A "La Fonda" Day

Holy cow! I wake up at 5:50, but back to sleep until 6:15..what is wrong with me? The sun is just coming up over the desert landscape & it's another clear & sunny day. A little coffee, cookies & off for a spin on 285. I head north for about 8 miles before coming back to Lake Brantley & to camp by 8:45 with 22 miles & I find KK out riding! grab some cereal, check e-mails & off we go for Artesia to see what we can find. It's about 20 miles up 285 & we're at Main Street & some very large sculptures of cowboys, oilfield workers, cattle & teachers. There's also a very large refinery just east of town & lots of oil referencess about the city..home of the champion Bulldogs! What a high school stadium! (The Bulldog Bowl) We shop a little and go thru an antique store & then decide on lunch right across the street at "The LaFonda Restaurant"..not again! It's a Mexican/American buffet & quite yummy-enchiladas, tacos, chili relenos,chicken blancos & we stuff ourselves for a total of 17.50 (senior discount!). Excellent choice! Back out on main to look at the sculptures, shop a little & to BIG K too, but it is very warm..104..so we head back to the KOA to swim, read & watch some SLC's move in. The Ft Worth girl scouts are back from their caving adventure & it was pretty nasty crawling thru water and taking in their own lights. One of them is bitchin' about the whole deal. Ok, enough,,,I go for some water & meet a guy who was born in Holdenville..small world. The approaching thunderstorms run us out of the pool & we go to the popup & I even take a nap..this early morning stuff is gettin' to me.It does rain a little & helps to cool the place & after it stops, KK cuts my hair..THANKS! Lots of new RV's coming in & a few tenters..oh no, "tent people". And while we were in Artesia, I confirmed our three weeks in Hawaii next Jan/Feb, so we'll meet our friends from Victorville, CA on Molokai. Ok, a very nice sunset this eve, with some lightning around, especially to the SW as we sit out at our table & have supper...bologna, cheese, bread & wine. I take off our reflectors to get ready for our early departure for Raton tomorrow..it's 380 miles up there, so we want to get out asap. Just a little before dusk I hear a loud noise & it's an ultralite, taking off from the KOA..COOL! He buzzes around the park & off to the SE. As we eat, we have a "family" of four rabbits just sittin' by our camper & now with teh dakness coming, a couple of bats (Mexican Free-tailed?) are feeding on insects around our street light, flying counter-clockwise of course.Check e-mails, the net & it's 9:20-when is bedtime?More lightning & thunder & about 10:30 it starts to rain-YEA!. Turn the a/c down & off to bed about midnight