We spent a week in the mountains in August to beat the heat. Like always, we had a great time. Here is a trip recap
Friday – We drove up to Canyon after work on Friday. Here we are at the start of our trip. Everyone is happy and the car is clean.
Saturday – We drove to Angel Fire in the morning. In the afternoon, we unpacked, fed the birds, watched the deer, got in the hot tub, and took a walk to the bear house.
The kids were wearing these bear hats and were down on the hill below the house. Nana yelled over the deck “Hey I see two bears down there, one white and one black.” The kids came running back to the house screaming. They didn’t realize they were the bears.
Sunday – We did some chores around the house in the morning and played golf in the afternoon.
What a natural swing
Not a bad view from the putting green
We only played 9 holes because the course was so backed up that we were waiting a lot. That afternoon, Nana and Pappy headed back to Canyon.
That evening, we took a walk around the lake after dinner.
Monday – We took the canoe out in the morning. We started with the whole family
But Henry wouldn’t be still, so we let Jennifer, Hannah, and Henry out on the other side of the lake. Nathan stayed with me to help paddle
After the canoe, we played at the park a little then went back to the house. All three kids took a long nap at the same time. Jennifer and I did some reading. After he woke up, Henry wanted to do some reading so he got a book and climbed up next to Jennifer.
I snapped this picture of Henry hugging Nathan.
That evening we hiked lady slipper after dinner.
Tuesday – the kids took a group tennis lesson. They had a lot of fun
After tennis, we played at the park, then stopped at the library on the way back to the house. We checked out several Indian books to get ready for Indian day.
That afternoon, we played golf again. Hannah and Nathan rode in the cart with me. Hannah got cold during an afternoon rainstorm and had to improvise.
Henry liked sitting on the bench like the big kids to put his shoes on.
While we were golfing, Jennifer went for a walk in town and did some shopping with Henry.
After golf, we went back to the house to rest for a while. That evening, we hiked down to the picnic table. On the way we saw some deer
We made it to the picnic table
and the kids played a while
We kept Henry close
The kids were not too fond of the route I selected on the way back
Wednesday – This was what we called Indian Day, and probably the highlight of our trip. We loaded up in the morning and drove to Santa Clara Pueblo, near Espanola. Our first stop was to see how real Indians live today. The community was hosting its annual feast day. We joined the festival and saw some authentic Native American live dances in the town square. They didn’t allow pictures so hopefully the kids remember it! After the dancing, we ate some lunch, the kids bought some souvenirs from the vendors and we loaded back up.
Our next stop was Bandalier National Monument to see how Indians used to live. During the summer, everyone has to ride a shuttle bus to get to the park. It was about a 25 minute ride, but we survived somehow.
We stopped at the ruins first.
Then we went up and climbed the ladders to the cliff dwellings. Henry got to climb in one.
The kids loved climbing the ladders. But it was HOT and they were tired on the way back. Henry fell asleep
The kids slept on the way back and we decided to stop in Taos to hit our normal spots. First we went to Twirl to pick a new toy and play. Hannah got socks she could color, and Nathan got some figurines.
After Twirl, we went to Taos Pizza Outback for dinner then headed back to Angel Fire. It was a LONG day but we had fun.
Thursday – Cowboy Day. In the morning, I made Nathan a “peter pan sword” because he decided against it at the toy store but then had to have it when he got home. He liked to carry it in his shorts.
Then we decided to hike on the Oesta Vista trail down to the playground while Henry napped. Here are my hiking buddies
The kids made it down nicely and we played at the park until Henry woke up. Then Jennifer brought a picnic down and we had lunch. After lunch, we went back to the house. Hannah worked on her color socks and the boys played.
That evening, we worked up the courage to go to Bobcat Pass for a Cowboy Evening. We played before dinner.
Hannah accidently roped Jennifer.
They were cooking biscuits in dutch ovens here
and Ribeye Steaks here
The food was great, but dessert was my favorite. Homemade cinnamon rolls!
After dinner we listened to some cowboy songs from Syd Masters. He was really talented and fun to listen to. We ended up buying a cd which included Nathan’s favorite song “Frying Bacon in the Nude”
On the way back, we saw some pretty neat colors in the sky over the high valley. It was fitting that we were listening to Syd Masters sing “Under New Mexico Skies”
Friday – We did the hot tub in the morning
Then we played golf again. Jennifer stayed at home with Henry while he napped. That evening we hiked Lady Slipper again and went to the big tree.
We saw another great sunset back at the house
Saturday – We hiked down to the park again. The kids favorite part about hiking is stopping for a snack.
After a picnic lunch, we went to the base of the mountain. Hannah did the climbing wall, but then we had to take a rain check because of lightning.
Next we stopped in the café in the lodge for some ice cream
That evening we walked to the bear house and went to bed.
Sunday – We packed up and cleaned the house. Henry was one step behind us, making a mess of what we cleaned up.
We took some pictures
Then I got gas and aired up our tires while Jennifer took the kids to complete their rain check at the base of the mountain.
Then we loaded up and drove back to Canyon. Becca and JM came over and we had fish tacos for dinner. Our cousin stayed the night.
Monday – Jennifer and Nana took Hannah school clothes shopping in Amarillo. I did some work in the morning to catch up on emails. Then Nathan and I got haircuts in the afternoon, and JM took some family portraits for us.
Then we met Nana and Pappy for dinner. They took the kids home (with a stop for frozen yogurt on the way), and Jennifer and I went to see a movie with William.
Tuesday – Pappy took me to a meeting in Lubbock and then Jennifer picked me up in the afternoon and we drove back to Aledo.
What a trip!