The Land of Enchantment

I'm back from my trip to New Mexico. Aside from a cold, snowy day in Santa Fe, I'd say an enchanting time was had by all!

Welcome to Albuquerque! (The view from the airplane.)


My sister, my mom and I.

The prettiest Native American woman.

The prettiest Native American baby, er...rather, me exploiting my niece in the souvenir shop.


More souvenir shop exploitation...


Three lovely ladies...


A yodeling cowboy in Old Towne.


"Alfonso de Albuquerque" look-a-like.
(He was the founder of Albuquerque and we were at the Founders Day Festival. Go figure.)

The whole gang!

And finally, home sweet home.

MIchigan Trip: Part II

Sorry I'm dragging this out but I wanted to post the second part of our trip. We left the Porkies and headed to Pictured Rocks National Shore (along the northern coast of the U.P.). We had a late lunch at a local joint, quickly set up camp and jumped on the last "rock" cruise of the day around 4 P.M. Since we went near dusk, the late day sun made for beautiful light on the rocks. Although it was a little pricey, we decided the cruise was really the only great way to get an up close view of the shoreline. Totally worth it!

(Setting up camp. I loved camping right on the lake. I know I've already said this but Lake Superior is so blue and so beautiful.)
(Hot Chocolate and S'mores over the fire - Yum!)

Our next stop was Taquemenon Falls, the largest waterfall east of the Mississippi. We just stopped for a short hike to the falls and a picnic lunch before getting back into the car and heading to Mackinac.
Once in Mackinac, Jared and I quickly perused the state park campground before we mutually agreed that we weren't up for setting up/taking down our camping gear one more time. (It was cold and close to dark already.) Coincidentally, we stumbled across a charming little bed and breakfast that fit the bill perfectly! :) While I really did enjoy camping, the bed and breakfast was definitely a highlight of the trip! We enjoyed hot fudge brownie sundaes at bedtime, cable television, a king size bed, a fireplace and a balcony! After a yummy omelet breakfast, we boarded a ferry and spent our last day of vacation cruising around Mackinac Island on our bikes.

(Mackinac Bridge)

(Mackinac City Lighthouse)

(Our charming B&B)

Some quintessential Mackinac:

(There are no motor vehicles allowed on the island. Only bikes and horses. We brought our own bikes over on the ferry. It was much less expensive than renting them on the island.)
(The Grand Hotel: the world's largest summer hotel. Can you believe they charge $10 just to walk on the property? This is as close as we got...)
(This is the shuttle to the Grand Hotel. Neat-O!)
Soooo many fudge shops. Seriously, Mackinac has to be the fudge capital of the world. I'm not a huge fudge person but that didn't stop us from buying some! Also, we realized if you stand there and watch them make it long enough, they give you free samples!) All and all, a great vacation I would highly recommend to anyone! Now...where shall we go to next?!

Michigan Trip Part I

All packed and ready to go! We left Sunday evening and drove through Chicago (at about 2 am) and then up through Wisconsin. We made a few little stops in Wisconsin before we arrived at the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park (aka: The Porkies) in Michigan's Upper Peninsula Monday evening. We set up camp about 200 yards from Lake Superior-gorgeous! It felt like fall with daytime temps in the high 60s and nighttime temps dipping down into the 40s. The boys (and I!) fared extremely well and though it was a little chilly at night, the weather was otherwise perfect for our daytime hikes and for cozying up by the fire at night. Here's the first round of pictures from our time in the Porcupine Mountains although I'm not sure pictures do the amazing scenic views justice.

(Below: Lake of the Clouds-a breathtaking view!)

Tuesday night we rode our bikes to the beach at dusk. The lighting was gorgeous and the lake was beautiful. Mitch was having a blast near the water so I took a ton of pictures. I even managed to get a decent picture of the entire family-gotta love that self timer!