Teresa's 60th, Red River, NM & The Great Bait Debate

T's 60th/Red River, NM

     We did a thing. Or as many of us would say in wild and wonderful West Texas, we did a thang.

     Teresa and I loaded up and met the family, not all of them but a bunch of them, for her 60th birthday celebration in Red River, New Mexico.... elevation 8,750 feet. I'll explain the significance of the altitude in the coming paragraphs.

     T's wish for her birthday was to have her children and grandchildren all in the same place at the same time. Thanks to one text from me to daughter Ashton and daughter in law Kayci, the wish came true. Thank you girls!!

     It would be a tremendous understatement to say we made some great memories. We spent three full days together. Every hour included a memory. But Teresa and I agree that the funniest memory comes from the day the dads in the families, Bobby and Cody, wanted to take us all fishing.
     There were two ponds within walking distance of our cabin, but Capresto Lake at 9,131 feet was calling. Again, there's the altitude sentence.

Capresto Lake/New Mexico

     Capresto Lake is exactly how it looks in the picture... Fantastic! It's not that big but it's tucked away in a narrow mountaintop valley.          The water's so cold that Ashton's description reminded me of a glass of ice water. The ice has melted, but the water temperature is cold enough to make children squeal and adults shriek with likely vulgarity if there's ever a big splash.  

     Getting to this mountaintop fishing hole was no easy task, but Bobby and Cody covered every detail or so we thought. And that's where the Great Bait Debate begins.

The Great Bait Debate/Capresto Lake, NM

     Here's what happened. The big boys as we call 'em because we're a lot older, planned the adventure, got the licenses, rented the poles and packed most of the gear. The little kids all got suckers while we waited. Halli dropped her lollipop and it ended up with a lot of hair on it. That's another story.
     The details took awhile, but eventually we packed up two vehicles and headed up the trail. Imagine 45 minutes to one hour on the bumpiest/narrowest  roads you've ever ridden.         We lived. We unloaded children, chairs and grandparents and walked down a rocky/steep trail to this really incredible vista.
     I think our goal was to catch dinner but more importantly make memories. We succeeded in spades on the latter.
   

           I wish I had an audio recording for the above picture. That's Cody on the left. Kayci's in the forefront. Bobby's on the far right with his head turned toward Kayci. Tillie, with the bright blonde hair is playing with rocks and lil' Halli's ready and waiting in that first chair. Here's the conversation... at least how I remember it.

Cody: "Where's the bag with the bait?"
Kayci: "What bag?"
Cody: "The white bag I gave you."
Kayci: "What? I didn't know what was in it. I left it at the cabin."
Bobby:" Wait. We don't have the bait?"
Halli: "You forgot the bait?"
Kayci: "I didn't forget the bait!"

     By this time, we're all roaring with laughter and Tillie's still playing with rocks, but it gets even better.

Bobby: "Anybody got gum? I know people who fish with gum. Something shiney."
Bill: "I have some Nicorette."
Teresa: "No! That's too expensive."
Halli: "I have Gummy Bears."
Bobby: "That might work."
Halli: "Want me to throw some crackers into the water to attract the fish?"
Cody: "Can't hurt."

     The bottom line is... We did fish with gum and Gummy Bears and Halli crunched up crackers to attract the fish. We didn't get a nibble. but I think we all spoke and heard sentences that we never expected: "Anybody got gum" and "Gummy Bears might work."

     The honest truth is we did bait hooks with gum and Gummy Bears and Halli did crunch up a bunch of crackers. And best of all, the moms and dads fished with the children. It was a sight to see.

Ashton & Avery/Capresto Lake, NM

     In fact, the best caster awards go to Ashton and five year old Avery. Ashton took that rod n' reel and whipped it sidearm like she was kin to Bill Dance (you'll get that if you're old enough.) Then, Avery took ahold of the Zebco, arced a big loop and gently dropped her Gummy Bear in the lake, just off the rocky bank.
      But alas, the mountaintop trout probably wanted whatever was left in the white bag that was left back at the cabin, on top of the ice chest just inside the back door that included Moonpies, Cheetos, Baked Lays and my low sodium peanuts.

People of the Red Willow Pueblo/Taos, NM

     We made a lot of memories in The Land of Enchantment, including our day trip to Taos.

     I guess I was the unofficial tour guide, but I wasn't very good. I told all the kids, that is the lil' ones, that the church in photo was built in 1610. Carson and Jet, the two oldest were impressed. Then, I looked back at the tour map and realized I was wrong. I had read about the much older, off limits church. The church in the photo dated back to only 1800-something.
     I admitted my mistake. The good news was, both boys did the math and I'm pretty sure realized that they too were making some fun, everlasting memories with their grandmother. I'm pretty sure lil' Tillie (2 yrs) didn't hear a word that I said.

Bill Robertson
As for the elevation... Breathing in Snyder at 2,350 feet is like taking your breath through a big megaphone. Breathing in Red River at 8,750 feet is like breathing through a three-quarter inch hose. Breathing at Capresto Lake, while walking up hill, is like breathing through a fat straw like we had back in the days of the 7-11 Slurpee. I always got a Coke & Cherry mix, by the way.