Sumner Breeze

With Lubbock in the rear-view mirror and eight nights in the state of Texas under our proverbial belt buckles, we were ready for a new state. New Mexico seemed so foreign to us. We purchased fans back in Dallas in anticipation for the scorching heat of New Mexico and the rest of our journey through the Southwest. However, New Mexico turned out to be a dry and comfortable climate with enough heat to inspire another search for a swimming hole. We saw a large lake off Highway 84 about an hour into New Mexico. Sumner Lake State Park was our spot.

The border town of Texas and Mexico is appropriately named Texico, not to be confused with the gas station, Texaco. About fifteen miles beyond Texico, we stopped at a Wal Mart in Clovis to purchase food and gaming supplies.

We had no idea we would be able to find our own private beach to set up camp.

We purchased pvc pipes to play beersbee, which we learned from John and Hunter back in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

We also purchased beer.

Wolf throwing a hail mary to shore.

We played Water Footbeer for hours. The game we invented at Benton Lake.

Crisp sunset on our first night at Sumner Lake.

The sun woke us up early the next morning and we decided to go to a library in the nearby town of Fort Sumner to get work done on the blog.

The Fraternity of Eagles (FOE) was a bar of elitist alcoholics that wouldn't let us in unless we joined their club. Criteria for joining: 60 bucks and at least nine teeth. We respectfully turned down the offer. 

The librarians couldn't believe that we were staying without visiting the grave site of legendary 19th century outlaw, Billy the Kid.

The Kid's grave was stolen in 1950 and wasn't recovered until 1976. It was stolen again in 1981, but turned up only a few days later. As you can see, they've made security adjustments.

There's a small village of mostly trailer homes within Sumner Lake State Park and this is the local restaurant/bar/grocery store called The Hideaway. It is unfortunately for lease.

The owner's son-in-law, Michael, hung out with us and shot a few games of Cutthroat with us. Michael is a truck driver in New Mexico who was taking time off to help manage the restaurant while his mother-in-law tried to sell the place. Awesome guy with a smile that lit up the room.  

Panoramic shot of Sumner Lake and Peter throwing out the trash.

Hawaiian Shirt Wednesday never felt so good.

Action shot of Beersbee. Three points if he directly knocks off the bottle. Close, Wolf, but no cigar.

Another gorgeous and colorful sunset over Sumner Lake. The sky is so big that you could see lightning storms and rain clouds in the distance.

We collected mass amounts of twigs for a kindling fire. Tough to find any type of lumber out there. 

With the campfire blazing, Peter got out his guitar so we could work on the Peter and the Wolf Ride America theme song.

Seals & Crofts - "Summer Breeze"