Some of you may remember that last month I went on a glorious 2 week vacay. Eeek! I hadn't had a real vacation in 2 years and it was very much needed. I had such a blast. I've been intending to do a brief blog post with vacation pictures, but I just haven't had the time to do it. Some of you may have seen some of my vacation pics if you follow me on Twitter. For those of you who haven't...TA daaaa!
Every year for about 7 years now my family and I roadtrip our to way New Mexico durring the summer and rent a house there. Due to economic issues I wasn't able to go last year. And I really missed the family vacation time. *sighs* But due to penching my pennies very well this year it was ON!
Every year my Dad gets pretty upset over how much luggage us 3 woman bring along. This year we got smart and brought along a luggage carrier. Out of sight, out of mind!
For us Texan's, no road trip is complete without stopping at a bbq joint or two! This is one of our fave stops along the way!
A very tuckered out navigator. hehe My poor Pops!
Yep, at 6pm it was still 104 degree's in Texas. ACK! We felt like we were roasting in our car and the temp didn't drop down to 100 till around 8 that night. We couldn't wait to cross over to New Mexico into some much cooler weather!
I had never seen a tree like this before and I was floored to see it thriving in the New Mexican desert! It is so beautiful and I would love to plant one at home if I can ever find out what it is. Any ideas?
We've had the same rental for quite a while so I forgot to snap any pics of it. I did however wake up bright and early every morning to sit on the front porch and eat my breakfast while the sun rose. I was too busy observing to snap a pic, but you get the idea! ;)
Because we have been to New Mexico so many times, we have actually made friends in several cities. We always look forward to reuniting with everyone and catching up. This particular family invited us to their house for dinner the weekend we got in. I had not met them as my parents met them on their vacation their last year, which I wasn't able to make. They were a super sweet family and I had a great time getting to know them! I forgot to snap any pics of them or the gorgeous meal they cooked us. But they did take us for a walk. There are some amazing hiking and nature trails literally right outside their back door. It was absolutely stunning!
They said if you walk down far enough there is a beach. I nearly squealed! I wanted to walk down there one day with my beach towel and a good book in hand. But sadly we never had the time :(
Next up, the famous El Pinto! My mother did her research and found they had a fantastic Gluten Free menu for me! Yumm!
The resturant was gorgeous inside and out!
I couldn't leave without grabbing a jar of their famous Green Chile sauce to bring back! Now our local grocery store is stalking all of their sauce's so thankfully next year I won't have to pack a trunk full of it! ;)
After our fantastic lunch...we HAD to walk it off. Trailhead park was gorgeous!
Next day we went to the world famous Chocolate Maven for lunch. My all time favorite resturant and the thing we look forward to most each year! As you can see they've won Best Resturant award every year since 2002!
The resturant makes the most amazing desert's and they've even been featured on the Food Network! We always sit upstairs in a super cute french tea room. I love it but downstairs you actually get to sit in the glass room and watch their employee's create their world famous pastries. We arrived early enough this year to actually get a seat. Eeek!
They have the most yummy breakfasts!
Just look at that big sandwhich! I don't think my Dad has ever been so quiet. haha
I was ecstatic this year to find they were making Gluten Free Cupcakes! Ahh!!! Cupcakes are my absolute fave and Gluten Free are so hard to find. Needless to say I bought every single GF cupcake in the building! haha
Famous Brownies as seen on the Food Network. I wish they made this GF too!
After beakfast we headed out to Ghost Ranch, where Georgia O'Keefe lived and painted.
It was a 3 hour drive to get there, but it was totally worth it! Even the scenery on the drive up was equally beautiful!
I can totally see why Georgia found so much inspiration here. Pictures do not even do Ghost Ranch justice! We decided next year we will come an extra week early to stay in one of the cabins at Ghost Ranch.
Artists come from all over to paint here.
One of the Indiana Jones movies was filmed here. I can't remember which one...I believe the last one?
I couldn't resist dropping a post card into Carl!
My second favorite part of the trip, the shopping!!!
In Roswell New Mexico, Aliens lurk everywhere!
I didn't take as many pic's on our way back. I think I slept most of the way home. haha All in all we had a fantastic family vacation and I am super excited to do it again next year! :)
Have you gotten to do anything fun this summer? Go to a cool concert, or on vacation? I'd love to know so don't forget to let me know in the comments!
That looks like it was an amazing vacation. Such beautiful scenery!!
ReplyDeleteThose pictures are beautiful! I love the Southwest and have lived in Arizona and West Texas, so that part of the country is near and dear to my heart. The food there is one of my favorite things *reaches out and grabs jar of green chile sauce* JEALOUS!!
ReplyDeleteLOL on the luggage -- I got SO much crap from my family about my giant bag o' books. I was like, if they books don't go, I don't go...
Glad you had such an amazing time ;)
Look at all of those beautiful pictures! New Mexico seems so enchanting to me! That tree is gorgeous, is it really pink? I'd love to grow that here too! That breakfast that your Dad is enjoying is making me drool too, lol!
ReplyDeleteSo happy that you had a wonderful time :)
PS, GIRL! You better read Everneath a.s.a.p! I'm really sure that you're going to like it too :)