Arches National Park

I knew that we wouldn't have time to spend a full day in Moab as we drove back from Santa Fe. The timing ended up working perfectly however because we left Santa Fe early enough on Wednesday to get into the park by 330 or so and spent a few hours there. We were able to do a small hike (boy was it hot!) and see quite a bit of the park. We saw Balanced Rock, Landscape Arch, Tunnel Arch, and Delicate Arch.
By then, it was time to call it a day and we got dinner in Moab. On Thursday morning we got up early and hit a few of the sights we had missed from Wednesday. Hiking around was much better because it was a good 20 degrees cooler than the evening before. We saw Turret arch, Double arch, and two called the North and South Windows.
Noah is the best at spotting wildlife, and it was no exception while we were at Arches. In addition to the normal lizards and deer that can be found around there, he'd been talking about wanting to find a scorpion all week, and finally, he did!

Sandia Peak

Yesterday, we drove from Santa Fe down towards Albuquerque. There is an area that has a tram to the top of some mountains known as the Sandia mountains. We went up with a picnic lunch and enjoyed the views of New Mexico from 10,000 feet. It was only 70 degrees at the top (compared with 95 down at the base) but that sun was sooo strong! There were some great hikes that Noah and I were wishing we could have done, but our schedule was packed and we had to head back down sooner than we would have liked. Here are a few photos:

Road Trip!

Noah and I have spent the past two days driving through Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, and finally into New Mexico! Our truck is very comfortable to road trip in, but 24 hours of driving in two days feels like quite a lot no matter how good the company or how easy the drive. So, we arrived yesterday afternoon with enough time to check out the beautiful house we are staying in, do some grocery shopping, and enjoy a wonderful dinner with my dad and his wife. After a good night's sleep, we were ready to celebrate my birthday and Father's Day by wandering around downtown Santa Fe! I'll update this post and include some photos when we get home.
Building in downtown Santa Fe
The back patio of my Aunt's house. The property also has a 270+ degree view of Santa Fe.
Happy 27 to me!

A Word to the Wise

Package of tealites + car + 80 degree weather = disaster

I don't think that "Word to the wise" is quite the right thing to say because a wise person would not have done what I did this week.

Last Sunday, I had some time to kill with a friend as we waited to hear baby news from another friend in labor. We decided to go to Ikea because I needed some curtains for our living room and I got a few other non-essentials as well.

To make a long story short, baby Caleb made his way into the world, and in the excitement of seeing him for the first time at the hospital, as well as a very busy week, I forgot all about my purchase and it remained in the back seat of the car.

Well, at least until my sister-in-law jumped into the back of the car yesterday and said, "Uh-oh!" and pointed out that the tea lites had melted and I had sticky green wax all over the back seat. I felt so stupid to have had this happen! Actually stupid is an understatement. Even so, I'm so glad that I have leather seats instead of cloth, and the curtains seemed to have been protected from the green, greasy slime.

On the upside, the tea lites were scented so my car smells great (green apple, I think) and if I can get all the gunk out of the seams, it might do a nice conditioning job on my leather seats.

26 weeks:
Roxanne and me:

Deception Pass

Noah and I thought, "what can we go do on a beautiful Sunday?" After about an hour of tossing around idea after idea, we decided on the two hour drive up to Deception Pass/ Whidbey Island. We spent all our time in the National Park area, just walking around and enjoying the nice weather on the beach. We walked the bridge, hung out at North Beach for awhile and enjoyed the warm sand, then hiked around Rosario Head and Sharp Cove. Here are a few pictures: