If It's Monday, This Must Be Albuquerque

I'm back! Actually, we're back. We all went on a week-long road trip and had a fantastic time. We've never traveled so far, or done so much at one time, as a family, before. In fact, the last long vacation we went on was a trip to Disney World back in 2000!

Here's what we did:

Saturday - drove to Carlsbad, New Mexico

This was a long day and through a part of Texas none of us had ever seen. We had expected desolation, but found it has its own beauty.

Sunday - went to Carlsbad Caverns, then drove to Ruidoso

Carlsbad Caverns are incredible! We went on a guided tour through what is called the "Left Hand Tunnel". We only had candle lanterns for our lighting. Fun! I took a lot of pictures, but often had no idea what I was taking a picture of until after the flash went off. It was very dark in there.

After our guided tour, we went to the Big Room, which is lit and has a paved trail with hand rails. There were some amazing formations.

The drive to Ruidoso was gorgeous. Griff is ready to move there. :)

Monday - a lazy morning in Ruidoso, then off to Albuquerque

Tuesday - dropped Griff's double bass off at Robertson's Violin Ship for work to be done to it (the impetus behind this whole trip), then on to Flagstaff, AZ

Wednesday - drove to Williams to ride the Grand Canyon Railway to the Grand Canyon.

We had a few hours at the Grand Canyon, which was not enough. What can you say about the Grand Canyon? Beautiful, amazing, awe-inspiring... Words just cannot express it.

The train trip was fantastic. We all thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thursday - left Flagstaff for a quick trip down to Sedona.

Those red rock formations are just beautiful. In some ways, just as beautiful as the Grand Canyon. The city of Sedona is very tourist-y, but beautiful, as well.

After leaving Sedona, we headed up to Meteor Crater, which was a highlight for Robert.

We then headed back to Albuquerque.

Friday - Griff picked up his bass and we left for home. 17 hours later (including stopping in Amarillo to see a family friend), we arrived. Home, sweet home. It's good to be here again.

We are already talking about a longer trip next summer. I think that's a sign that this trip went well.