Our trip was winding down. Ollie had been up so early the past couple mornings, I was determined not to sleep too late, so we could jumpstart the day with him and possibly get a hike in the cooler morning hours. Ollie slept in. I did not. Consequently, Thomas did not. We were ready to go before our neighbors in the room next door were even out of bed. Alas....
Thomas and I drove around, as he toured me through some more of Las Cruces. We made it back just in time to join the other three for breakfast before hitting the road. Tom took us through some vast pecan orchards, really there were little ones, too. Anywhere you could plant a dozen, another orchard popped up. Mostly we were winding through them to see the Rio Grande (Big River for those needing translation). It was a little disappointing...
This empty dry bed, save for a couple small green puddles of mosquito larva, is the Rio Grande. No fishing today! Tom said that the river is diverted into ditches for irrigation and then sort of merges back together to form a river again downstream.
Next Tom took us into the foothills of the Organ Mountains for a short morning hike up into these rocks. It was a beautiful hike and the weather wasn't too hot, not that we didn't slather on sunblock. Ollie slept for the first half on his mom in the backpack and then got to ride back down with me when he woke up. His latest craze is clapping, and he figured out how to clap my hand as we hiked down (or some might say he was giving me five).
Tom used to climb these rocks with his buddies.
I was lichen the colorful rocks.
There were lots of yucca varieties growing - these were tall and colorful.
From there we stopped at Dion's for awesome sandwiches - another of Tom's favorite eateries - and hit the road for Albuquerque. Ollie really needed a nap, so we didn't stop for anything but a potty break. Last stop: the Dente's home.
A friend of Miki's grew up in Albuquerque, and her parents graciously hosted us on our last evening together. We were greeted with hugs into a beautiful old adobe home with a serene backyard of fruit trees, grape vines, and sitting space. We enjoyed some wonderful food (a toasted walnut dip that I need to get a recipe for), storytelling, and a great night's sleep.
I'll admit that I cried when we parted ways on Tuesday morning. It was such a wonderful gift to me to have the time to spend with Miki and Marty, but especially Ollie. I miss out on a lot of family dinners and celebrations in Portland between visits, so it meant so much to have family here. So I cried... And in a few months we will go back to Portland for my brother's wedding, and I will get to see them again.
The happy little man with some new stacking/snapping colorful cups from the Dentes.
Parting ways didn't mean either of our travels were over. Miki & Marty did beat us home by about 4 hours. Thomas and I stopped at several shops along the way home, including a big purchase of windows and lumber at Home Depot. We rolled into Miami about 8 pm, grateful to see all was still standing and grateful for a hot shower and familiar bed.
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