The Majestic Mountains!

Hello, Everybody!



On Friday morning, El Paso was covered with snow and ice. Schools were on a two hour delay for opening. Ellen had a doctor's appointment at 8:30 AM, and then we were going to leave for Ruidoso when she finished. Fortunately, the streets on the westside of the mountain were not iced over. The eastside and the northeast side were very treacherous. Ellen had no problem getting to the doctor's office and getting back home. However, the road we normally take out of El Paso to Ruidoso was closed from the state line to Alamogordo. We waited until 10:00 AM and drove to Las Cruces, and took Hwy 70 to Alamogordo. All was good! Ellen drove to Las Cruces, but then turned the keys over to Sharon. Since the time that Ellen did a 360 degree turn on the freeway in Lubbock, several years ago, if there is even a hint of ice, she refuses to drive, ESPECIALLY, when we are in Sharon's car!



We kept thinking the temperature would warm up a little. We were between Tularosa and Ruidoso and this is what the temperature was registering!

We were greeted by this beautiful site as we entered Ruidoso!

It is not unusual to see horse trailers on the road. On Saturday afternoon as we were driving through town, we got behind this trailer. Yes, that is really a camel being transported!! It was on its way to the church where they hold "A Walk Through Bethlehem." We will be going there Sunday evening.

The Festival of Lights Parade was Saturday evening. We thought you might like to see a few pictures. Yes, it was cold and somewhat windy! Ellen got Sharon all wrapped up!

We were all set with our chairs, blanket and hand warmers!!

The theme of the parade this year was Gingerbread Houses. We picked out a few of the best pictures, but we have many, many more!

Most of the floats were very detailed and the lights were simply spectacular.

This guy was probably 12 feet tall!

This was a Jeep that was decorated!

Wouldn't it be fun to take a sleigh ride in this?

He is hard to see, but Santa made an appearance on this one!

More lights, more fun!

Who doesn't love the story of Cinderella? This one definitely put you in Storybook Land!

There were several marching bands in the parade. The kids all had decorated themselves with lights. Some had even put lights on their instruments. We had a wonderful time making friends with those around us.

When we got back to the hotel, we had hot tortilla soup. It took several hours for our bottoms and legs to finally get warm. Thank goodness we have a fireplace in our room. It helped to get us warmed up.

We will post more pictures after our "Walk Through Bethlehem tonight."

Until next time . . . . . . . . ......