It was nice, quiet weekend and so beautiful. Saturday we went to TRC to the bazaar there. It was interesting to see the differences from bazaars in Gillette. Here making jewelry is BIG. Beading, natural stones they polish, cut and string - they do it all. There were some beautiful pieces. There was the usual baked goods and needlework with painting, photography and carving thrown in for good measure. I bought some gifts for the family. A young girl of about 8 was selling handmade soap and her mother had a diverse variety of items. She also had low sugar strawberry jam. Ken bought some of that. We then wandered around town a little and ended up at La Pinata for brunch. It reminded me of Lulu Belle's in Gillette. The gentlemen behind us was eating a bowl of something that looked pretty tasty. I asked him what it was - Menudo - hmmmm - Menudo. Enjoy! Ugh I'm sure I saw hominy in it; so didn't order it. Hominy is not on my list of edible foods. Later I learned hominy was the least of my worries; the main ingredient is tripe. Tripe. Let it roll off your tongue and think about it. It doesn't even sound good, just strange. Trrrripppe! I know, I know I've eaten (and liked) some very strange things – chicken feet, catsup sandwiches, baked beans on chocolate cake, heart – but cow stomach tips the scales for me!! And Ken – Mr. I’ll try anything – just kept HIS mouth shut tight also. After lunch we stopped of to try the hot mineral baths. OM! OM! OM! Such a life we are leading. We are used to putting on a swim suit; then going out through the cold to the hot tubs. Communal bathing. Not here. It is completely private and no going out in the weather – no matter how nice. Back at the house we decided to try the strawberry jam. The lid was stuck a little so I pried it off – we haven’t found it yet. It flew off, bounced on the floor and went into nana land. I have searched everywhere – even taking the furnace vents off and checking in both of them………..beats me. Put a plastic bag on it, screw the ring down and forget it. Mmmm pretty good jam!
We went to church Sunday and I finally realized what my eyes are seeing when we walk in the door. We have finally gone over to the other side – instead of baby paraphernalia spread all around there are wheelchairs – lots of them – just inside the door waiting to be used. People are SO funny! I’ll just leave it at that. After church we had brunch then headed to the state park by the lake. Not 26 miles east to the lake; not 78 miles west to the lake –
½ mile to the entrance. What a spot! No wonder this area spends time here.
Notice how big the pontoon is in this picture. For a cool $1,000 you can rent a pontoon and sleep on it for 2 days and 2 nights during the holidays. This is a special Holiday price. There are 10 lanes at the boat ramp and I haven’t a clue how many boats can stay. Elephant Butte Lake is NM’s largest lake and recreation area and after touring around we believe it. On Dec 13th there will be a luminary walk down on the beach with several booths, hot drinks and then a boat tour with the boats decorated. More about that when I see it. One of the strangest things we saw was a pontoon boat that died somewhere out on the lake. 
We saw this strange contraption coming through the channel. As it rounded the corner I could see it looked like a pontoon in the middle. It quietly and slowly went to the ramp, straddled the boat trailer there and delivered the boat so they could take it to the boat doctor.
There are RV's boondocking on the beach everywhere. This was Thanksgiving weekend and it was warm and georgeous. I'm not sure how I would like having TB raised that high in the air on the one side. However, the campground has all types of camping. You can get nothing, water, electric and/or sewer. All for $18 max (if you don't have an annual permit.) My other fear would be getting stuck in the sand. But, obviously that is unfounded as many are doing it. We haven't used our awning yet as we are facing in the wrong direction so someone left site #58 and we moved into it. We worked today getting the awning up and secure. Several in the park asked me if we aren't worried about the wind taking it off. My philopsphy is we've lost them driving down the road near Butts, MT NOT using it; they have come out driving up from Casper in the wind. If the wind is going to take it at least we will have USED it. However, Dennis at the park has his tied down like he helped Ken fix and their's survived 70 mph wind just before July 4th this year. Just in case I took pictures of what it looks like out. Besides it's blue. TB is maroon, grey and black - we need a different color. NOT! LOL! It is game night so enough of this for the day.
We went to church Sunday and I finally realized what my eyes are seeing when we walk in the door. We have finally gone over to the other side – instead of baby paraphernalia spread all around there are wheelchairs – lots of them – just inside the door waiting to be used. People are SO funny! I’ll just leave it at that. After church we had brunch then headed to the state park by the lake. Not 26 miles east to the lake; not 78 miles west to the lake –
½ mile to the entrance. What a spot! No wonder this area spends time here.
Notice how big the pontoon is in this picture. For a cool $1,000 you can rent a pontoon and sleep on it for 2 days and 2 nights during the holidays. This is a special Holiday price. There are 10 lanes at the boat ramp and I haven’t a clue how many boats can stay. Elephant Butte Lake is NM’s largest lake and recreation area and after touring around we believe it. On Dec 13th there will be a luminary walk down on the beach with several booths, hot drinks and then a boat tour with the boats decorated. More about that when I see it. One of the strangest things we saw was a pontoon boat that died somewhere out on the lake. 
We saw this strange contraption coming through the channel. As it rounded the corner I could see it looked like a pontoon in the middle. It quietly and slowly went to the ramp, straddled the boat trailer there and delivered the boat so they could take it to the boat doctor.
There are RV's boondocking on the beach everywhere. This was Thanksgiving weekend and it was warm and georgeous. I'm not sure how I would like having TB raised that high in the air on the one side. However, the campground has all types of camping. You can get nothing, water, electric and/or sewer. All for $18 max (if you don't have an annual permit.) My other fear would be getting stuck in the sand. But, obviously that is unfounded as many are doing it. We haven't used our awning yet as we are facing in the wrong direction so someone left site #58 and we moved into it. We worked today getting the awning up and secure. Several in the park asked me if we aren't worried about the wind taking it off. My philopsphy is we've lost them driving down the road near Butts, MT NOT using it; they have come out driving up from Casper in the wind. If the wind is going to take it at least we will have USED it. However, Dennis at the park has his tied down like he helped Ken fix and their's survived 70 mph wind just before July 4th this year. Just in case I took pictures of what it looks like out. Besides it's blue. TB is maroon, grey and black - we need a different color. NOT! LOL! It is game night so enough of this for the day.
