New Mexico, Part I

I had an amazing time in New Mexico. I have to say that coming back to Waco weather has not been an easy transition; the nights would get as cool as 55 degrees in NM and the days were a cool and easy 85. Coming back to 107 degree with high humidity has been a little disheartening.

disclaimer: I would like to credit all of these wonderful photos to the mad photography skillz of Hannah Bockhoff Stewart, but would like to note that I will be uploading my own photos from the trip in due time.

We got to Ruidoso around noon on Thursday, New Mexico time (we had left at 5:30 that morning from Olney) and I had to put on a jacket when I got out of the car! We went on a picnic at Lincoln National Forest for lunch - the best chicken salad ever with chips and watermelon and crackers and cheese and cold weinies (I'm not sure how the weinies came into the mix...but Hannah was talking about her weinie craving the whole trip so it was kind of ironic that they showed up in the picnic basket...nice and cold). Ava sat under an umbrella ... but the umbrella toppled over and almost hit her several times! Isaac drank a lot of Red Bull and wouldn't stop being a comedian (we named him the comedian of the group). "Red Bull gives you wiiiiiiiiiiiings."

FRIDAY: Carlsbad Caverns ... where I have not been since 1996! When I went with my family in '96 we rode down the elevator because my grandparents went with us, but this time we climbed down. It was a great workout! I forget how far down it was, but some of us (ahem HANNAH) were sore from the climb the next day.

SATURDAY: As soon as we left the house for lunch, it started pouring. Today was supposed to be spent walking around town and shopping, so this was initially a little disappointing. We dropped Ava off at the restaurant so she wouldn't get wet when we went to find a parking space, but as soon as we did that, it started HAILING! We were worried about hail damage so we found someone's RANDOM GARAGE (this was the garage for their HOUSE) and we parked under it until the rain let up. (i have pictures of this fiasco which will come later, as I have not purchased a usb for my camera yet...but don't worry, it's going to happen soon. I know all of my loyal followers are awaiting the moment). For now, you will have to settle with a picture from the restuarant: Cafe Rio. You can't really tell in the picture, but our hair was wet and our clothes were wet and our legs and feet were muddy from walking through the rain and hail.

To Be Continued...