Sugar Skull Ramblings: Adventures in the Land of Enchantment- Part 1

After lots of LIFE happening for the past couple of years, I'm back ya'll! I am looking forward to writing a bit about some of the experiences I have lived recently, but until that post gets fleshed out, how about some photos of a recent trip?!?!

Caught in a tourist trap

We (Me and the Mr.) joined my family on a trip to New Mexico for the New Year to visit my dad's familia. I hadn't been since 2007, so I was super excited to be back to explore the area that I had told Eddie so much about. I just hoped it would live up to my stories! Since this side of my family lives so far away, Eddie had only just recently met a couple of them at our wedding. He was definitely looking forward to seeing me, my dad, and my family all interact with one another on my dad's home turf. (Side note- Eddie was a psychology major, so he loves that sort of stuff. Seeing how people interact and how it influences their personalities and who they are.) I have very fond memories of spending summers in the Las Cruces, NM/El Paso, TX area as well as a New Year's Eve here and there, made even more fun since Jan. 1st is my dad's birthday.

I've visited some other parts of New Mexico before, and in my opinion the state really lives up to its state motto- The Land of Enchantment. It's kind of hard to describe, but I've felt "enchanted" by the area when I've experienced a summer storm, have seen snow falling on the Organ Mountains, have driven under green pecan trees so full in the summer time that they touch above historic Route 28, and visited a roadside Chile stand full of red ristras. The area just has this kind of magical/whimsical feeling about it. New Mexico is a place I love visiting, I am so happy that Eddie loved it too! So much in fact, that we have discussed the possibility of moving there in the future! Not anytime very soon of course, but we are both happy that we are on the same page about it being an option!

The roadtrip to New Mexico itself is such an interesting drive. There are so many little roadside restaurants, shops, and tourist traps. I grew up knowing that this was part of the drive on I-10, but it was a totally new thing for Eddie. I think my dad really enjoyed being able to show Eddie interesting things on the trip, because the trip had not been new to me and my siblings for a really long time! He ended up being kind of an impromptu tour guide. Haha.

There aren't any Dunkin Donuts very close to us at home, so you know we had to hit this one up in Yuma when we made our first stop for gas. Aw yeah.

I'm gonna close out this post with some photos of little truck stop/tourist trap we stopped at during the drive. The drive to Las Cruces is an all day thing, about nine hours plus stops. There are a number of stops whee you can get gas, get food, stretch your legs, and of course, shop for souvenirs. The place we stopped is called The Thing, and it has existed for as long as I have been making the trip, and apparently even longer. It's an odd but intriguing little exhibit with a decent adjoining shop. We browsed fireworks, Mexican blankets, Mexican pottery, and western-themed souvenirs. We probs spent an hour and a half going through the random/corny/sometimes racist/very outdated exhibit and checking out the (much better) shop. And I took a good amount of photos while we were there!