on the road to Albuquerque before 9 a.m. on Tuesday. Rip is psyched to watch a DVD in the car for the first time. I am psyched to listen to a book on tape, since R has a headset. The weather is STORMY.
traveling thru New Mexico and making great time. R still more than excited about watching movies. Only downside to DVD player is no remote control and no way to manage movies without pulling over. We make due.
rest stop outside of Wagon Mound, NM (what a name!) is a godsend. Bathrooms are OK, but there wasn't a button for that...
...but there were quite a few red hot pokers for Ripley to visit with while we stretched our legs. Still raining.
Albuquerque! We arrived before 4:30 and met James at the hotel. We did a tiny bit of driving around before we headed to dinner.
our only photo as a family -- not the greatest but it is documented.
Day 2: James is off to work again, and we hit the road at a leisurely pace, deciding that taking the Turquoise Trail from Albuquerque to Santa Fe might be a fun change of pace. R was enjoying her movie (Bolt) so much that I took us on a further excursion up into the Sandia Mountains.
At the top (where the outside temp was registering 54 degrees, a 25+ degree drop from the main road!), we got out to explore. Ripley was ready for an adventure.
We followed the path as far as it would go, stopping and taking pictures the whole way.
Back at the bottom, we had a picnic and prepared for the rest of the trip.
A quick stop in Madrid, NM to take a few photos (mailboxes above), and then onto Santa Fe. Checked into the Hotel Santa Fe, took R on a quick tour, then walked over to one of my favorite restaurants...
a well-deserved cerveza, enchiladas, tamales, and more tortillas than a 5-year-old should be capable of eating, and stick a fork in us. We were done.
More from the road later.