The Land of Enchantment

I've been holding out on doing the last update on our trip for a long time now... I guess because I didn't want that closure or maybe because I didn't want to have to explain to anyone why we had decided to cut our trip short or seem like we came back with our tail between our legs. However, I think everyone that is important to us knows by now that we found out that we are expecting a baby girl in July! We made this discovery halfway through our stay at Enchanted Trails RV Park in Albuquerque and made a panicked decision to go back to Owensboro so that Trae could go back to work.
However, I will save that for a little later and pick up where I left off in the little SHARP town of Van Horn, Texas. I say sharp because everything there was pointy and stuck in your shoes. I made the comment to Trae that I really understood why everyone was wearing bootcut jeans and cowboy boots. It's not just a fashion statement. It's to protect the "goatheads" and weeds from stabbing your legs!

Anyway,  this is Trae driving Harvey in between El Paso and Albuquerque, New Mexico which was our new destination. We attempted to stop in El Paso and explore a little bit but decided against it after attempting to drive to the top of a mountain and getting kind of stuck. Harvey did not like the idea of going up mountains and got really hot. I think he was trying to tell us that he was a little to old for that kind of nonsense.

A mountain in between El Paso and Albuquerque.

We stayed the night in a parking lot after driving into the night for a couple hours. When we woke up we were in awe of the colors we saw in New Mexico. The sky was the bluest I've seen, the mountains looked violet and the brush was the brightest yellows and oranges. It is just BEAUTIFUL there! Very welcoming after spending time in West Texas.

I apparently didn't take any photos of the RV park, but we ended up prepaying for a week stay at Enchanted Trails RV Park. I highly recommend this place. It is very nostalgic with old restored motorhomes and pull-behinds parked among new rigs which I LOVED! Old RVs are my favorite. They were totally okay with us having two pitbulls with us, which after being turned away by High Desert RV Park because of them was nice!

Downtown Albuquerque 

We're definitely not in Kentucky anymore! Closer to Los Angeles than Chicago for once!

This guy asked us for weed. Sorry guy, don't have any. I wonder how often he actually scores some by randomly asking people on the streets? I am not so great at disguising the fact that I am uncomfortable, ha.

Our server at a restaurant that we stopped at for lunch suggested that we go watch the Dia de Los Muertos parade, which was very cool! Trae took these photos of the parade. It was such a spirited event! We definitely hadn't seen anything like it before back home.

We had the pleasure of meeting some of Trae's family that he hadn't met before while in Albuquerque! Amy, Drew, and Reise were very hospitable and fun to be around while in Albuquerque! They treated us to some GREAT New Mexican food early on in our stay and made some suggestions for things for us to do. This is where Trae discovered his love of Green Chile which is a staple in New Mexico apparently. It is pretty good! Anyway, somewhere in the conversation the off-the-grid artist town of Madrid came into conversation. We were told it was on the Turquoise trail in between Albuquerque and Santa Fe and was a weird little recovered ghost town with lots of shops and people living sustainably in a commune-like fashion. I wanted to see it! So the next day we packed up the car to go hiking in Santa Fe and stopped in Madrid along the way. It was a cool little place!

Nyx and I taking photos at a little donation-based Photo Garden with setups to take pictures in. Pretty cute!

Trae, Paco and Wyatt. The boys!

Madrid, New Mexico

Colorful mailboxes

Houses in Madrid. So beautiful!

The Neon posing with the New Mexican horizon on the Turquoise Trail

The following photos were taken on the Atalaya Mountain Trail in Santa Fe. It is a 4 mile round trip (uphill then downhill) starting at St. John's college. It was pretty awesome at the top! 

Trae enjoying his Enu Hammock. Best wedding gifts ever!

I needed a break!

We beat a storm coming down from the trail! Apparently we brought the rain with us to New Mexico!

The next day we joined Drew, Amy, and Reise on a hike. We went to a really neat spot alongside an Indian reservation. This was the first time that I'd seen water in a while! Trae and I joked about how the "Rivers" that were labeled on our atlas weren't really there when we drove over them. Most were dried up and looked like ditches. 

The colors! So amazing.

White Mesa in San Ysirdo. Breathtaking.

Reise, Me, Trae, and Amy. Drew took the photo. Thanks again guys for showing us an amazing time!

That's all that I have for now. We found out about the baby coming and made the decision to join in the real world again for now.

There have been a LOT of changes in a short period of time since we had to return home. Since we sold pretty much everything we had in exchange for living in Harvey we made the decision to trade him off for a vehicle so that Trae could get around again. This is Trae's new baby: 

I am happy that he finally got the vehicle that he wanted for the longest time! We can't wait to go offroading once the weather is nicer.

We also lost Nyx in an accident. It breaks my heart every day to see her go, as she has been everywhere with us in the last 3 years and has shown such unconditional love and a crazy passion for being athletic and exploring with us. We miss you so much!

Anyway, we hope sometime in the near future to get a pull-behind and make more trips that we can document here. Until then, we will just have to check back here and remember how we did something that most people would consider crazy but learned a lot and grew a lot closer in the process. Until Next time, friends!