Rudolph - Where are you?

If you decide to leave Redmond and travel West on Highway 126 towards the coast keep your eyes open when you get to Helmholtz Road.  Look north as you drive by and maybe you'll see Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.  I'm not kidding you.  Redmond is home to the biggest Reindeer Ranch in America and I'm betting there are more reindeer in this little town than anywhere but the north pole.  Well, maybe the Scandinavian countries have two or three dozen more but it's a close call. 

We went by today and looked at the reindeer.  For FREE!   Just another way to spend some time in the sun in this neat little place.  I'm starting to think my in-laws were right when they said there was a lot of sunshine in Redmond.  We've had several days of it in a row and I'm missing New Mexico less and less.  The jury's still debating but maybe there's hope for this place, weatherwise!

I learned something I didn't know about reindeer.  The females have just as many antlers as the male and that's what sets them apart from deer.  Must be tough to be a reindeer hunter, no way to tell if you're looking at a buck or a doe without yelling to ask the critter.  But, since reindeer are considered to be an endangered species, you can't hunt them anyway so I guess it doesn't matter.  Looking at the number of them we have in Redmond, I don't see how they are any more endangered than a car load of high school students after drinking 8 or 10 too many.  I guess that's just one of the reasons nobody lets me write the laws. 

The folks at the ranch make their living by traveling the herd to malls, parades and special events during the holiday season,  by selling a spare antler or two, and (Quick! Make the kids close their eyes!) by making Reindeer sausage.  There may even be some Donner burger out there but I'm not sure.  If you've taken your kids to see the Reindeer at Christmas, chances are pretty good the animals live a couple of blocks from us.  We get to see them all the time and love it. 

Todays outting was a little disappointing because we didn't get to see Rudolph.  But, maybe you can find him if you look for him there someday. And, if you have some ankle biters along with you, you'll probably enjoy the day even more than we did.