Jim Curry/Chris Nole Concert

When we got up this morning, I put on the local news in Albuquerque, and the weather people sure had me worried about making the drive today! They showed video of major flooding in Ruidoso (where we were headed) and were predicting another 1 1/2" of rain there today.  I called the Ruidoso Mountain Inn to explain the situation and asked if they had any flooding.  The guy assured me that we'd be OK getting here since there was no major flooding and the only time the major highways were closed was due to winter snow.  As it turned out, we drove through a few showers, but nothing significant, and they did not come close to having even 1" of rain.  Gotta love those scary weather people!

We had a relaxing morning before heading out on our drive to Ruidoso.  We left about 10:30 for a 3+ hour drive and were amazed by the desolate countryside, as you can see in the picture on the left.  Nothing but scrub pines, cactus and sagebrush.  One we got into the high elevations and closer to Ruidoso it got a lot prettier.  The main trouble we had was finding a place for lunch!  We passed one place about 11:30, then drove for over an hour past the White Sands Missile Range  (where the first atomic bomb was tested) with no sizable towns in sight before finally stopping at a roadside cafe well after 1pm.   

After supper we headed to the Spencer Theater for the John Denver tribute concert.  On the way, a car stopped ahead of us, so we did as well, and saw 2 bucks and doe by the side of the road! Mary got a photo as one buck crossed the road,  and then  took a picture of the second buck out of her window.

As we waited for the concert hall to open, we saw our friends Nancy and Mike Howard, and talked to them for a while. On our way to our seats, we spotted Chris Nole and the Currys in the pre-show waiting room.  They saw us, and Anne Curry came out to chat!  Once we got to our row 2 seats,  Chris Nole came out and talked with us for a while, also. 

The concert itself was excellent.  They played many of the John Denver classics as well as a few lesser known songs.  Their introductions to several of the songs included some info we had not herd before.  Unfortunately photos were not permitted during the show, so we only have these two.  

After the show we chatted with the performers and took some pictures.  The one with Chris, Mary and Jim also has Nancy and Mike on the left.  As is typical, we were the last ones out of the theater.  We were about to leave but Jim wanted to talk longer, so who are we to complain!

Overall it was a great evening and well worth the flights and long drive to get here.  

Tomorrow we head back to Albuquerque to be ready for our flights home on Monday.