We Should Have Taken A Left In Albuquerque

This trip kind of snuck up on us. I think I was concentrating on the last week of school and all of a sudden it was time for the trip. In fact, we took the kids out a day and a half early to go.

So Thursday afternoon we hooked up the RV and hit the road. Scott had it in his head that Cortez, CO would be the perfect place to stop for the night, but didn't want to pay anyplace to camp, so he found an LDS Church building out in the middle of cow pastures (and nothing else) to stop for the night. Of course, we didn't get out as early as we wanted, so we didn't get there until 11:00 pm. We didn't even unhook the RV from the truck and piled inside to sleep. I am my mother's daughter, so I slept very poorly that night, with visions of a cop knocking on the door at 3 am to tell us to move. I could picture waking four sleeping kids to load them back up in the truck and drive somewhere else! Every time the dog moved, I'd wake up, sure someone was outside. Much to my relief, nothing happened.

The KOA in Albuquerque was really nice. We were close to the pool and playground. It was really hot, so the pool was a great place to spend a lot of time.

Here is Scott and Zoey, hanging out.

Porter and Hali doing the same.

When Regan wasn't swimming or at the playground, she had her nose in this book. She must have read it six times on our trip.

We spent Friday and Saturday with Jeff (Scott's brother), Lori, and their girls, Katie, Marissa, and Emma, but they had to leave on Sunday. (We left on Monday.) So we decided to play the tourists and see the sights in Albuquerque. We went "downtown" (in quotes, because there isn't much of a downtown. Salt Lake has a bigger downtown.) and walked around Old Town.
They had a lot of stores with cheap, ugly souvenirs. I had to take a picture of this, just because it made me laugh so hard. I have never seen a Jesus action figure! I mean, seriously?!
The drive home was LONG! We left at 8:30 am and didn't get home until after 11:00 pm! But we took our time, not to mention we were hauling a trailer. We took a little side trip, too. We stopped at the four corners monument.

Here are the kids, one in each state. Regan was in Utah. Porter in Colorado. Hali in New Mexico. And Zoey in Arizona. It was pretty cool.

I have to say, this was a contemplative trip for me. We drove through a lot of Native American Reservations and I saw a lot of poverty. I think I sit in my nice house, with plenty of food in the cupboard, with drawers full of clothes, and just live my life. I often fall into that "keeping up with the Jones" thing and wish for better than what I have. But really, what I have is good. I have a great life. And with the economy what it is right now, it really hasn't made that much of a difference in my every day life. I haven't had to tighten my belt to afford gas or groceries. I think this trip has grounded me a little. I guess every once in a while we need to be reminded of the blessings that the Lord has given us. Especially when we take them for granted.