A changeup yields a wonderful result!

When we left Albuquerque, we had planned an oil change in Amarillo at Speedco, our go to place to get regular oil and chassis service, and we really like the facility in Amarillo, then on for a visit with Kelly, Todd, and the grandkids and bee-line to Louisville for our tradition of Thanksgiving at Karen and Tom's farm.  But there have been big changes, and those plans have been altered.  Now we are planning to spend Thanksgiving with Kelly and Todd in Lubbock, so that left us with about two extra weeks.

Walker our nephew, Karen and Tom's son was going to be at a "school" for rodeo riding, really just saddle bronc and bareback.  He explained that the people that raise the bucking stock need a place to evaluate and give some experience to the horses, so they invite riders to come and for 3 days they ride to their heart's content or until they are so sore they can't go on....  It was being held in Artesia, a small town south of Roswell, NM, why not go see him ride?

We decided to try out Bottomless Lakes State Park about 15 miles east of Roswell.  It is definitely out in the middle of nowhere, but has a collection of sinkhole type lakes along the Pecos River drainage system.  

Did I say the middle of nowhere?

But the campground is very nice.  Wide open huge sites, and best of all, it is quiet, dark at night, and interesting.  

Our campsite

Not bad, huh?

Jan and I took Friday to explore around the park, take a hike, and then go down to Artesia, about 40 miles south on Saturday to see Walker.

We first drove around the park, half is low down by the lakes, but in the pictures you can see the escarpment that the lakes were formed from, so half the ride is on top with great views.

Looking down at Lea Lake.
That's us in the left foreground

After that we decided to take a nice 1 mile hike one way along the Bluff Trail, thinking that would climb up and over, but it actually went along the bottom and to several of the other lakes.  It was nice, easy walking and the temps were great, about 65.

The path

Mirror Lake

Some company along the way, "beep, beep"

A rare shot of the elusive photographer!

It is a nice place, not sure we'd come back here again, unless Walker is riding in Artesia again:)  So unfortunately Saturday arrived with overcast skies, temp of 42, and wind a blowing.  Off we went to Artesia.  We found the Eddy County Fairgrounds, and a bunch of huddled up, trying to keep warm, cowboys, and a frozen Walker.  He hadn't ridden yet, but said if it warmed up he would after lunch.  We froze and still has a wonderful time watching the activities.  They even had young kids around 8 years old riding little calves that bucked like mad, and lots of really tough, new, wild horses that really bucked like crazy, didn't even know a horse could do the stuff they were doing.  There was a pick up crew of 4 cowboys that were responsible for getting the rider, if he stayed on for the whole ride off, and then to catch the bronc, and get it safely back in the pen.  These guys were good, excellent in fact.  It was a treat to watch them work as a team, with horses that were amazing!

We took a break to warm up and grab lunch, came back, watched for awhile and then Walker's turn came up.  What a good job he did!  It was a treat to be there to see him ride.