Day 5 of the ROUNDHOUSE ON THE ROAD Tour

I got up early this morning so I could take a walk. I was up just in time to watch a beautiful New Mexico sunrise over the mountains. As the sun rose over Alamogordo, I walked into the Waffle and Pancakes Shoppe for some coffee and said hello to some Department of Transportation workers on their way in to work.

The morning drive up the mountain from Alamogordo to Cloudcroft was unbelievably scenic. It was truly great to be able to survey the area around me and to see the desert draped in green.

In Cloudcroft I had a wonderful breakfast at the Front Porch Eatery with a number of local citizens who had a lot on their minds.

After breakfast I made the two-minute drive to the Chamber of Commerce, where we parked our yellow bus to meet with constituents. Local citizens wanted to talk about federal land issues, water, and strengthening education.

Before I knew it, we were on our way to Ruidoso …the drive was gorgeous. So interesting, in fact, we were distracted by the scenery, lush vegetation, and free ranging cattle in the mountains and missed the turn!

My first stop in Ruidoso was the volunteer fire station. It’s an impressive building that houses the fire department and the makeshift disaster relief center. As soon as I got there, I got into a car with the mayors of Ruidoso and Ruidoso Downs as well as representatives of the various agencies that were assisting with search and rescue following the flooding.

The first thing that struck me was that most of Ruidoso remains open for business. In fact, according to city officials 95% of the village’s lodging is open, and nearly all the restaurants and shops are running business as usual. And, there will be racing at Ruidoso Downs on Saturday!

I am amazed how much work the emergency response team has already done, but there is still a great deal of work to do to clean up the flooded areas. The State Tourism Department will deliver $10, 000 in emergency money to the Ruidoso Chamber of Commerce tomorrow to assist the town it promoting its vital tourism industry. There’s clearly a lot to be done, but the community is coming together and getting this amazing part of our state back on its feet again. If you want to be cool and comfortable in this heat, think about making a trip to Ruidoso or the surrounding area for your New Mexico vacation!!

After the tour I said a quick hello to the volunteer fire fighters and the people running the emergency response center. I then set up shop at the Eastern New Mexico University campus for open hours. I had representatives from the Income Support Division and the Department of Health to help answer any question and address the needs of the people evacuated during the flood. Some constituents had concerns about the flood but for the most part there is true optimism for Ruidoso and the surrounding area.

We ended the day with a reception with local Chamber of Commerce folks…and the chance to say thanks to Red Cross volunteers who had come from Roswell, Albuquerque, and El Paso to help Ruidoso. Next stop…Capitan!