Surprise Weekend Away

                This weekend I was treated to a great surprise.  Michael whisked me away for the ski trip he had given me for Christmas!  I worked Saturday morning and after work gathered my bag and we got on the road.  Our first stop was the blue hole which is by Santa Rosa, New Mexico.  I had never been to this site but had witnessed the billboards along the highways for many, many miles.  The blue hole wasn’t nearly as large as I imagined it to be, or not nearly as blue but regardless it was a neat site.  It was packed with scuba divers working on different levels of certification or skills courses.  The water was fresh and I think I will put it on my list of places I need to go to cool off this summer!  Next we continued on to Las Vegas, New Mexico to eat at a great Mexican restaurant that has some of the best green chili salsa and sauces I have ever tasted.  We then moseyed to Montezuma, NM to see the hot springs and beautiful castle that was built by the railroad to entertain guests.  There are many beautiful houses in Las Vegas that do not fit the typical adobe style houses and buildings of the area.  When Las Vegas was a large railroad town people moved in from the east and their style of architecture followed them.  When driving through these neighborhoods it hardly feels like you are in New Mexico!  After that we worked towards our final destination of Taos!  It was my first time to Taos and I loved it!  We stayed at a great motel that fit the New Mexico style, served chocolate chip cookies on arrival and had great clean rooms and friendly staff.  We arrived a little after dinner time and we weren’t that hungry so we headed out in search of good beer.  We made it to Eske’s Beer Pub.  They brew their own beer and we got to sample 7 of their brews.  My favorite was called the Dead Presidents Cherry Ale (or something like that – it tasted so good but dulled my memory slightly).  I do not like fruit flavored beer but this was pleasant and beckoned for more.  Their most peculiar tasting was the green chili beer.  It smelled and tasted amazingly, just like green chilies.  It was as though instead of squeezing in lime juice someone swapped it for pepper juice.  It was even spicy which tricked my head because usually I will take a drink of beer to calm the heat down but this time it didn’t help at all!  After that we headed over to the Taos Inn which happened to have a live swing band playing.  They had 4 band members and all were talented and entertaining.  The crowd and atmosphere were equally as great.  Everyone was up on their feet jumping and jiving to the upbeat and infectious music, Michael and myself included.  It was a great way to spend a Saturday night and we thoroughly enjoyed a night out on the town!

                Sunday was set aside for skiing at Taos.  What a day it was.  The weather was great, about 45 degrees and sunny.  It wasn’t too crowded and the people that were there were friendly and polite.  I haven’t skied in about 8 years (with the exception of in Dubai about a week and a half ago!) so it was a rather slow day for me.  I am proud to say that I only fell once and it was when I was standing still at the bottom of the mountain (very embarrassing)!  We skied all day and then headed on the long road home (actually it doesn’t take that long but after skiing all day it sure feels like it!)  I got home and found out I got a great souvenir of a killer sunburn.  Apparently the sunscreen in my moisturizer wasn’t enough  to handle the high altitude, strong sun and reflective snow.  I wore sunglasses and a hat so I have pale eyes and about an inch and a half of a pale forehead and the rest of me about as red as a fresh cooked lobster.  Needless to say, I have gotten many looks as I have been around work and town today!  Regardless it was well worth it for the great weekend I had!