Finally out of Texas!

Wow, Texas sure is big! We left home on June 5th and just got to New Mexico on June 11th. Of course we made a few stops along the way, played a couple of golf courses, and did a little shopping. I played a new course in Gunter, TX called The Bridges and it was quite nice. It is built in the middle of no where but will eventually become a suburb of the Dallas Metroplex. They have a couple of homes on the course but the area is mostly grassland is actually quite pretty. Now when they build the 2000 homes that are planned I am sure the look will change. The second course I played was in Wichita Falls, TX and was a re-do of the municipal course at Weeks Park. It was also nice but still needed some growing and work on the areas off the fairways. These were both courses on the Best New Courses list for Golf Digest that I was assigned to evaluate. I don' think either will make the final list but The Bridges has an outside chance.

We drove a couple hundred miles to Lubbock, TX where we had to do some business on the 10th so we stayed over the 8th and 9th, did our business the morning of the 10th, waited for the thunderstorms to pass, and then drove the 100 miles to Clovis, NM. We did just an overnight in Clovis, didn't even unhook the car. After a leisurely breakfast we left for the short 180 mile trip to Ruidoso, NM. Ruidoso is in the Sierra Blanca Mountains at about 7000 feet. The temps have been in the 70's during the day and in the low 50's at night. It has also been windy but that hasn't caused us any trouble. The park here, Little Creek RV Park, is quite nice. The sites are pretty large and they have all of the hook-ups we need. It is about a 10 minute ride into town but the ride is very enjoyable. On the way home on Thursday we saw a deer on the side of the road, right in a business district. The deer appeared to be trying to cross the road and was waiting for traffic to clear. We pilled into a car wash about 100 yards down the road only to find it closed and as we drove back onto the highway we saw the deer calmly walking across the road.

I have made a couple of inquiries about golf here but didn't get any response until this morning. I sent an e-mail to the golf professional at a course called The Rainmakers, designed by R.T. Jones II, and he responded today that he would love for me to come and do a Golf Digest evaluation on Monday. Just to give you golf guys fair warning I bought some new tools while we were in Lubbock. Two Titleist fairway woods, 15.5 degree and 18.5 degree, and a set of Nike wedges, 52, 56, & 60. I will be practicing and getting prepared for the battles. I am still trying to find a Titleist Hybrid 24 degree but need to get it at a golf store where they can install an oversize grip for me.

The pictures above are the only shots I have taken so far and I apologize. The John Deere tractor was taken at the RV park in Wichita Falls. The guy made it from scratch with some motorcycle parts, some car parts, and many custom parts. It looked pretty cool and sure attracted attention where ever it went. The second pic is the 18th hole at The Champions course at Weeks Park in Wichita Falls and the last picture is our site here in Ruidoso where we will stay until Tuesday when we head north to Las Vegas, NM for a two night stay. More from there, be safe.