Visit by the Browns

Stephanie, Ken, and Emily came to visit us this weekend, so things were fun. Because the weather was so pleasant after several days of freezing cold last week, we enjoyed getting out. We took Emily to the Laughing Sheep pumpkin farm by Lincoln and bought a few pumpkins, both the carving kind and the pie kind. She seemed more intrigued by the raspberry vines and stakes than anything else.

After that we had to go to Ruidoso to have a sandwich wrap at Rivers Edge and a walk through mid-town. Steph and Ken went ahead of us to the train store, so we walked with Emily for about 2 blocks until we also got there. We were amazed that she walked the whole way, just stopping to window shop along the way just like a girl! They stayed until after lunch today to go to church with us. Emily enjoyed dancing to the music during the praise and worship service and then playing with the toys in the playroom. At one point she picked up a white teddy bear to play with, and I noticed that it was one of Meaghan's! It was one she got at Iowa State U. on an Odyssey of the Mind trip when she was in 6th grade. Emily seemed to enjoy having the "antique bear" slide down the slide! All in all, it was a good weekend.

The cheese is free, water's $1, but the oxygen'll cost ya 10 bucks!

No pictures again this time--just a funny story. This afternoon we went to Ruidoso just to mess around since it was such perfect weather. We ate lunch at a new fish 'n chips restaurant and then went to check out a new cheese and wine shop in midtown that is being managed by a former student of mine. The store is just getting started--don't have their wine license yet but will start selling/tasting the wines soon. In the meantime, they have an oxygen bar in the place where the wine bar will eventually be. If you'd ever told me there would be an oxygen bar in little ole Ruidoso, NM, I would have said you were crazy! The funniest thing is that while we were tasting the cheeses, an older tourist-type man came in and inquired about the oxygen bar--not because he wanted to stay young, fresh, and beautiful, but because he wanted to breathe and the 7200' elevation was killing him. He asked how much the water cost ($1 a bottle) and how much the oxygen cost ($10 for 10 minutes), so we laughed that the cheese we were eating was free!

Back to the Wortley Hotel

We made the drive to Lincoln after church today to eat at the Wortley Hotel. Forgot to take the camera so no pictures today. They are filming a movie of some sort in Lincoln so the town was full of folks, some watching and some acting and a lot working behind the sceens. We had heard that the Wortley had reopened with new owners, but knew nothing about the food.

The menu is limited to a dinner salad, a couple of burgers and a couple of enchilada plates. Jo had the Blue Cheese Burger and it came out piled with blue cheese which made her smile, served with chips and the normal toppings. Ed had the Red Chili Beef Enchiladas. There were two rolled enchiladas with red chili sauce and black beans and small fried pototoes. The enchiladas had lots of beef and covered with cheese, the red sauce tasted really good, but could have used more sauce. Raw onion and a few raw chopped fresh jalapenos and tomatoes garnished the top. Three chips on the plate was a little short for chips, but over all the meal was well prepared and hot. They automatically served lime with the tea so did not have to order lime for our tea.

The price was slightly higher than most places in the area, $8.50 for the burger and $9.50 for the enchiladas. We sat out on the porch and watched folks walking around town then the movie people started relocating their shoot so they were coming by with all the gear.

It has been a while since we were at the Wortley. Meaghan worked there for a while and we really liked to go there to eat till they changed cooks, then sold out and many owners since have let the place run down. The people who own it now are from Florida and the rooms were all booked up, don't know if that was the movie people or visitors. They said they would stay open till Thanksgiving then close for the winter. We'll go back and take some of the church crowd. It is another place to eat Sunday lunch especially since Alto Cafe is now closing on Sundays.