New Mexico for the New Year

We left last Monday (Dec 28th) for a little vacation. We drove through some terrible fog all through Utah, stopped in Kanab for lunch, and made our first tourist stop at Navajo Bridge near Marble Canyon in Arizona. It was so cold we really didn't want to get out of the car, but that's not why we went on the trip. So, we ventured out and got a few pictures. We then continued our drive to Cameron where we were going to spend the night. We made really good time and got there at 3:25, but couldn't check into our hotel until 4:00 so we ate a very early dinner in our car.

Tuesday morning we woke up to snow. Not exactly what we were expecting from Arizona. We ate breakfast at the restaurant adjoining our hotel (Cameron Trading Post Inn). They had a nice big wood burning stove in the dining room, and sat us right in front of it. That was nice. I watched one of the employees put a log on it that I'm pretty sure wouldn't even fit inside our fireplace. Brandon and I celebrated our 11th anniversary driving to The Grand Canyon. There was snow everywhere, the roads had some ice, but we were able to get to all the viewing spots and have nice views of the canyon. The hardest part was wanting to be out of the car for very long, but we managed. There was a visitor's center, museum, and a watch tower that were all indoor and heated. They say this is a good time of year to visit The Grand Canyon to avoid all the tourists, but there were still quite a few people out. The parking lot at the visitor's center was packed. We found a really nice lady who offered us her spot as she was leaving, and the girls loved her because she shooed away other people who were trying to squeeze in and steal it from us. I don't know why she picked us, but we were happy to have run across her when we did. After leaving The Grand Canyon we hit a snow storm in Flagstaff. The traffic was really bad, but I'm not sure if it was due to the storm or rush hour or both. We finally made it to our hotel in Tucson late that evening.

Since it was so dark when we arrived in Tucson we were excited the next morning to get outside and see some palm trees and cacti. We got some pictures and then drove to Las Cruces. We went straight to Grams & Grandpa Fry's, then went and checked into our hotel before going back to have dinner with them.

On Thursday we spent the morning doing some touristy things. I wanted to take the girls to Stahmann's pecan farm and see old town Mesilla. Stahmann's had just opened a new store in Mesilla, so we just stopped there and loaded up on some goodies. We walked through some of the shops, but the girls were pretty bored and Brandon and I aren't very good shoppers. When we left we just drove down through some of the pecan orchards so the girls could see them. We spent the afternoon with Grams & Grandpa again, and Brandon's Uncle Mike, Aunt Susan and cousin Michael came over and joined us for a New Year's Eve dinner. The cafeteria had a special meal for the occasion. The kids were a little crazy, and perhaps a little rough with each other. I pulled out my camera phone and hopefully got some good video of it, but I haven't looked at it yet.

We didn't stay up till midnight or partake in any New Year's Eve festivities. Just went to bed as usual. But we didn't wake up as usual. No, at 4:30 in the morning somebody tried breaking into our hotel room through our window. Brandon played his protective role -- ran to the window and scared the guy off. I watched him take off through the field behind our hotel, then went down to the front desk and alerted them. She called security over, and they called the police. They came and got a report and checked everything out. We were all a little shaken up (even though it happened so fast and never felt like we were in any real danger), but we spent the next 24 hours + talking about bad guys and robbers. Those kids can come up with a lot of questions.

The cafeteria had another special meal for lunch on New Year's Day, so we all went to that again. The girl's spent the afternoon playing with Michael. Grandpa took me down to the exercise room for a little workout, and Brandon and I took the kids out for a walk around their property. We just ordered pizza in for dinner that night. Grandpa was even thoughtful enough to get a vegetarian one for me. Sophie fell asleep on me right after eating. We were all so exhausted after being up since 4:30, so we went to bed a little earlier that night.

We headed home the next morning. I was really hoping to make it to Four Corners, but the monument closed at 5:00 and we didn't get there till about 5:30. We stopped in Cortez, Colorado for the night. Our hotel had the best hot tub around. No indoor pool, just the hot tub. But that's all I need. This thing was big enough to swim in, was only 3' 10" deep so even Sophie felt comfortable in it, and the water was so warm! It was even decorated nice with fountains and plants all over. I think I need one of those at home. I'll tell Brandon to add it in to the design of our next home.

Sunday we continued our journey. Chloe had fun with the camera in the car. It may even inspire her own blog post! But don't hold your breath. We got home Sunday afternoon, with enough time to unpack and rest a little bit. Brandon had to get back to work today, but the girls still have a full week left of their vacation. I took the car in today to get the rock chips repaired, tires rotated, and we washed it. Now I just need to clean out the inside and it will be good as new. It was a long trip, but hopefully we've created some wonderful memories that will stay with us forever. Chloe even sent Brandon and I emails thanking us for taking her. I will definitely cherish that!