Sunday Tim, Jenny, Nathan and I went to Cloudcroft for a day of fun. Yesterday I wrote about the hike we took to see a waterfall so today I will share what we did the rest of the day. After our hike we headed over to an outside shooting range. It is an area that is part of a cattle ranch but has been set up as a shooting range. It does not cost anything to use it. You do have to bring your own targets. We brought glass wine and liquor bottles and milk and water jugs. Jenny, Tim and Nathan set up the bottles on a hill and then we started our fun. Jenny went first with her pistol and did a good job hitting her target. Tim went next with his shot gun. He bought it in February but has not had a chance to shoot it so he was eager to give it a try. He liked it! I was next and chose the Shot gun since I had never used it. It was fun and I hit my target, the water jug; it never stood a chance! Nathan went next and showed us all how to shoot a pistol. I tried the pistol but I like the shot gun better. We continued to shoot the rest of the ammunition and then cleaned up our area. It was fun getting to shoot outside. I had only gone shooting at an indoor shooting range.
We then headed up to Cloudcroft to have lunch. We ate at Big Daddy's Diner. It is in a log cabin and is the main restaurant in Cloudcroft open everyday 7 am- 9 pm. Their menu had a lot of choices along with BBQ. They also make homemade pies and cobblers. The atmosphere was like a diner in a log cabin. We sat next to a large window that we opened so we could feel the cool breeze from outside. The food was good and you get plenty of it. I recommend Big Daddy's as a good place to eat. Lots of menu choices, rustic atomsphere, and a nice local charm.
The Lodge is the oldest hotel in Cloudcroft. It was built in 1899 by the Alamogordo and Sacramento Mountain Railroad. The railroad ran the lodge and it became a success hotel that people stayed at to get out of the desert heat and enjoy the cool mountain air. It was originally a log cabin but in 1909 it burned down and was rebuilt in 1911. The lodge is what you might expect inside too. The parlor has huge couches all set aroung the huge fireplace. Mounted on the fireplace is a huge Deer head and standing near by a stuffed bear. There are two diningrooms and a beautiful backyard to sit and enjoy the cool air. There is a tower you can go up into. It is a climb but well worth it. The view from the tower is beautiful. Carving your name on the walls of the tower use to be the thing to do and in the 1940's Judy Garland and Clark Gable carved their names into the wall. It is not allowed anymore. The Lodge even has its own ghost, Rebecca, a chambermaid that was killed in the woods by her lumberjack boyfriend on a jealous rage. They say they walks the cooridors and hangs around the staircases. Room 101, the govenor's suite, is her favorite room to be in. She is not a scarey spirit just a lonely one. We did not feel her presence while we were there. The Lodge also has a beautiful Golf Course that is a challenge built on mountain cliffs. The first hole the tee is on top of a mountain cliff and the green is about 350 yards straight down. Tim and I wanted to play but we did not bring our clubs.
We then headed back to Alamogordo! It was a fun filled day. Today, Tim and I are headed to Lincoln, NM to check out what the wild west was like in the late 1880's. We will be hanging out in Billy the Kid territory.
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