Ruidoso, New Mexico

Gizmo kept trying to play in the toilet, not sure
why, but the smell of the water here is very
attractive to him.  I hope I cured him
of this little quirk.

I am in Ruidoso, New Mexico with some friends.  It is quite nice.  We left this afternoon and headed back into the U.S.  I don't have my SENTRI pass yet, so I had to walk across the Zaragoza bridge.  The SENTRI pass allows you to travel much quicker across the bridge.  I'm not real clear on all the details yet, even though it's been explained to me several times, because there is a lot involved.  Let me see if I can explain the process.
When you go for your SENTRI pass, there are actually two things that you get.  The first thing you get is a card.  That has your ID and can be used in leau of a passport when crossing the border (though you should have your passport with you.  They can ask for it whenever they choose).  The second is a pass for your car.  Your car is inspected and you are given a sticker.  The card allows you to ride in any car that has been approved.  Without that card (which is what happened to me this weekend) if you are riding in a car that has been approved, you can either walk, or the entire car must go through the normal lanes.  Depending on the time, it may be faster to walk.

Gizmo just has to be in the middle of everything.  I was
trying to unpack and put some things in this drawer . . .
Gizmo took that as an invitation.

The SENTRI is only approval by DHS, aka for the U.S. side.  So for the Mexican side, you have to get something else.  Here you have two options.  One, you can buy tickets.  Two, you can buy a pass.  I'm not exactly sure what that allows you to do, but apparently you need both to travel the bridge easily.
You also have to pay to cross the bridge.  You can either pay cash as you cross, or you can prepay and get a pass that will deduct money everytime you cross.  Then you have to refill it when you get low or run out.  It's quite a headache, but I guess it's better than the several hour wait that is likely.

Bug in my frozen yogurt

In El Paso, we stopped for lunch, and for coffee.  I got Italian frozen yogurt, or something like that.  After I started eating it, I saw a bug in my ice cream.  It was gross, so we went back.  I joked that this will hopefully be the one bad thing that will happen to me that day, because at least one bad thing has happened since I came to Ciudad Juarez.  However, when I went inside, not only did they replace my ice cream, but it was upgraded to the next larger size, and I was able to choose whatever toppings I wanted.  It was pretty awesome.  My friends said that it can't count as my one bad thing.
We got up here to the cabin earlier this evening, meeting up with a few other friends.  We went to get food at a Barbecue place in town, and then came back to the cabin to eat dinner.  The rest of the night we've basically spent talking and relaxing.

Private smoking bus in Ruidoso, can't smoke
outside!

My room in our cabin