We made it to Red River, New Mexico and woke up this morning to a wonderful 50 degree day. So far, I am in love with this place. The air is crisp, cool and smells like a mixture of campfire and pine trees, which happen to be my favorite smells.

The kids are much happier here than they were in Austin, mainly because they are not sweaty and there is plenty of new places to explore. Signs everywhere tell of bears and Josh is determined to find one and “fight him with his sword.”

Nate woke up at 5:40 AM because the one-hour time difference threw him off, but the other two kiddos slept until their normal 7:00 AM wake-up time. I was thankful for that because I was beat after two LONG days of travel.

Getting here was a little crazy. We broke the trip into two days and had flat tires both days. Thankfully, Caleb is now an expert tire-changer and we were able to get back on the road fairly quickly. I told him he could work in a pit crew now with all his experience. He didn’t think it was that funny, but I’m really very proud of him.

Caleb is planning on working in town most days, though finding an open coffee shop has been a challenge in this tiny little ski town. The population here is around 450 people and apparently there is only one barista in town and she just had a baby.

We will be here for six weeks and I have a stack of good books I’m hoping to devour in my down time. I’m also hoping to catch up on some writing too. Mainly I am hoping this trip will give our family time to relax and enjoy one another after the long season of grief and stress we have recently endured.

May the mountain air refresh us, mind, body and soul!