I've Been Everywhere

I feel like I've spent the last 4 days in the backseat of our minivan riding! Well, I did spend Wednesday and Thursday in Jake's Rodeo with hit or miss (mostly miss) air conditioning! Since Jake's parents arrived Monday, we've been to Las Cruces 3 times, Mesilla 3 times, White Sands, and all sides of El Paso via every possible route! We've been as close to Mexico as you can get without crossing the border. Needless to say, I'm tired of riding. I think Jake said at one point today we had driven 270 miles and we weren't even home yet. I also feel like I've gained 20 lbs in the past 4 days. I'm not even on vacation, but I seem to be eating that way. I'm avoiding the scales until next week!!

Jake and I were able to get away on Wednesday night. We spent the night in Las Cruces and enjoyed a couple of games of bowling. I won both times! We walked through the little shops in Mesilla. They have lots of cool Native American and South American art and trinkets. There's also lots of sterling silver and turquoise jewelry to look at and buy if you're into that kind of stuff. At least I know where to go if I ever need replacement figurines for my Nativity set that my friend Kathy gave me as a wedding gift. Her mom was a missionary in some South American country at the time so Kathy had purchased it on one of her trips to visit her mom. They had lots of similar pieces at the shops in Mesilla. If you're into history, you probably know that Billy the Kid was hung or hanged in Mesilla.

Today we ended our outing at White Sands, NM. I was thoroughly impressed and we'll be returning soon! From the highway, it just looks like mounds of white sand, but once you get into actual White Sands Park, the sand gets whiter and whiter. The dunes get taller and taller and it's just white sand as far as you can see. Those who know me best know it takes alot to impress me, and I was thoroughly impressed! It really was phenomonal! Some friends said we should go sledding while we were there, but we didn't have sleds! Where do you buy a sled in El Paso in the middle of the summer? We'll have to get creative with what we use for our sleds until we're able to find real sleds.

Here are some pictures of the boys at White Sands and a couple of other places! One day I'll learn to take my real camera with me when we go EVERYWHERE! I'm definitely getting my money's worth out of the camera on my Razr!

Maverick loved putting his hands in the sand. I never saw him eat any so maybe he'll be less of a goat than Bailey was or is! Bailey probably ate sand today and I just didn't see it.

This is Bailey's footprint in the sand. He was chasing Jake up a dune and I thought his little footprint was cute!

Bailey running back toward me when he figured out I was coming up the dunes with them. He thought he was in Heaven having all this wide open space to run through. He even picked a little handful of flowers and carried them all the way back to the van. When he didn't feel steady walking down the hills, he'd just sit down and scoot to the bottom. I'm sure he had sand in his crack by the time we left the dunes!

Here's Benny, Jake's dad, enjoying his Texas Brisket at Rudy's! He was so impressed that I think we're going back tomorrow for lunch. Did I mention I feel like I've gained 20 lbs? I'll be eating a turkey sandwich! No more brisket for me!

This was from our trip to Chick Fil A that I mentioned a few days ago. It was the perfect ending to an eventful trip to Chick Fil A. As you can tell, Bailey's not too sure about this cow standing on 2 legs on the side of a busy street.

A final note from Jake - - He says that I need to get better blogging friends! I guess he's bored looking at the blogs that don't seem to change that frequently. You'll notice that he doesn't have his own blog!