New Mexico

We left our camp site in Amarillo and headed west on I-40 into New Mexico.  Along the way we stopped at the very eclectic Cadillac Ranch, a series of 10 Cadillacs buried half in the ground and spray painted with colorful designs and messages. For decades people have been showing up with cans of spray paint and adding to the "art" with their own designs or messages. Coralie was proud to proclaim this was her "first graffiti".

Since we made such good time driving over the last three days we decided to detour on our way to the hotel and see the cliff dwellings at Bandelier National Monument.  The dwellings date back to the late 1400's and give a great sense of what life was like for the pueblo indians at that time.  Cameron really enjoyed the hike and climbing up into the ruins, Mia on the other hand had to be bribed with ice cream.  We followed the main loop which was a nice overview of the monument but longer trails exist that would make this monument worthy of at least a full day when we come back this way.  (If you hate heights... the shuttle bus ride to the visitor center is about as harrowing as they come.) We arrived at the Hyatt Tamaya Resort at about 5:30PM and after we unpacked we ate a nice dinner and took the kids to the pool.  It was a great day of adventure and culture topped off with some smores by the fire for the kids and a gorgeous mountain view.