For some moments in life, there are no words.

Sunday, October 19, 2014

National Park Trip Oct 2014

Ready for some more National Parks!!  We are adding three more to our list!
Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Guadalupe Mountains National Park
Big Bend National Park

Friday Oct 10
We scooped Jadeyn up from school and hit the road just in time for Denver Friday traffic.  Dang. We should have pulled him out of school a few hours early.  It was a solid 6 hour drive.  Jadeyn entertained himself, and decided to watch Frozen and finally fell asleep around 8:45.  Kevin and I got to listen to Killing Kennedy.  We pulled into lovely Las Vegas, NM right at 10pm.  Welcome to the southwest.  Christmas lights, lighted icicles, cactus's, bright colors, random yard statues inside the hotel.  Our room had hot pink pillows on top of turquoise sheets.  The towels in the bathroom will sure wake you up in the morning.  Dark blue on canary yellow!  But the beds were comfy and we slept well.

Saturday Oct 11
We woke up in our hotel room to Jadeyn's questions: Does this place have a bathroom? Wow, I can't see a thing (as we hear him start to go to the bathroom and we cringe hoping he is aiming) Can I tell you something? Lazer tag is really good in the dark! Then he jumps into bed and snuggles up to Kevin then: Dad, are you cold yet? "Cause I'm trying to steal all your heat!  Well, I guess it is time to wake up.  Breakfast: nice to eat, incredibly helpful service, and okay food. The front desk guy poured our drink mix apple and orange juice, made our very crispy waffles, etc.  On the road again!
We passed through Roswell, NM on the way.  We are staying there on our way back, but it was a blast to see just how many little green aliens we could spot!  Jadeyn became obsessed with UFOs!  We played 20 questions for quite a bit of the drive and man it was fun to hear Jadeyn's questions: is it alive, is it a squid, is it made out of wood, is it a doofus? So funny.
 We finally made it to Carlsbad Caverns National Park!  Something from my bucket list!!! Yay!  We found out that all the ranger programs were full, but the self guided tour goes all the same places but you just don't experience the blackness and ranger stories.  So we decided to do it.  We started Jadeyn on his Junior Ranger program and had lunch.  Beautiful and strange country out here: yucca plants, spikey Dr Suess looking things, cactuses for miles and miles.  So, all the focus is on the bats so we really hadn't thought a whole lot about what the cave would be like.  We were amazed. It was massive! And the formations were spectacular.  Stalactites and stalagmites 15 to 30 feet long, soda straws that were longer than us.  Draperies and cave popcorn all over.  There was even a really strange formation we had never seen before called a lion's tail.  A long stalactite with cave popcorn only on the end. The cave just kept going and going and kept being spectacular.  All in all we walked about 2 miles throughout the cave and were amazed at every corner.  Just thinking about the early explorers of the cave blew our minds.  Looking up made us dizzy.  Wow!  


After the cave, Jadeyn finished his Junior Ranger book and he received his badge.  He did much better on his pledge this time we are happy to report and the ranger added that he pledged to eat all his vegetables too!  So we had an hour to kill before the bat flight program, so we walked up and down the nature trail testing out our pedometers.  Mine it totally messed up counting only half of my steps.  I must walk weird!  So everyone gathered in the bat amphitheater to await the main event.  Barn swallows were swooping and circling and showing off for us at the mouth of the cave. I think they were trying to steal the spotlight or else they were the pre-program.  Ranger Rick arrived and started talking about the rules to watch the bats: no cameras, cell phones, noise, standing, etc, but he did it all with hilarious jokes.  We were all excited, but along with all the awesome information he was giving us, we got the feeling he was killing time.  Oh no.  All the sparrows went back into the cave and still no bats.  He said that last night had a good showing, but this morning people waiting for the bats return didn't see any bats.  Oh please don't tell me that they left this morning and we missed them by one day!  It would be so disappointing.  They have most recently been coming out by 6:15 and 6:25 at the latest.  It was 6:45.  I was looking bleak.

 Finally, we saw two little bats pop out and make a circle above us. Here they come!!  Out they poured in bursts, each time the group circled in a swarm right at the mouth of the cave before flying out.  We had so many swoop mighty close to our heads, it was exhilarating!  It was perfect!  We stayed and watched them as long as we could until we couldn't even see the little guys flapping around anymore.  What a day!  Back to Carlsbad to our hotel.  Much nicer than last night's. Jadeyn busied himself with bouncing and flipping between the two beds.  He did belly flops saying he was a sugar glider!  Spectacular day!

Sunday Oct 12
Up for breakfast which was a little better than yesterday's and on the road for Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Now this is the one on the trip that we know the least about, but we have two nice hikes planned out.  During breakfast we had watched the news coverage on the Albuquerque balloon festival on its final day.  I guess the winds were really high which prevented the mass ascension.  Well, we discovered that the wind really was amazingly strong.  
Our first hike was McKittrick Canyon.  The most incredible thing that was so new to us was hiking through so many cactuses and yucca plants.  All the Prickly Pear Cactus had large dark red fruits on them and the branching cactus had their yellow pointy fruits.  None of the yucca were in bloom, but the remnants of their heavy blossoms still loomed 12 feet above our heads.  We were so surprised to still see so many wildflowers still in bloom.  Bright oranges and yellows!  So we are in the Guadalupe Mountain range.  The mountains weren't massive, but the steep sides were all green, covered in shrubs; with a pure blue sky and rapidly moving white puffy clouds, it was really beautiful!  The hike lead us along a canyon edge and occasionally we would drop down into a riverbed which sometimes had water, sometimes didn't.  It was a mystery each time we crossed it: where did the water go? We finally came to a place where the river was flowing and then simply disappeared in the rocks!  It went completely underground.  Our destination was the Pratt Lodge.  A stone cabin in a beautiful tree filled oasis.  We had lunch on a picnic table, caught some giant beetles and started back.  We saw many lizards, two snakes a heart shaped cactus.  4.6 miles round trip and Jadeyn did great.  He was dragging a little by the end, but we started telling him stories about World of Warcraft and Star Wars.  By the time we finished the hike, Jadeyn said he was ready to fall asleep and couldn't believe we were planning another hike!  
We only had about 45 minutes reprieve at the visitor's center and then we hit the trail again.  This time Devil's Hall.  The end of the trail is a natural staircase that is supposed to be really cool, and there are a lot of boulders to clamber over along the way.  The cactuses were plentiful at the beginning of this trail and Jadeyn was fascinated by the big red fruits and wanted to collect them.  He proudly carried several along the way, we cut one open to discover a beet red mushy inside filled with black seeds and it was actually sweet smelling and would make a tasty meal for lots of creatures.  We chucked some at a rock and there was a big red explosion splattered all over!  Well, soon Jadeyn discovered that those little devils had a microscopic defense: tiny hair-like spines and Jadeyn had a ton of them embedded in his little hands.  Kevin and I got quite a few ourselves but nowhere near as many as him!  Poor guy!  We made it only a few minutes at time before he would insist on stopping to work on the spikes which were "hurting like insane!"  It made for some slow going at first.  The second mile dropped us into a dry river wash and that was a blast.  Massive boulders and rocks that we had to scramble over.  Jadeyn got his second wind and chose all the most difficult routes.  We caught a nice little lizard with yellow, green and blue on his belly.  Big bugs and even a dead tarantula! 
This place is going to be breathtaking in about two more weeks when the maple and oak and madrones change color.  Several had already changed and had perfect puddles of color on the white rock.  We almost made it they full second mile in the wash, following the cairn piles, when Jadeyn desperately needed a break.  It was about 4:30 and the wind was coming in intense gusts that would knock our hats off.  So with Jadeyn being worn out and the sun starting to go behind the mountain, we decided to turn back.  We were really proud of Jadeyn.  All in all, 9.2 miles.  Not bad for two little feet.
On the road again, said goodbye to Guadalupe and headed toward Van Horn, TX.  It took us in a straighter than straight deserted two lane highway.  There was nothing for miles.  Kevin tried out 100 mph a few times just to feel it.  Even going 75, we started noticing little critters crossing the road.  What were they? We slowed way down a few times to get a closer look.  We are certain one was a small black scorpion, a few tarantulas and so many giant 5 inch long hoppers.  We have no idea what kind they are, but they had a giant golden yellow and black cape.  We saw several snakes crossing the road and several dead ones.  Entertaining drive.  We arrived at the small town of Van Horn, TX and despite the look of the town and the outside of the hotel, we were so impressed with the service and the room.  Very nice people and a nice place to stay.  It was still so windy that we didn't want to grill outside so we went through the McDonald's drive through.  Jadeyn was very excited about his happy meal, until we got back to the hotel and he opened it up to find a girl toy!!  A Monster High coffin.  He seriously almost cried!  He can't stand MH.  So after dinner, we went back and traded it out and got some hot fudge sundaes.  Jadeyn was much happier with his wind up hex bug!

Monday Oct 13
Breakfast was the best yet!  Hot chocolate, real sausage and Texas shaped waffles!  Funny.
Three hours to Big Bend National Park.  Driving in the middle of nowhere with random run down houses and trailer homes really made us think we had jumped into the middle of the movie Tremors, totally.  Our welcome to the park led us on a dirt road (Old Maverick Rd) and a beautiful falcon flying overhead.  We saw an old homestead built of rock and mud with a cactus roof, only about 4 or 5 feet tall.  
Santa Elena Overlook: Jadeyn's first look at Mexico across the Rio Grande River.  We walked down to the river and crossed cracked mud with chunks 2 inches thick.  We found a trail that climbed up and up switchbacks until we were about 800 feet above the river and then back down into a different world.  In the shadow of the canyon, the temperature dropped about 15 degrees and suddenly we were walking through 15 foot grasses and vines, it was like a tropical oasis.  It was beautiful and there were butterflies everywhere!  We discovered tracks in the mud that probably belonged to coyote, racoon and all sorts if birds.  It was so pretty. 

We had heard that this park has the most varied of landscapes and we were about to witness it.  From the complete deserts of Texas, to the oasis of the land near the river, to volcanic mounds of white turned to ash with black pumice protruding out, to beautiful mountains covered in green.  We made our way toward the Chisos Basin nestled in the middle of the park where we would be staying tonight.  The drive was so beautiful as we entered these steep mountains and felt like we were not at all in Texas.  Granted the mountains were only about 6,000 feet, but they were beautiful!  We were lucky enough to get two nights at the Lodge and it was worth it.  The room was perfect and felt just like our own cabin.  We walked down to the Window Overlook where all the rainwater from the whole Chisos Basin rushes down to a V shaped valley called the window and spills out to the desert floor below.  Beautiful.

Tuesday Oct 14
Up and at 'em early: 6:45, but 5:45 in our minds.  Funny thing was it was still so absolutely pitch black outside.  The stars were still brilliantly bright, but with the addition of the moon, the Milky Way had faded.  You know the saying that the early bird gets the worm...well, the early hikers see the bears!  On our way to the trail head, not 15 feet from the road was a beautiful black bear happily munching on the prickly pear fruits.  He delicately bit off the end of each fruit and sucked the innards out leaving the rest of the shriveled pod.  We were able to watch him for about eight minutes as he dined and destroyed the cactus, then he ambled on up the hillside!  Wow, pretty awesome! 

There was only one other car at the trail-head, so we practically had the mountain to ourselves.  The entire hike was uphill with switchbacks, but so beautiful.  We had to hike fast to get warm since it was only about 55 degrees and the sun hadn't come up over the mountain yet.  Wildflowers mixed with cactus lined every step of the path.  We kept our eyes peeled for any more amazing creatures along the way.  As the sun crept higher in the sky, the mountains across the way began to illuminate and burst with color.  Magnificent.  We made it to the top and were greeted by amazing mountains and cliffs on all sides to take our breath away.  So rewarding.  
The way down was completely entertaining.  We played: what is your favorite or least favorite?  Everything from color to Star Wars character, fruit to roller coaster.  We played it the whole way down.  All in all, the hike was 4.3 miles.  What did we see on the way down? Jadeyn was bounding downhill and somehow miraculously managed to not step on a pile of reptiles.  Kevin jumped so high because it seriously looked like a coiled snake and it was between him and his boy!  It turned out to be two big alligator lizards, the largest lizards found at Big Bend.  We only just learned about them last night reading a trivia card and then we find two of them!  We missed a tarantula as reported by fellow hikers, but hopefully we will get to see a live one!!
We happily piled back into the Jeep completely rewarded by such a fun and amazing hike.  Off to Panther Junction visitor's center to ask questions and pick up a Jr Ranger booklet.  They had two dinosaur skulls bronzed (a T-Rex and a giant alligator).  Jadeyn really thought they were cool to climb on.  We found a nice place to have lunch where there was a small watering hole that early settlers had rigged a windmill to pump the water in and keep the source consistent.  It was a little oasis in the middle of the hot dessert.  Songbirds, bugs and all sorts of things flocked there.  We grilled chicken quesadillas in the shade of a huge cottonwood and then walked through the nature trail.  Then we went on a hunt for scorpions.  I'd still never seen on in the wild and Kevin was determined to find one for me.  It didn't take flipping over too many rocks for him to startle a big black juicy one.  He was not happy to be discovered either.  He put up his pincers and strikes again and again at a stick with his tail.  It was an impressive display. 
Back on the main road, we again searched for any wildlife.  Up ahead, in the middle of the road, we saw a smallish bird and all at once we shouted: road runner!!  He ran to the side of the road as we got closer, flew about three feet and then ran again and watched us.  They really are speedy little devils.  
Off to Ernst Tinaja.  It is a five mile Jeep trail that seriously led us out into the middle of nowhere.  No sign of water, people, civilization...nothing.  Along the way, we scanned both sides of the road for Javalinas since Jadeyn said: now this is pig country!!  We made it to the trail head (not another sole anywhere) and hiked up a wide wash of strange layered rock and sandstone.  Several of the rocks were riddled with fossilized mussel shells.  We built cairns to guide us back, but then realized we were deep in a canyon and there would only be one way to go.   It was hotter than blazes out there!  As we neared our destination, the layered rock walls, oranges and browns, slanted every which way as if a giant layer cake had been dropped on rocks and bent to form around the rocks beneath.  Then we saw our first pot hole.  The first two weren't too deep of wide, but the third was so deep and the sides so steep that there would be absolutely no way to climb out if you fell in.  The murky water was teeming with insects too.  We hiked further up the canyon beyond and found that it had been created by years and years of flash floods barreling down the canyon.  The rock directly above the hole had been worn perfectly smooth and sloped down so fast that anything dropped would slide right in.  
In the midst of this scorching desert though, we found startling beauty tucked away in this canyon.  Bright yellow honey suckle or a trumpet type of vine and then a plant that simply exploded with color!  Yellow flowers with tons of yellow fringe shooting out of the center!  As we hiked back, we overturned quite a few more rocks in search of the illusive tarantula, or at least another scorpion.  We were finally successful when Jadeyn and I found a pale beige scorpion and a nice juicy millipede. 
After that, we headed toward another visitor's center to grab some hot chocolate for the morning.  As we were getting out of the Jeep, another road runner came right up to us.  He paused, watched us and then lifted his tail feathers and came closer.  He went very purposely towards the Jeep, went around to the front and immediately started serving himself dinner: he pecked all the bugs from the front fender.  He knew right where the good stuff was!
We were trying to find a Rio Grande overlook and it had us on a roadside where an irrigation canal ran along the road.  Way up ahead we saw and animal figure at the edge of the canal.  From a distance it looked like a fox or something.  I stuck the camera out the window and started taking pictures,  It heard us as we got closer, so Kevin stepped on the gas.  That's when we recognized it: a mountain lion!!!!  It perched there on the side of the canal trying to figure out how to jump it, then it leaped and disappeared in the grasses.  Wow!  We never thought we would be lucky enough to see a mountain lion.  There are approximately 24 of them in the park which is 1,252 square miles.  We realized from the size of the cat that it had to be a youngster because it was so small.  We talked to another couple who saw it in the same place and they got to see the whole family:a mom and two cubs!!  A little later we drove the same route in hopes of getting another glimpse, but instead we happened upon a beautiful large coyote!  Beautiful animal!
We did a nature walk that lead us to the banks of the Rio Grande and into the cool oasis of 12 foot high grasses and cattails.  We saw turtles and fish as we crossed a dock surrounded by a jungle of grasses,  And then the trail switched: oasis on one side cactus on the other and then soon all desert as we overlooked the Rio Grande and a little Mexican village complete with burros grazing the hillside.  Along the trail, a Mexican craftsman had placed little figures made of sire and beads: scorpions, roadrunners, snakes and also large pained walking sticks and then a jar for payment.  Jadeyn picked out a scorpion, of course, for $6.
Next stop was the hot springs along the Rio Grande.  We hiked along a cliff face with pictographs and giant grasses on the riverside and came upon a break in the grasses.  A small stone wall had been built out into the river to collect the hot spring's run off.  It was about 2 feet deep, perfect for sitting.  We stripped down to our swimsuits and joined a couple and a family with a two year old little boy.  We relaxed as the rapids of the Rio Grande flowed swiftly past with just a  few rocks separating us.  It was so cool and very fun.

When you moved, silt stirred up murking up the water.  We stayed til the sun went down then hit the road again.  It was dusk so we thought for sure we would spot my illusive tarantula on the road, but nope.  Instead we had a young coyote run out in the road right in front of us, lead around and bound back the way he came.  And we also startled a large desert hare.  By the time we got back to the lodge, Jadeyn had fallen asleep so we tucked him in.  As we got ready for bed I mentioned that we forgot to pop popcorn again tonight.  Jadeyn's eyes popped open and he said: what mom? What did you say about popcorn!?  Oh dear, he was awake now!  We took him out on the balcony to see the Milky Way and eventually he fell back asleep.  Great day.  7:30am to 8:45pm.  Full day and boy we were lucky with the animals!


 



Wednesday Oct 15
Well, our last morning in the National Parks.  We have been so impressed by this park.  We had no idea what to expect and were impressed at every turn.  It had everything from wet grasslands, river bottom lands, deserts all the way up to mountains. 
Stepping outside into the brisk morning in our shorts and jackets, we literally ran to the visitor's center to keep warm!    This morning Jadeyn had dutifully worked on his Jr Ranger Book to make sure he got it done before we left.  As the Ranger graded his booklet, he watched intently and added in the details telling him all about the mountain lion, the bear, coyote, even the road runner pecking the bugs off our car.  The ranger thought he was adorable.  They gave him his certificate, badge, sticker and even a boy scout badge!  He has no idea how much that badge will mean to him when he is in scouts. We bought our mug at the shop.  While we checked out of the lodge, we decided to take one last look at the beautiful basin so we hiked the trail to the window overlook.  Such beautiful country, we decided that we would definitely like to come back in several years and see it in the springtime.  The wild flowers in the fall are so beautiful, they must be incredible in the spring. 
One of our stops on the way out of the park was the dinosaur fossil exhibit. They had told us that they are beginning construction on a completely amazing fossil exhibit, so this one wasn't that impressive, but we had fun with it.  W raced up the pathways to read the exhibits and then we went on an expedition to interpret the various footprints in the sand. Finally one last scorpion hunt.  We found a small beige one.  Right before we were ready to leave, I discovered a little chubby horny toad sunning himself on the sand!  He was perfectly camouflaged and groggy from the sun!  We caught him and he flattened his body out trying to make himself bigger.  He was really sweet!  We did a road nature trail too which lead us through the desert and gave excellent descriptions of the cactuses and other plants.  The last stop was the final visitor's center.  I felt this one was the most informative.  we checked out a display that showed the main uses of each of the desert plants, like making candles from candellia, rope from sotol or the shin dagger plants.  We told Jadeyn to look at the last giant plant that looks so mean it could pierce you through.  We asked him if he remembered the golden stuff he puts on his cereal every morning: agave comes from the agave plant.  First words out of his mouth were: thank you plant!!
And off we go, had to say good bye to Big Bend and face the 6 hour drive to San Antonio.  Kevin was amazing and drove the whole way.  Interesting points along the way: so many border patrol stops (they made Jadeyn a little nervous), lots of Border Patrol SUVs.  We got to see Texas the way we thought it would look: pretty dry and desolate, then we got closer again to the Rio Grande and saw green again.  We played Jadeyn's version of Rock Paper Scissors, complete with T-Rex's, nuclear bombs, sharks, electricity, etc. We are staying at the StayBridge Suites at SeaWorld and wow, each hotel has been getting better and better. This one even had complimentary dinner and breakfast! So we enjoyed burgers and hot dogs tonight.  Our room is sweet and we wrestled and chased Jadeyn all over.  It took him a long time to settle down and finally fall asleep!

Thursday Oct 16
Enjoyed yet another delicious breakfast at the hotel and then set off to explore San Antonio.  We already know that we really aren't city type people.  We would much rather be out in the wilderness than have everything at our fingertips but surrounded by buildings and people.  We hadn't realized how much we had already passed that on to Jadeyn.  He actually seemed a little afraid of the city, well, nervous anyway.  We saw the Spur's stadium, pretty cool.  
We found the Alamo.  On the way, Jadeyn had asked what the Alamo was all about.  I started telling him all the details I knew: General Travis, 13 day standoff, 185 against 5000, etc. Then Kevin blew my secret.  He told Jadeyn that I was getting all my info from a Marty Robbins song!  Busted, but at least I was accurate.  We have to admit, we were a little disappointed by the info at the Alamo.  I guess they have displays that are rotated every few months.  So there was a display of weapons, then a brief section on the full history of the Texas area from the 1400s to present.  So there was hardly any info at all on the actual story of the Alamo.  There was supposed to be an informative movie, but the theater was under construction so we didn't get to see that either.  But, bottom line, the grounds were beautiful, trees were amazing and the crumbly buildings made a very picturesque background. 
So, on to the River Walk.  Prepare to be impressed. We first found a sign that brought us into a kind of mall, but there was a river like fountain flowing through it.  We followed the fountain as it wound around and around and cascaded.  So beautiful.  Finally, we stepped out to the River Walk itself.  The river is located "below" the city by about one story.  The history is that the river repeatedly flooded the city and in 1921 the city had decided to pave over it and make it an underground river.   Some advocates defended the river and it ended up becoming the crowning jewel of the city,  They created stone walls to border the river and created stone bridges and pathways.  They created flood gates to close when the water levels rise too high.

The river area felt about 10 degrees cooler than the surface street. Restaurants lined both sides with waterfront tables.  We took one of the river boat tours and completely enjoyed learning about the history of the place and all the unique details about the buildings and areas.

Lunch was entertaining as Jadeyn was thrilled by all the pigeons and ducks that surrounded us picking up tiny scraps of food.  We saved dessert for the Rainforest Cafe especially for Jadeyn.  What a treat.  We had the towering volcano dessert: a mountain of brownies and lava fudge covering vanilla ice cream and whip cream on top.  Wow, we were stuffed!!

Friday Oct 17
SeaWorld!!!!  We just couldn't set foot in Texas without a trip to SeaWorld.  Because they are on winter hours, they didn't open until 12pm so what did we do to entertain ourselves?  We went to a car dealership and checked out a few vehicles and then went to Toys R Us.  Jadeyn hasn't been in a massive toy store since he was little and he was blown away especially by the Lego section!!  So were we.  We had fun looking at all the stuff and making plans for Christmas.  SeaWorld was so much fun as usual.  We decided that while the exhibits weren't quite as good as the other ones (no underwater viewing areas, or manta ray petting areas) the shows were top notch!  We got to see a performance that we had never seen before.  White sided dolphins and beluga whales were in the shows.  The Belugas are amazing creatures and can really show their personality.  We were quite impressed.  The best show was the last one where they brought out the orcas.  We sat in the splash zone of course (Jadeyn had been disappointed that he hadn't gotten wet on the first show, so we sat nice and close).  He loved the pre-show entertainment of the clown in the audience.  The show was fantastic and it never ceases to amaze us to watch the grace of these magnificent creatures!  Well, when the splashing time came, we really weren't prepared for the quantity of water that these big guys could throw!  The first wave hit us, Kevin hit behind Jadeyn while Jadeyn and I caught it right in the face!  I ducked for the second wave, so I got soaked front and back!!  Jadeyn was in heaven, licking the salt water off his face!  There was a baby orca who followed her mother around during the whole show.  The mom would do her tricks and the little one would simply follow her around.  Sweet.  Well, the sun was starting to go down and that meant that the Halloween part was soon to begin.  There were places marked out on the map where the halloween stuff would be happening so patrons would know where to avoid if they didn't want to see any of it.  Well, since it was still daylight and they were still setting up, we walked through it.  Um, bad move parents.  It was really quite scary already.  hospital set first, graveyard next, carnival clowns, zombies and at that point we escaped into the penguin exhibit for a break.  Jadeyn didn't want to go back out, but thankfully, there was just the pirate section left, and the actors were really just pirates, nothing freaky thank goodness.  Well, we learned our lesson tonight and ended up sleeping in Jadeyn's bed with him.  We felt terrible!

Saturday Oct 18
What an amazingly fun trip, and we filled it jam packed with awesome stuff.  On the road home now.  We are spending the night is Roswell, NM because honestly, with the route we took, there was not much else that was remotely interesting along the way.  After last night's little adventure in haunting, we decided to steer clear of any alien stuff just in case.  We didn't want to somehow manage to traumatize Jadeyn two nights in a row.  So we found a local free zoo!  It was a pretty cool one.  Very spaced out with nice enclosures for the animals.  We just wandered around, read about the different animals and enjoyed the evening. We even got to watch two brown bear wrestle for quite a while.  There was a funny park inside the zoo too with ancient equipment.  I mean ancient!  So old I even took pictures!  We found our hotel proudly sporting a nice green alien out front and a downed space ship inside the fish tank.  Nice place.  We took a dip in the hot tub and swimming pool before bed.


Sunday Oct 19
Well, it was nice to split the return home into two 8 hour sections, it seemed to go quicker than we expected.  Jadeyn is the best traveler!   It helps that we have been doing long trips with him since he was born.  Most kids would have gone crazy doing 2700 miles and 29 hours of driving, but this boy never once complained!  We were 40 minutes from home when he made his first complaint: how much further is it 'cause I really have to go to the bathroom!  He read and did math in the back seat and was happy as could be.  When we are gone that long, its always a little strange to come back home.  It was a beautiful day outside so we opened the windows and were practically knocked over by the brilliant reds and oranges in the back yard.  All the leaves had changed while we were gone.  Beautiful!



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