Out and About in Ruidoso Downs and Ruidoso

Sunday, 19 July 2015
Deer Crossing RV Park — San Patricio, New Mexico
Temps: Hi 90F (32C) / Lo 67F (17C)

After taking care of a few things at home, we set off this morning to pick the brains of the people who man the visitor center Mui spotted when he drove into Ruidoso a few days ago.

We didn’t make much headway before we made our first stop.

Spotting a cute little church right after we passed the sign for Glencoe, another small community along Hwy 70, we flipped a u-ey so I could take a quick shot of St Anne’s Chapel.  Dating back to the 1930’s, it is the founding Episcopal church in Lincoln County.

Services were just ending, and one of the congregants said I was welcome to enter the church and take photographs.  There were still too many people inside, so I thanked him and said I’d stop by another time.  As the only church in the area open 24 hours a day, I should be able to find a more suitable time to take pictures of the interior sometime before we leave.

Our next stop was at the Billy the Kid National Scenic Byway Visitor Center in Ruidoso Downs.  What a great place it turned out to be.  Not just for the information we collected from the staffer, but also because the exterior is decorated with murals — both mosaic and painted.

You guessed right … I had to photograph some of the details of the murals before we headed inside.  The mosaic mural is signed “Lincoln County Artwerks – Sarinova 2004.”  I did a little research when we returned home and believe the Sarinova reference is to local artists Brian and Summer.  The painted mural, dated 2009, is the work of students from the Eastern New Mexico University, which has a campus in Ruidoso.

Some of the depictions in this mural are of the Three River Petroglyphs (1000-1400 AD) and
of "Black Jack" John J. Pershing, the US Army general who led the American Expeditionary
Forces to victory over Germany in World War I.  His first active duty assignment after
graduating from West Point was at Fort Stanton in the New Mexico Territory.

Left: Mosaic mural depicting the Buffalo Soldiers — US Tenth Cavalry ... formed in 1866.

Right: Smokey Bear (1950-1975).  The live inspiration for Smokey was an American
black bear cub that in the spring of 1950 was caught in the Capitan Gap fire.

Left: A section of the mural on the exterior of the building.
Right: Entering through the door, visitors are welcomed by Billy the Kid.

The visitor center is nothing like any I’ve seen before.  It bills itself as an interpretive center for the scenic byway.  On the floor is a depiction of the byway, with the representative roads leading to places of interest along the way.  As well, there are exhibits about places that would be day outings from here.

Can you guess the area this exhibit represents?

Left: Having fun with Smokey on a day when he doesn’t have to fight fires!
Right: Billy the Kid invites us to visit Lincoln Village.

Spotting some horses next door to the visitor center, we found ourselves at an outdoor exhibit that is part of the Hubbard Museum of the American West.  We plan to visit the museum on a day when we need refuge from rain or hot temps.  Nonetheless, we wandered around the garden to check out Free Spirits at Noisy Water — an art installation that features a series of horses sculpted by Dave McGary.  The horses are all different breeds … ranging from the Morgan, to the Arabian, to the Appaloosa, and the American painted horse.  My only disappointment was that the signs explaining the different breeds detracted from the sense of the horses being out in the wild.  What can I say; such things drive us photography nuts crazy ;-)

Continuing our drive into Ruidoso itself, we did a drive-by on the main drag.  I’m not saying that there isn’t plenty in town to keep visitors busy, but it depends on your interests.  Frankly — and I might get into trouble for saying this — we saw only a few things today that really jumped out and grabbed our attention.  One was the Old Dowlin Mill, which was built in 1868.  The nearby signage described it as the birthplace of Ruidoso.  In fact, back in the day, the town was known by the name of “Dowlin’s Mill.”

From the sign on the sidewalk: “A famous landmark for 100 years [more like 147 years now].
Originally a grist and sawmill.  Used as rendezvous by Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett [who killed
Billy the Kid], … JJ Pershing [then a lieutenant at Ft Stanton], and other historic figures."

The other thing that caught my eye in Ruidosa was a mosaic mural — also signed by the Sarinovas.  Titled Wall of Courage, the 75x20-foot (23x6 m) mural is on the side of Ruidoso’s fire station.  In addition to an American flag and the shield of the Ruidoso Fire Department, the mural shows firemen fighting an urban fire on one side, and a wildfire on the other side.  It really is a beautiful homage to the men and women who put their lives on the line on a regular basis.

At the time of its dedication on 11 September 2008, the Wall of Courage
was thought to be the biggest mosaic mural in the US.

It was well past noon when we decided it was time for lunch.  Mui had already checked Trip Advisor so we followed in the footsteps of others to Cornerstone Bakery & Café.  The place was chock-a-block … filled with locals dressed in their Sunday best and casually attired tourists.  There was a wait of about 20 minutes, but we found something with which to entertain ourselves while we waited for a table to become available.  Namely — a barn swallow nest with five little chicks that were either sleeping, or chirping their little hearts out when mom and dad returned to feed them.

All five chicks are visible in this photo, although one is facing the wrong direction ;-)

The parents were buzzing back and forth, stopping just long enough to drop whatever they had brought back into an open beak before setting off again.  In one instance, one of the birds bent its head to feed one of the chicks only to pull back in the split of a second.  Why?  Well, I think the next picture explains it adequately.

Ooops! That’s the wrong end to feed!!!!

By the time the hostess came to escort us to our table, the chicks were all fed and snoozing peacefully.  Time to feed ourselves.  I got the Artesia Avocado BLT — a half-order with a cup of creamy tomato basil soup; Mui settled on the Mescalero Burger, which came on a green chile cheddar bun and was topped with green chile, bacon, lettuce, and tomato.  We were both pleased with our selections.  Having spotted the pecan pie in the display case, Mui decided that would be his dessert.  I’m not a pie-person, so I ordered the carrot cake — which turned out to be a better choice.  Lucky for Mui, there was enough cake left over to bring home to share tomorrow.

A very tasty and filling lunch — Artesia Avocado BLT & soup (left) and Mescalero Burger.

Totally satisfied with our meal, we decided a walk was in order.  But one look at the gathering storm clouds and the lightning rending the sky was enough to change our minds.  A quick stop at Walmart to pick up a few things and we headed home.

Typical afternoon storm a-gatherin’.  Time to get ourselves home.

We now have a list of places not too distant from Ruidoso to visit in the days ahead … when I take a break from planning trips that are already in the hopper.

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