August 12, 2005

  • Well.  We started out by driving to Carlsbad Caverns last
    Saturday, stopping briefly in Pecos, TX so Don could see where the
    infamous Judge Roy Bean held court:

    Got rather a kick out of the sentiment on a tombstone there:

    "He never killed a man that did not need killing."  Fairer than that you can't say, I suppose.   
    Then we drove on to Carlsbad, and stayed in what has to be the most
    singularly uncomfortable motel extant, the Ocotillo (sp?) Inn. 
    Don found it at Expedia, where it was still listed as a Quality Inn,
    only it turns out it was sold last June.  Even Dmitry didn't sleep
    well, and both Don and I were literally in pain the next morning, the
    mattress was so awful.  Stay away from this place.

    Anyway, Sunday morning we headed to the caverns, which Dmitry was at first suspicious about, but quickly became enthusiastic.

    He wasn't quite as enthusiastic when he learned precisely what "guano" is:

    I lent him a small flashlight, which added a whole new dimension of enjoyment to his tour of the caverns:

    I took dozens of photos in the caverns, most of which looked fine on
    the LCD screen but fuzzy on the computer screen.  Bummer. 

    Then we drove to Ruidoso, where it's been beautifully cool.  What a delight!

    The Rio Ruidoso (which they call a river, but is actually more akin to a creek) was running well, due to the afternoon storms.

    On Monday we went to Lincoln County, where Dmitry learned about Billy
    the Kid.  In the evening Mom and Dad hosted a brisket dinner for
    us, the "us" including Louis and his wife, Mary, plus Elaine and her
    husband and daughters.  Meredith and I began a new game which she
    dubbed "Picture time!", and involved my trying to snap her photo and
    her doing a Charles (who missed the trip, preferring to go to the
    annual QuakeCon in Grapevine instead):

    Ha!  Got 'em both that time.  ;^)