Welcome to Ruidoso, New Mexico

Yesterday was a very windy day with visibility nearing zero because of all the white sand in the air in Alamogordo. So we were glad to wake up to blue skies and calm winds. After our unplanned trip to the valley, we were once again heading into the central New Mexico mountains. We were excited to see the snow-covered Sierra Blanca Mountains framed by the pine trees as we approached Ruidoso.

We found that the city of Ruidoso is an expensive place to camp, even in the off-season. So we booked a two-night stay at "On the River" Campground with plans to explore the area for some boondocking possibilities. Our little campground was almost deserted in April, but we're sure that it is very popular in the summer when campers will love the spots on the river.

We first explored the tourist attractions of Ruidoso. We were told that the streets will be busy and all the stores crowded once the quarter horse racing season begins on Memorial Day. In the off-season, everything is quiet and driving and parking are easy. The race track was deserted, but we stopped in at the casino for $20 in free play.

The other attraction is the Inn of the Mountain Gods, with Sierra Blanca Peak looking over its backyard. Again, we stopped only long enough to use up another $20 in free play at the casino in this no-smoking facility. After our two casino stops, we came out $20 richer. If we had used our own $40, we would have been losers. But since it was all won on free play cash, we felt like winners.

Our next stop was an in-town stop that felt very much like we were in the wilderness. Grindstone Lake park has an impressive trail system that allows hikers to get exercise on a maze of trails that can be woven together to make loops.

Close to the entrance of the park, we stopped when we saw a herd of wild horses.

While the herd included a nice group of adults, Denisa seems to always take pictures of the foals. This little one still had shaky legs, and made a couple trips around the mare before figuring out where to get dinner.

We had to chuckle at the graphic at the start of the trail system. When the snow is melting off the trails, it is replaced by mud. The mud-meter points to the level of mud on the trails. We were glad that the mud was drying up, so we took one of the loops and hiked our way down to Grinder Lake.

This interesting spring bloom was one of the brightest whitest wildflowers we had seen.

The lake was very still, and looked like a nice place to kayak. But it was chilly and getting late on our first day in Ruidoso. So we left the kayak in the pickup and admired the glass-like water from the shore.

We also admired the lake wildlife. We watched as this osprey landed on a tree close to Lake Grinder's shore.

He posed for a photo as he scanned the water and the shore-line with those keen eyes that can see through water. We assumed that he would swoop down to do some fishing, but we were a little surprised to see what he caught.

The picture is blurry and taken from quite a distance, but that osprey swooped down to catch a snake. We watched that wriggling snake trying to free itself from those talons as it experienced flying for the first time.

Another herd of wild horses came down to the water's edge for evening drinks while we were watching.

It must be spring, because we saw more foals in this group that paraded down the sidewalk to the lake.

These wild horses seem to be well-fed on the native grasses.

While they are still wild, they are used to people around the lake. This one walked right towards Denisa and her camera until veering off towards the water.

While she looked healthy, this wild horse wears the mud and has a tangled tail and mane without the care given by a horse owner. The mud-meter is still high in some of the areas where this herd has been hanging out.

We enjoyed our first day of driving around this small city, and saw some of the more famous parts of town. We feel welcomed to Ruidoso, New Mexico.