"There Ain't No Doubt I Love This Land..."

Our road trip to New Mexico was an all-American vacation all around...swimming holes, dude ranches, shady picnics, 4th of July parades, lots of cousins, and small town barbecues...

The next morning after a bacon and eggs breakfast we left the winding town of Arroyo Seco and headed to Ghost Ranch.

We went by a hostel John stayed at for Scouting High Adventure when he was 14.

Georgia O'keefe's art was inspired by this scenery, and she spent many hours painting on this ranch.

The last day was spent with Dave's cousin in Los Alamos for the 4th.   

They had a children's parade and a church carnival with all the free snow cones we could eat.  By the end of the day we were stained red, white, and blue.

Thanks for sharing the road with us Sullivan fam.  Lot of mileage markers and many memories!  "God bless the USA."  XOXO, Jess

lat=36.5072, lon= -105.7229

Those are the GPS coordinates to Manby Hot Springs.  They led us down a long washed out dirt road deep into the New Mexican desert.  As the road worsened we began to feel like finding the Hot Springs would be like finding a needle in a haystack.  Then when we were about to lose hope, we saw a small sign sticking out of the desert ground.  So we sunscreen-ed up and began our descent down the canyon.  

After a hot hike, we were happy to see a beautiful oasis in the desert. One was too hot, one was too cold, and one was just right!

Don't judge our Asian umbrella and swimming shirts.  We have to keep our fair skin out of the scorching sun.

When we were blissfully basking in the clear water a long-haired hippie hiked in.  He asked to take our picture.  I guess he wasn't expecting to see a family like ours so far from civilization.

Rissy was all smiles.  

We hiked out after a good few hours of fun.  On our way up we happened upon these Big Horn Sheep...

We assumed this was the hippie's van from down by the river:)  We left him some words of wisdom before we went on our way.

8 year old little boys are really deep;)

  I love going on adventures like this with my little family (and the Sullivan's too).  It felt like college-kid kind of fun...Living life on the edge...Just with more sunscreen and diapers:)

How We Spent Our Summer Vacation...

We just got back from a 15 hour road trip to Nuevo Mehico.  Why New Mexico you ask?...Because my sister and I looked at a map, found midway between Houston and Heber, and decided to meet:)...

 After driving through Dallas we were looking for a park, but pulled into a pool, so we took the kids for a swim instead. 

 I vote this dip spot #1 pit stop!

Back on the road again.  We got our kicks on Route 66.  

One hotel stay, a sacrament meeting, a traffic citation, and a small typhoon and we made to what James called our Indian House...

So exciting to stay at a real life casa.

 We woke up early to attempt to hike the highest peak...(emphasis in attempt, just getting everyone out the door was a feat.)

Oh!!! It felt so good to be back in thin air.  

 The rest of the day we went to a movie, relaxed in the hot tub, and Heather made us a delicious Fajita dinner.

 The next day we took it easy at the world's greatest toy store in the small town of Taos.

Next we hiked the Rio Grande to hot springs I found on Swimmingholes.org...a site written circa 2003...not the most reliable resource.  It was quite the adventure...stay tuned;)