New Mexico Vacation Part 1

We left on a short vacation on Wednesday, August 12th. We thought we would take a trip up to the mountains of New Mexico and enjoy some cooler weather during the middle of the Texas heat. The kids were going to be starting school in a few days so we thought it would be our one last chance.

We piled into the suburb and took off on our trip.

We thought we would head to Ruidoso, NM to relax.

Just north of Abilene there are windmill farms everywhere. The windmills are enormous. Each blade is longer than an 18 wheeler. There are literally thousands of them.

We headed on over to Carlsbad, NM and spent the night. We got up the next morning and headed to Carlsbad Caverns. They only charge $6 per adult and kids are free. We spent $12 to go through the caves. We hiked down into the cave.

I have been down before but I didn't remember how big and deep it was.

It was funny to hear Eden say "This is amazing."

After Carlsbad we packed up and drove north to Roswell. We wasted $18 at the international UFO museum. It was poorly put together and seemed like a bunch of quacks running the show. Emma really wanted an alien T-shirt but we didn't see any we thought she would like.

We drove around to see where Mom used to live. The whole town was run down. It was very depressing to see. I am sure it was nice in it's glory days but not any more.

We drove on up to Ruidoso and stopped in at the LaQuinta. Eden kept asking every few minutes if we could go swimming. We went and grabbed a bite to eat at Lucy's mexican restaurant. Best Chile Rellenos and Chimichangas I have tasted in a long time. We headed back to the Motel and the kids got their swimsuits and to jump in the pool.

The next morning we got up and went shopping in Ruidoso. We got the kids some T-shirts and other souveneir. We found some lunch at a little pizza shop. They had excellent pizza but the kids did not like the "natural" rootbeer they had. I ended up drinking most of theirs.

We headed down to the amusement park and thought we would let the kids do some putt putt and ride the go carts.

Emma and Eden were excited because they had a "Turtle Track" for the kids age 3 and up.
Eden made it around the track several times and only hit the wall twice.

We then went through a maze. Eden and I made it out in 11 minutes. Emma and Lauren got out next. Beth and Landon were lost in the maze and made it out in 22 minutes. Beth reminded me how much she hates mazes.

Eden was tired and needed to rest a bit.

It got really hot in the maze so we thought we would let the kids cool down on the water boats.

It was a lot of fun but Eden only lasted about 2 minutes before she wanted out. She wasn't soaked yet but the other kids went another 15 minutes and were thoroughly soaked. Emma got cornered by Lauren and Landon her look says it all.

We had some Snocones and then headed to the miniature golf. It has been 3 or 4 years since the kids had taken a swing so thought we would give it a go.

I ended up winning with Beth and Landon taking second, Emma third and Lauren crawled in over the last hole.

Landon, Lauren, and Emma went over to do the trampoline bunjee jump as well as the rock climbing wall. They did much better than I thought they would. I figured they couldn't make it to the top of the wall but they went right up it without a problem.

Landon and Lauren wanted to drive go carts so we found out they had 2 seater carts and single carts. Beth rode with Emma in her cart. Eden rode with me and then Lauren and Landon rode in their own cart. It felt like we were going fast but afterwards we watched some other racers and I would be surprised if we were going faster than 15mph.

We rode these carts a few time and then Beth and I rode the fast cars on the third track. You had to be 16+ with a valid driver's license to ride. They were much faster and the track was much bigger.

After spending 4 hours at the park we went down to the Cattle Baron steak house. Great steaks. We went back to the motel and rested for a while and then let the kids go swimming.
To be continued...