TWENTY FIVE- Texas Trip

 2021 Week Twenty-Five

June 19-26

Trip to Texas

This is the third time we've traveled to Texas since having kids (see our 2018 trip here and our 2015 trip here) As an aside, reading through those old posts has me nostalgic about how far we've come! The first trip was by far the hardest, the second a bit better and this one the best, even though we have more kids now. Traveling with small children used to feel so overwhelming to me, but now it doesn't seem as big of a deal, really. It's fun even and I completely do have the desire to travel to all the places and see all the things. We've had a lot of practice parenting as a team and our kids are older now, and more helpful too. Anyways, practice makes perfect and our kids have been on road trips since they were tiny so I think that really helps them tolerate the car better. 

We set off early Saturday morning. We kept things easy that first day, only going 6.5 hours to Mesa Verde National Park. In hindsight I would research more before this trip, but I'm not great at researching and it was my downfall (keep reading). 

Moses was so good in the car. Israel was much more trouble this trip than he ever was. He doesn't take a bottle very well so I didn't do any bottle feeding. We just stopped every 2-3 hours so I could nurse him. Just like Israel did when we went to Texas when he was a newborn, Moses ended up getting his days and nights reversed somewhat from all the driving. He would sleep all day in the car, sometimes long 4 hour stretches, and be up a lot more at night. Leland drove a lot so I was able to catch some naps in the car so it wasn't too bad. 

Once we got to Mesa Verde National Park  we planned to go on a short hike to some cliff dwellings. All the cliff dwelling tours were all booked (research mistake #1) but there are a couple that don't require reservations. I didn't realize how far you have to drive from the entrance of the park to get to the cliff dwellings. (Research mistake #2) The cliff dwellings closed at 4, and we got to the park about 3:30, and the drive from the park entrance to the trail was over an hour long, so we weren't able to make it. I was disappointed, but the drive inside the park was very beautiful. Terrifying for someone afraid of heights like me (and Adele) but still very pretty. We did go on a hike to see some cliff dwellings from a distance. 

It was a hot day but the park is a high elevation so it wasn't too bad. I usually stay far away from any hikes with "overlook" in the title, especially with kids, but we came all this way and this was the only hike available so off we went. The hike was fine until we got to the end, just outside the edges of this picture, the brick wall ends and there is a plunging cliff edge right next to the trail. I don't know how far down (I didn't get close enough to look) but it was pretty terrifying. I had Israel on my back and a death grip on Julian's arm ha. The girls are cautious enough not to scare me. 

On the otherside of the canyon was this dwelling. It was really cool to see even from far away. I wish we would have planned better and been able to see more in this park, but what we did see was very pretty. This was my first time to Colorado and I loved how green everything was. 

There had been a fire a few years prevously, so the hike of the trail looked like this. Definitely didn't seem like Utah anymore! 

After visiting here Esther said "All National Parks have strange names 'green table' and 'yellow stone' is there anything with pink in it?"

The next day was Sunday and we spend the whole day driving, about 10 hours. Driving from Cortez, CO to Carlsbad, NM. We had to slowly build up everyone's tolerance from the car. 

Late Sunday night we arrived in Carlsbad. We had booked a hotel there because we had planned to go to Carlsbad Caverns National Park the next morning, my birthday. When I had planned our trip months ago, I checked out information on the national park and everything was good to go. Well, a few days before our trip, I checked the website again and they now had a reservation system (because of COVID/Summer crowds) and of course all the reservations were already booked out for months! I was so disappointed I almost cried! (Research mistake #3) I had really been looking forward to this, and doing something really fun and memorable on my birthday. I tried calling and seeing if there was a cancelation list or something but I never got a hold of anyone. Well, I'm still not over it, but we made contingency plans. It was too hot in New Mexico and Texas to do anything not indoors (or in a cave) or in water, so we decided to go  swimming at Blanco State Park in Texas. It is a river that has this dam and a nice cemented in swimming pool. The water runs off of the edges so it's like an infinity pool with a bit of a current through it. It was a great place for young kids to swim and the water was so warm. It definitely got the kids energy out after about 7 hours of driving that day. 

Afterwards we went to dinner and a small little Mexican place around the corner. They were very nice and the food was great. The kids were well behaved except for 3 (!) cups of water being spilled throughout the course of the meal. 

Afterwards we stopped by Walmart for a chocolate cake. We pulled into the hotel in San Antonio at sunset as the little ones were falling asleep, and ate the cake in the hotel room. It was a delicious cake. I feel old for being only 28, but it was a good birthday nonetheless. 

The next day was our final day of driving. A measly 4 hours down to South Padre Island to the beach house where we stayed with Leland's family. 

Is it even a road trip if you don't have a few blow outs? Moses was not a fan of the heat but he eventually got used to it. 

The house we stayed in was a 4 plex with a shared pool in the back. We had our own apartment and Leland's siblings and mom shared the other 3. It was a great set up and worked out well! I was worried about having a pool but there wasn't an entrance to the pool from our apartment, so that eased some of my fears. The kids loved swimming in the pool with cousins each day. 

The beach house was about a block away from the ocean. As soon as we arrived we took the kids down to the water "just to look". We left about an hour later with four soaked and sandy children. The water is just so warm, you can't resist getting wet!

This beach had lots of tiny shells, and I even saw people finding giant shells, we didn't find any for ourselves though. 

The next morning was rainy. We haven't seen rain here in months, so the kids were thrilled by the summer storm and played in the puddles for a few hours while all the adults chatted and caught up with each other. As soon as the rain stopped the kids rushed off to the beach, in fear that the rain might start up again. It was overcast and the kids didn't wear their rash guards or sunscreen. I did put on sunscreen as soon as the sun came out but it was too late, we all got fried. Probably the worst sunburn I'd had in my life! I got it the worst since  I put sunscreen on all the kids before putting it on myself. Some of the kids got it worse than others and we were all a bit miserable for a few days. Luckily Moses was spared since we took turns staying with him at the house and kept him in the shade if we did bring him down to the beach. 

The kids had tons of fun swimming with their cousins and aunts and uncles. 

My favorite pictures of these two handsome boys. 

I took a picture of this lighthouse on Port Isabel, on one of my drives to the mainland (trying to find somewhere to buy a swimsuit after we lost Moses'). I really wanted to go visit it but we ran out of time. 

South Padre Island is a tourist trap with lots of cute fun businesses. 

One morning we all headed as a group to visit the Sea Turtle Sanctuary. It was hot but it was fun to see all the turtles. 

All the kids in long sleeves, we weren't taking any chances getting more sun. 

The view from the sanctuary. They hatch turtles and release them back into the ocean here. 

All the kids had fun playing with their Vicencio cousins who are all close in age to them. 

Must take pictures by all mermaid paraphernalia. 

Afterwards we headed back to the beach. Israel was so content to build in the sand for hours. 

Julian was happy as a clam playing in the shallow water too. 

Moses' first dip into the ocean. The water was warm and he enjoyed sitting with my in it until a big wave splashed us. 

18/19 Hunt Cousins!

Leland with his mom and 7/8 of the kids. 

The next day we cleaned up and headed out. We stopped in Central Texas to visit Leland's Granny. 

It was special to see her. Last time we came to Texas we celebrated her 95th birthday, and she is still just as spry 3 years later! She told us a little bit about her life and gave each of the children one of her quilts she had made. She is the only living grandparent either Leland or I have, so it was nice that the kids got to meet her. I had just read a book about the Great Depression in Texas and it seemed almost surreal to talk to someone who had lived through so much history. I wished we could have stayed longer, but I'm glad I got this picture of her with Leland and Moses before we left. 

We did the drive home in two days. 11 hours the first day and 14 hours the second day. It was rough but we were just eager to get home. We saw some pretty Texas sun sets on our drives. 

Moses was so happy even after days and days of driving!

We spent so much time in the car, we tried to make it fun. We listened to all of the first Harry Potter book. We listened to various CDs about 10 times each. We played games and stopped for lots of yummy treats. I know all the kids won't remember this trip. But I hope they'll remember our family culture of togetherness and their time spent with their Texas family, and maybe when they hear John Denver it will take them back to this trip and those long long drives all together in our van.