of it.   Second time in two months that I've been stung.  It ain't easy being attractive.

This is the result of that sting......ouch!

Duck Work?

In El Paso yesterday I saw this truck that had the owners company name painted on it as well as what tasks he handled.  Included was refrigeration, installation and DUCK work.  It tickled me so that I recorded it.  Not a great vid but at the end when all the jiggling stops you will see the word in question.

More from New Mexico

I got such a great response from the 8.5 hours of work for my last post ( Thanks to Emily, Norma and Bev ) that I will post more of the Martin kids visit to Cloudcroft.  We really enjoyed White Sands and here are some vids of that activity:

A swallow's nest..( No, this is not a porno pic )






Driving in.... and several sled rides...













Hope you enjoy these posts of the Martins in New Mexico.  We enjoyed having them and look forward to next year.

Kids and Posting

Colin and Anna went home yesterday as did Emily.  I have so much material because we were pretty busy while all the company was here.  Tennis, movies, hiking, White Sands (terrific day!) shopping in the village, Peter Piper, drawing, cracking stones and, on the last full day here, horse riding in Ruidoso.

Unfortunately I am not on line in Cloudcroft at the cabin.  I must come down to the Chamber of Commerce building where there is free WiFi. I do that almost every day and try to upload vids while here.  It takes 38 minutes for a 1.5 minute vid to download and I have 29 vids ready to upload so you can see the difficulty.

However I do have some stills to share.....

This one needs no explaining.

Colin playing in gypsum..

Anna in Ruidoso...

This is the bear Anna was sitting on and Colin climbed on it instead of sitting for a snap..

These bears are $100 each...

Lots of trinkets and collectible junk...

The more junk the better ...

Emily and Anna through the window..

So pretty..

Colin looking for trouble, again..

Here is a video from the first day they were here...

Colin at the net...

Here the kids are pulling weeds...




YouTube is not cooperating....I have spent too much time trying to embed some more vids that are already uploaded.  Can't seem to figure out how to get the embed code when I play the vids from my YouTube account. Oh well.  maybe Emily will clue me in.....Next Day.....She did!
So here are some more:




And finally, the end of weed/grass pulling.