Skip to main content

Flying J Ranch in Ruidoso, NM

I'm always on the lookout for new adventures to do with my family.  But, I have to admit that when the opportunity became available to explore New Mexico, I had to question what we would find.  Having only ever driven quickly through the state, I didn't know much about it except for the fact that there was a lot of desert.

Ruidoso, New Mexico has expanded my horizons - quite literally.  The beauty of this mountainous area almost makes me feel as though I'm driving through the Pacific Northwest.  The fact that it was 60 degrees (and an elevation of over 7,500') also blew my mind.

Only a couple hour drive from El Paso or Albuquerque, Ruidoso is a beautiful, mountain village that offers a lot of activities during any time of the year.  Because we were visiting in the summer, we opted to check out the Flying J Ranch - a replica of Western cowboy living.

Flying J Ranch is a dinner theater-type event that opens at 5:30pm when you can pick up tickets that you've ordered online or over the phone - or buy tickets if they're still available.  As you enter into "Bonita City", you'll want to be sure to stop to get your picture in the local jail and peruse the merchandise in the general store and sweet shop.  How can you pass up a $7 pink sequined princess tiara cowboy hat?!


Kids of all ages will enjoy the $3 pony rides and pistol shooting, plus the FREE steer-roping lessons and Deputy Training School (during which the Sheriff will inform kids that the 1st rule of being a deputy is that you must be respectful and polite - and obey your parents!).  You can relax with a cup of true chuckwagon coffee as you listen to the sounds of the resident fiddler and walk around the charming town reading about the local Mescalero Indians who still reside in the area.


Just before dinner, you and your family can enjoy an extremely lively - and entertaining - gun fight down the center of Bonita City, after which you will enjoy a fabulous chuckwagon dinner including BBQ chicken, brisket, beans, potatoes, biscuits, spice bread and more (including FREE 2nds, 3rds, or even 4ths - until the beans are gone!).  

But, this isn't it!  The dinner show includes live music entertainment from some exceptional Bluegrass and Western musicians that are sure to have everyone in the family clapping their hands and laughing right along.  With songs ranging from your traditional cowboy folk songs to a song about living in an RV, it truly is a blast.  There's even a champion yodeler in the group!



If you're traveling through New Mexico and want to provide a bit of Western culture to your and your children's lives, I highly recommend stopping at the Flying J Ranch.  You will leave there with full bellies, smiling kids, and great memories.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Leadership Mom: SWOT Analysis

In business, leaders often analyze our Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats through a SWOT analysis.  So, if we are going to look at our role as moms as being the greatest leadership opportunity to us, let's start with analyzing ourselves and our kids.  Here's the SWOT I developed for my family: Family SWOT Analysis As a doting mother, there are hundreds of strengths that I could put up here for my kids.  Their hugs, kisses, bedtime stories and prayers, the fact that they come to me when they're seeking healing from an injury (physical or emotional), the notes and drawings they make for me, their precious hearts when they try to help me or that they've learned how to use the Keurig to bring me coffee in the morning...I could go on and on. Now, here's the part where we get honest with ourselves.  Yes, we love our kids and we love our family (or, hopefully, most of the time), but we are not perfect.  Nor should we be perfect.  As we analy...
3 comments
Read more

Cybersecurity 101

One of the things that continually amazes me as a parent of young(er) children is their ability to quickly understand technology and its uses.  Not only have my children learned the art of swiping to use different devices, but they've also learned how to access apps, take pictures, answer calls (both phone and Skype), and more.  My children could teach their grandparents a lesson or two on how to use technology. But, as a student of cybersecurity, I have seen a greater need to educate my children - as well as so many others - on the cybersecurity.  This goes beyond posting inappropriate pictures and unfriendly words on social media (although these lessons must also be taught).  This goes into the nature of understanding the benefits and risks of using technology and the privacy lost to it.  The major premise that must be understood in regards to cybersecurity is that information/data is money.  It's value is continually increasing.  We need to secure...
Post a Comment
Read more

Why can't they just be friends?

Why can't my kids just be friends?  I must ask myself this question hundreds of times during the week.  I thought that having kids relatively close together was going to be great.  They'd have a playmate and an automatic friend.  However, the truth is that - most of the time - they don't get along.  It's not that they're enemies...it's that they drive each other crazy.  They each want the other one to do what they want to do.  Then, when the other one does what they want, they get mad at them because they wanted to do it themselves. They don't want to share their toys.  Then, they play together only to then get mad and purposefully break the other sibling's toys. They want to get the other one in trouble so that they look like the "good" child and get more rewards.  Then they get upset that the other sibling got them in trouble when they *tattled* on them. At mealtimes, they want to sit where the other one is sitting.  They wan...
Post a Comment
Read more