Road trippin’ – Colorado, New Mexico and Texas

Since I’m couped up in bed with covid, I figure there’s no better time to try and catch up on my poor neglected blog a bit….for the millionth time. Seriously, mad props to people who can keep their blogs updated. It takes serious dedication!

A few weeks ago Nathan’s company transferred him from North Dakota to Midland, Texas. Considering the amazing weather in Texas and that it’s NOT North Dakota, the kids and I decided to take a mad fast road trip down.

We took off Wednesday right after school and made our way over to Cortez, CO, stopping at our favorite waterfall, of course!



We slept at a super swanky Wyndham property, it was clean, what more can you ask for? The next morning we drove out to Mesa Verde. I’ve been dreaming of visiting these ruins for as long as I can remember. They were incredible, but I will say that I don’t recommend visiting in the winter/covid season. So much was closed and we could only drive by most of the other sites. It was still a great experience, but we left wanting more and will definitely go back one day in the future. 
Finishing at Mesa Verde, we hopped in the car and started our drive to our next destination, White Sands National Park, New Mexico. We realized once we hit Albuquerque that there was no way we would make it all the way to White Sands, so opted to grab a hotel and continue our drive the next day.
The next morning we left bright and early to drive to Alamogordo, NM. The drive through the desert was so unique. Between the crazy landscape full of dried lava flows, malpais, and signs warning of missile launches, this was definitely my favorite portion of the drive. 
We stayed one night in Alamogordo and the next morning drove straight over to White Sands. 

I wasn’t totally sure what to expect, but I am so glad we went. We had so much fun. We bought a couple of sleds at the gift shop, which I don’t recommend – grab a few at Walmart in Alamogordo instead because they are $19.00 a pop at the gift shop – and spent hours sliding down the dunes. We left with sand in every single crack and crevice of our bodies. 100% worth it!


After finishing up at White Sands, we made the drive out to Midland, TX. I was really surprised at the landscape following Alamogordo. 

We made it to Midland late that night, stayed one day and then made the longgggggg road trip back home. We split it up by staying one night in Santa Fe and then driving the rest of the way home.

It was a whirlwind of a road trip and I definitely don’t recommend packing in so much in so little time, but overall, I’m glad we went!
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