New Mexico - Is It Old or New?

That is the question Josh asked me when we first drove into New Mexico. I asked him if he meant politically, culturally, geologically, or in comparison to something else, and he just ignored all that and repeated the question. I had to admit I don't know. What I did know was that after we left Arizona, Carlsbad, New Mexico was our next stop. We decided that on the way to Texas we wanted to do something fun, and Carlsbad Caverns National Park seemed like something unique we could all enjoy. 

The kids loved bouncing back and forth on the bed at the motel, but said they didn't want to see a cave, they wanted to go straight to grandma's. However, lucky for everyone, they changed their minds the second they walked out of the elevator when we arrived at the caverns 750 feet below the earth. Definitely awesome.

Here's a little snippet of our pass through New Mexico.

Oh, yes, and on the way to Carlsbad we did a quick dip into Texas, going past El Paso. The part we went through was not awesome. When we stopped for gas and bathroom breaks I felt dirty and hot, so when the kids asked for popsicles, I was more than happy to buy one for each of them, and  myself. How much of what kids get depends on what the parents want in the moment? Just a point to ponder. :)

Our first stop after we left Arizona was  this rest stop near the New Mexico border. It was actually a really charming little place, with shaded tables where we could eat our lunch. The kids had Lunchables, and Andrew's first move was to make this combo. Look closely, and you will see that it's two Oreos with his entire stack of cheese inbetween. Yum.

This fountain is in the middle of the picnic area at the rest stop. Josh got a coin from the car,  and used the fountain as a wishing well. I did not have him pose, I just took pictures of him and his wishing process. This is him trying to figure out what to wish for. He kept saying, "Yeah, that would be good, but mom and dad won't let me . . .hmmm . . . "

Finally Josh asked me if he could have a Wii. I said not right away, but probably some  day. He took that as a yes, and made it an official wish. We shall see how the power of the New Mexican fountain works.

Just got to the park . . .

Seeing these my-kids-as-park-rangers photos reminds me of an actual ranger we saw inside the visitors center. She had a display of all of the types of bats that are found in the area, and the kids were excited to see it. Noah asked her, "So, did you kill all of those bats?"

The kids were pumped to take turns as a park ranger. So of course I have to post all four.

This is not while we were on the walking tour of the caves where you aren't supposed to touch, it is simply on the way to the bathroom. They already thought it was awesome. Don't know what's up with Josh's ab exposure.

Josh wanted to be a spelunker. On the way back from the bathroom.

I think Andrew thought Josh's ab-bearing was a sign he should do the same.

We were having a great time looking at all of the amazing cave formations, until this point near the end where Noah suddenly decided he had to go to the bathroom. I post it because it amuses me that he's having such pains, but when we ask him to smile for the next photo, you'd never know. Photo by Josh.

For the very last part of the tour, Gary took Noah and Andrew out quickly for bathroom purposes, while Josh discovered photography. He saw thing after thing that he wanted to take a picture of. He actually did a pretty good job, so I'm posting some of them.

I wanted to take a picture of my little photographer.

So he had to take one of me.

Then he said he had better start taking pictures of numbers.

After we finished seeing the caves, we had a drive to San Antonio ahead of us. It's about 6 hours 45 min. worth of drive time, and since we started so late in the day and lost an hour when we got into Texas, we had to do it quickly. With only one gas/bathroom break, we did it in 7 hours, and the kids got to swim at the hotel, the coveted prize. I was so proud of them for that trip.

Andrew's sunglasses were the thing that entertained him the most. Serious.

We spent a lot of time dancing in the car that day. Josh and Noah said they were having a dance fight, and this is one of Josh's tough moves.

The dance-fighters after Noah grew weary of it. I think it's funny.

There's my boy.

And there's the man who got us there. Well, everywhere.