Vacation!!!

This year, we went on an actual, for-real family vacation with our friends.  The destination was Red River, NM.  We actually stayed there but spent about half of our time in nearby Taos, NM.  We loaded up on Friday, May 31st after the kids got out of school and headed out.  Red River is about a 6-7 hour drive from Lubbock.  The drive itself was uneventful, but northeastern NM is a lot like Oklahoma.  There is a whole lot of nothing in the way of scenery until you get to the mountains where we were headed.  Fortunately, the kids brought stuff to do and there wasn't nearly as much "Mommy, Daddy, are we there YET!!!" as I was anticipating.  I felt very blessed.

On Saturday, we went into Taos and did some grocery shopping for the food we would cook while we were there, then had a picnic lunch at Kit Carson memorial park.

So this is me, having a sandwich.  But not just any sandwich... oh, no.  This is me having an Egg Bagel Sandwich.  We found a Smith's grocery store in Taos and they had them.  You can't beat Egg Bagels for sandwiches.  You just can't.

This is our little Meagan monkey.  She has discovered a love of climbing things.  I have discovered a fear of her climbing things.  I suppose it works out.

And then there's Jacob.  He's just so happy in general.  He did so well the whole trip.

The afternoon was a return to Taos, a nap for the ladies and a walk for me.  The following illustrate the vista right of the back porch of the cabins we were staying in.

This is a mallard duck that was trying to hide.  There are several in the river and I got several better shots later.

Red river is a ski resort town in the winter, so if you look up at the mountains, you see quite a few "dry" runs.  But there were trees.  Actual trees.  With green pine needles, even.  It was spectacular.

On the way back from my walk I stopped in some local shops and poked my nose around.  One of them had a couple of beautiful 6-shooters under glass.  I took a picture, because, well, too rich for my blood right now.  But it's a beautiful gun.

Sunday, we opted to stay at Red River and relax because of it being the sabbath.  We played board games (our friends brought 2 tubs full and we brought a large paper sack - we could have played games the entire time with enough variety to not likely get bored).  Among the fare was Dominion, Shadowrift, Pictionary, and Uno although there were plenty of others to choose from.

That evening we took another walk with the kids.  Along the way, I finally got a decent shot of the mallards as well as a sunset shot with the light peeking through the clouds at the tops of the mountains.

The kids got to play at a local park in Red River with their friends for a great end to the day.

Monday, it was back to Taos to visit the Taos Pueblo, the approximately 1,000 year old home of a group of Northern Tiwa, Pueblo Indians.  The architecture was similar to other pueblo settlements - very utilitarian and simple.

The photographic find of the day, however, was their local Catholic church.  It was absolutely beautiful workmanship

Meagan and Jacob at the archway entrance to the church courtyard.

This is easily the most beautiful thing I saw on our vacation.  The number of hours and the care that went into this stagger the mind.

We were asked not to take pictures of the inside, but the artwork was fantastic inside as well.  Through the middle of the village, there was a small windy creek that provided an incredibly peaceful backdrop to the whole area.

After leaving the Pueblo, we went to lunch.  Since we have yet to find more than one "passable" mexican place in Lubbock, we went hunting for both something that was a good local flavor, and offered things that were also Gluten free for our friend that has celiac disease.  That led us to a small place called La Cueva.  It is a small (6 tables) diner very near the park where we had our picnic.

After lunch, I was sure I had died and gone to heaven.  It was "real" mexican food.  And they didn't screw it up.  I was SO happy.

We headed back to Red River and the kids and I took a walk in the afternoon so that they could hang out by the river behind our cabins...

...which they enjoyed immensely.  That night, however, Meagan got sick and spent time throwing up on the way home Tuesday.  It made for a long car ride.  But we made it home, everyone is healthy, and it was a good vacation.

I'm grateful we had some great friends to share it with.  We had a lot of fun with them.

- Josh