Santa Rosa Highlights

Monday was my birthday - I'm now eligible for Medicare!!! It was a great day. I went into town to run some errands and go to Park Lake to cool off. A friend of mine from the group who is traveling through the New Mexico state parks also was already there. We hung out on her air mattresses and had a very relaxing time. Well, except for when I fell into the water, stepping in for the first time. I misjudged the depth of the water from the stone edge of the lake, and when my foot didn't hit the mud bottom, I just fell over. No harm done...

I had planned to find a place to have a nice dinner, and maybe treat myself to a "blizzard" at the local DQ. It turned out that the group was planning to go dancing at a place called "Joseph's" (aka The Fat Man), and my friend wanted to eat there. So we agreed to meet there for dinner after she went back to her place to clean up and do her hair. While she was gone and I was waiting for dinnertime, I went to McDonald's and had a refreshing caramel iced coffee while sitting in a nice cool place. The coffee was very good.

I was pleasantly surprised that when my friend came to the restaurant she brought another traveler from the group with her, and another couple also joined us. So I had some very pleasant company for dinner. Both of my children called me to wish me a Happy Birthday while I was there, so I got to have dinner with them, too! After dinner two others joined us for dancing. We danced until around 9:30 p.m. and had a great time. It was a wonderful impromptu celebration for me.

Today the group went to lunch at a place called the Comet II, another of the historic restaurants along the old Route 66. I had a hamburger with special locally grown chilies, known as PDL chillies, from Puerto de Luna, about 10 miles south of Santa Rosa. Very yummy.

After lunch we went to the famous Blue Hole, a natural 'lake' that is 60 feet across at the surface and 130 feet across under the ledges. It is where people from all over the country and around the world come to learn how to SCUBA dive. While we were there today a group of divers arrived so we could see the Hole in action!

Following our visit to the Blue Hole we went to Park Lake to swim and cool off. This lake is a city lake with a water slide, paddle boats, and, it appears, one white duck. The lake has a mud bottom, and it is fed by water from the Blue Hole, but it is definitely not as cold! I imagine I will visit there a few more times before I leave the area, as it has been very hot recently.





Note: Art by Leslie Allyn - a commissioned painting of my rig