I must admit, upon deciding to spend half our summer in Red River, New Mexico, I had no idea what I was really getting into. I just assumed that, as with any town, I would be able to go work remotely from a coffee shop, that buying groceries would be a breeze, and that I would have good cell phone reception.

I was wrong about all of that. Yes there are coffee shops here, and yes they have WiFi…sometimes, but the hours are sporadic. Usually the coffee shops close by 2 or 3pm, and opening at all is questionable. Cell phone service here is also very spotty, and you are lucky if you get any data right outside of town…if you do it’s usually 3G and VERY slow.

I have to admit, though, I like this slower paced lifestyle. On most days I have woken up early for a run or to read before the kids wake up, and then I go work for a few hours before joining the family for lunch. I then return to the RV Park community room or go back to town to get some more work done. Town, by the way, is only a mile from our RV park, and just one mile long, so I usually ride my bike into town.

I’m less distracted with things going on in the office too, so I’m able to do more work in less time, which has freed me to end my days early and spend more time with the family. It has been quite nice.

The whole family has been more relaxed here in the mountains. Our kids are calmer, they are even sleeping better, and both Kristy and I are just far more relaxed overall.

I don’t know if it’s the mountain air, the change in routine, the lack of oppressive heat, or just having fewer obligations, but everybody is happy here! We are definitely going to return to the mountains again next year. It does our family a lot of good.

2016 and early this year was pretty rough for our family. So, to be here in the mountains, slowing down, is a welcomed reprieve. Lately we have felt like our RV is falling apart (because it pretty much is) but despite all of that we are still calm and relaxed. A new RV might be in our future too. We just have to figure out how to make it happen.