In June, once Brent was done with school for the summer, we took a final trip before the baby to Red River, New Mexico. The parents of our good friend from college, Chris Clark, have a condo out there, and they were so hospitable and generous to allow us to use their place for the week. I was so looking forward to being in the mountains and especially being out of the Texas heat!
With an eleven hour drive ahead of us, we thought we would try the whole "drive through the night" thing. We thought with Harper, it would make it simpler. Well, Brent was a rock star that drove the whole way with the help of Starbucks. It helped that we had to stop every couple of hours for me to get out and go to the bathroom and walk around. However, I don't think all the stops helped Harper. The crazy girl only slept 4 out of the 11 hours through the night! We would look back there, and she would just be staring out the window with big owl eyes--not talking, but not sleeping either. So when we made it to Red River that first morning, we were all wiped out. Therefore, the whole family took a several hour morning nap, and we were able to get back on schedule again that night.
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| Being 32 weeks pregnant, there was not going to be any serious hiking going on. But we took this chair lift up to the top of the mountain. Harper did not seem bothered by the height, and we held onto her tight. The quiet peacefulness of the chair lift was lovely. |
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| At the top... |
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| Taking in the stunning views |
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| Love my girl! |
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| Harper's hiking speed (and mine too, to be honest) helped us all slow down and notice and enjoy all the little things in nature. |
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| Being on Daddy's shoulders would sure speed us up though! Harper's puppies also came along on this excursion and had a splendid time. |
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| Aspen groves |
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| We brought along a picnic lunch and ate it in the grass. And Harper's puppies smelled the flowers. :) |
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| Moving along again |
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| We have discovered--through boat rides and various other events--a quirk about Harper that she doesn't like a strong wind in her face. Well, the chair lift back down the mountain was far too windy to suit this girl so she took cover in Brent's jacket (the whole 30 minute ride). :) |
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| We finished off the outing with some snow cones! |
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| Another day we drove to Taos and took a hike down to the bottom of a canyon to visit some hot springs by the river. Brent helped Harper navigate the rocky path and carried her about half the time. It was a bit more challenging of a hike than I wanted, but the reward at the bottom was nice. |
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| The hot springs were about bath tub temperature and shallow enough for Harper to stand in. We were lucky to have them all to ourselves! |
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Making funny faces
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| We saw this ram as we were leaving the hot springs to hike back out of the canyon. |
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| Cutie pie hiker in her swim suit cover up |
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| We were hugely rewarded with a fantastic lunch at Pizanos Pizza in Taos. We polished off every bite of our pizza, plus dessert, as we got to sit on the patio and enjoy this view. |
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| These road signs we would pass with the cow plummeting off the side of the mountain never failed to make me chuckle a little. Is it really that common to warrant its own sign? I guess so. Luckily we never encountered any falling animals! |
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| Another day we were strolling around in nature...this is clean Harper... |
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| ...and this is dirty Harper! Man, this girl loves her dirt, rocks, sticks, pine cones, etc.! The little raccoon definitely needed her baths! |
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| Horses passing by in a meadow |
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| There was a Community House in Red River that offered family friendly events. We stopped in for s'mores and story time one afternoon. |
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| Taking a load off with the other generations |
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| After s'mores, we went to this playground to play. As she was getting out of the car, Harper tripped and landed face first on the gravel road. When she came up crying with blood on her face and gravel in her mouth, I had a moment of mommy panic. Seeing what our last summer trip to Korea produced in the way of accidents, I couldn't believe she was bloodied up again on another summer trip! Luckily this fall just produced some superficial scrapes and scabs, and we even had to go ahead and play on the playground after cleaning up her face and mouth. |
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| Enjoying the view on the porch outside the condo |
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| And some time on the balcony reading books with Daddy. The temperatures were in the 30's at night. Unbelievable! We definitely slept with our window cracked open to fully enjoy the wonderful chilly nights! |
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| Another day we took a winding drive up for some more mountain exploration. |
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| Another family picnic... |
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| ...with some nice relaxation. You can see Harper's poor face injuries recovering in this picture. |
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| A pregnancy shot :) |
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| Doing a little life contemplation |
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| One night Brent and Harper went out just the two of them to see a showing of Mary Poppins on an outdoor screen. There is Harper all bundled up ready for the movie! They didn't stay for the entire movie but enjoyed the time they did watch and ate lots of yummy snacks. |
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| On our drive back to Texas, we stopped at Bandelier National Monument to see the cave dwellings. |
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| Brent inside one of the dwellings |
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| Some petroglyphs |
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| I was surprised at Harper's ability and desire to climb up these ladders into the caves! Made me a little nervous, of course, but she did great, and I was always right behind her (except when taking this photograph). :) She was scared to come down, though, so Brent would carry her down each ladder. |
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| "Don't let my scraped up face worry you, Mom. I'll be fine!" |
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| I think I deserve a few props for getting my pregnant self up those ladders too! :) |
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Harper loved each cave and even said, "Please Harper live in a cave!"
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After Bandelier, we continued on and stopped for the night at Brent's cousin's house near Clovis, New Mexico. They have a very cool setup (a compound, as they call it) on 160 acres of land. There are four families that live in houses adjoined by back porch walk ways.
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| A picture of the land before a big rain storm hit. This place was a kid's paradise! So much land, chickens, gardens and crops...it was a treat to get to experience their setup while also getting to visit with family. |
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| Grandpa feeding the chickens |
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| Harper had fun connecting with the kids there. |
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| Trampoline fun! |
We left the following morning and made it back home safely. Now we are just sticking around waiting for Owen's arrival! Brent created a video from clips he took throughout the week...love it!
