New Mexico trip

Taking a vacation with small kids sometimes isn't a vacation at all.  Just ask Jill about Sun afternoon through Tues morning of last week.  I was laid up in bed with a stomach/ nausea bug, and Jill was on her own taking care of the kids at our hotel in Albuquerque.  We also questioned the decision to take a flight that landed in Indy at midnight on our way home.  Getting back in the swing of things is tough after going to bed at 2:30am.

Thankfully, I was at full strength for the rest of the trip, and we also visited lots of friends that entertained the girls.  So there was some adult conversation here and there, and we were very proud to show off the girls to friends that only knew us as the couple with lots of free time for bike adventures.

Big events were few and far between, but we did manage a zoo/aquarium visit.  That was the hottest day of our visit, so the kids mostly played in the sprayground. Our train from the zoo to the aquarium needed some work, so we had lots of time to sit, sweat, and chat.

When we lived in Los Alamos, Jill had a little sister through the big bros/big sis club.  Her little sister will be a senior at LA high this fall.  Kids grow up quite a bit after 5 years!

This is just to show that we really were not in Illinois.  I got to spend a bunch more outdoor time than Jill by going on a couple of bike rides with my friend Ryan.  Our big ride was from Los Alamos to Jemez Springs and back.  I ordered a green chile cheeseburger from Los Ojos, but they served it without the green chile.  At the time, I thought this would likely benefit my stomach, but things turned for the worse.  On the way back, my side cramped badly.  I was about 2 minutes away from hitching a ride back to LA when I laid on the road's shoulder by the Caldera.  The pain disappeared for the rest of the ride.

However, as mentioned above, I felt lousy for the next 2 days without an appetite.  I hate to blame Los Ojos, so let's just say it was my tummy being wimpy.  Regardless, I had a blast riding with Ryan once again (borrowing his very nice black Kogswell) through the Jemez mountains.

We selected our hotel because it had an outdoor pool.  A bonus was that we got to see some flooding of I-25 from an impressive thunderstorm.

We also stayed at Edie's house in Abq and the Gac abode in LA (and borrowed Edie's car to get there).  Many thanks to our gracious hosts.

 There was no shortage of kids, much to the delight of Clara and even Janny.  Boo's room was a favorite hangout because of his stupendous lego creations.

While driving us back to the airport, Edie said that our visit made it feel like we had never left (except for the little people being with us now).  I think that really good friendships are like that.  We just felt loved from the second we arrived to when we said goodbye, and we loved in return.  We just wish that the time intervals and distances didn't have to be so great.