Hobbs Trip - Day 4

Called my cousin, Chuck, today and he agreed that I should make a trip over to where he lives in Artesia. I have been there a couple of other times - it is a real New Mexico oil town. There are thousands of wells and a refinery. I hung out in Hobbs until around 1600 - swimming (pool checks out OK) and working around the house for Bonnie (new energy efficient lights for the driveway). The trip to Artesia was pretty easy - arrived just after 1730. Chuck met me and we drove over to his place. I didn't know he had a nice Nissan convertible! With the temperatures in the mid-high 20s (C), it didn't seem like riding with the top down would be good - but when you run the A/C on high, it feels OK. We drove north for dinner - to the town of Dexter. Chuck knew about a great steak restaurant there - and it ended up being packed! There are probably only a little over 1000 people living close to the town center, but it seemed like most of the adult population was at the restaurant! Lots of Chuck's co-workers were having business dinners there - we were lucky to get a table. I had a lousy beer - it was from the tap and must have gone sour. Still, the steak with cheese and a green chili was delicious. After dinner, we drove back to Artesia and went to a bar called the Wellhead. I didn't realize that it was owned by Chuck's boss - and we ended up sitting in the back with him and his wife at their reserved table. The bar has its own microbrewery - great stuff. It was great to discuss flying, oil & environmentalists and politics. We stayed for several hours and I met some great locals. We went back to Chuck's house around 2300 - he has to be at work early...