Birthdays and Big Ditches

Days 62-67  
Leaving Alamogordo we made a stop just down the road at the Three Rivers Petroglyphs site – an area where visitors can access over 20,000 petroglyphs (images scratched into the surface of rocks) created by Jornada Mogollon people between 900 AD and 1400 AD. 

It was also here that we spotted our first (and so far, last) Roadrunner.  He was quite entertaining as he teased the camp host's leashed dog.  We were told that the camp host often feeds the bird raw hamburger meat which explains why he was eager to approach us. What a unique member of the feathered family.

Albuquerque, being a big city, seemed like a logical destination for a birthday bonanza the next day – Kerby turning 10 and Joelle turning 9.  We celebrated in style from our camper.  The kids awoke early to balloons and other celebratory decorations and enjoyed chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast after which we spray-painted their hair in sparkling  orange and green giving them a festive birthday look. Leaving our campsite, the first stop was the Page One Bookstore (their choice – gotta love that!) where we killed a couple of hours and the kids picked out a few books to replace those they’d just finished.  We grabbed a quick bite to eat at Quiznos and then on to the next stop – Hinkle Family Fun Center.  This place was a gas – two big buildings offering everything from laser tag, go carts and mini-golf to arcade games, virtual computer games and bumper cars.  We did it all, running from one fun thing to another.  Afterwards we made a stop at the local Target where the kids spent the birthday money their grandmother had given them.  Thankfully they didn’t want huge toys that we’d likely not have room for in the camper but instead bought two DSi game cartridges (easy fit – the DSi is redeemed!), then it was off to Applebee’s for dinner.  We ended the day by watching the 5th Harry Potter movie (we’d just finished the book a few days earlier) and enjoyed some chocolate-dipped strawberries for dessert. All in all I think the kids had a great day and, as always, Scott and I had a blast too.  We all fell into bed exhausted and happy ready to move on down the road the next morning.

 

Laser Tag

 

 Joelle in the pod ready to play a virtual robot-blasting game and then doing the "happy dance" after her 3rd hole-in-one

 

  

  

 

Next stop – Williams, AZ and the Grand Canyon.  I won’t write much here since Scott did a great job summarizing this awesome experience on his blog (www.fixedmoments.blogspot.com), but this was certainly one of the highlights of the trip thus far.  The kids at this point are getting overloaded with “amazing” sites and while they thought the canyon was “cool” they certainly didn’t get the awesomeness of where they were.  I guess at age 45, after years of yearning to see this big ditch, being here is a little more impressive for me than for my 9 and 10 year old kids.


We’re staying in a local hotel for 4 nights due to the cold night temps up here – a little chillier than we wanted to battle.  Although having a private shower and a t.v. is nice we miss our little pop-up and are ready to get back to camping. There’s something to be said for only being a canvas’ thickness away from the open air – it feels like you’re so much more a part of the world.