A Crest, a Cave, Tinkertown, and Camping

Last weekend was Fathers and Sons Campout and boy were Austin and I excited. While the girls played with their girlfriends at home us Teichert boys headed for the mountains.After picking up our friends Michael and 'Than it was off to the Owl Cafe in Albuquerque. Who won't be ready for life in the wilderness with green chili cheese fries digesting in the stomach?Next we ascended the climbing road (NM536) up the backside of the Sandia mountain range to Sandia Crest, which looms high above Albuquerque.
At the summit we hiked to the old Kiwanis cabin and looked across amazing vistas and felt the winds persistand reminders that we wanted in no way to be as close as we were to the cliff edges.After our summit hike we descended in route to Sandia Cave. Austin and 'Than passed out and slept through the rugged 4X4 trail to our next destination.Discovered in 1935, the cave has been the center of incredible controversy regarding pre-Folsom occupation in the Northern Hemisphere. Today, the cave has been marred by graffiti but is still an awesome place for fathers and sons to explore on a quite Friday.
The cave goes back in the dark almost 300 yards and the boys were all little troopers excited to cut the dust with their flashlights as if harnessing the power of real light-sabers.

After dusting ourselves off and hiking off the trail it was on to "Tinkertown" and eclectic roadside destination not far from our camping spot.Tinkertown was the brainchild of Ross Ward, an amazing wood carver and humorist. At the musuem we met Mr. Ward's widow who told of his story traveling with the circus painting. When he was home in his mountain retreat he would carve and layout the most amazing "bottle village" and museum to the carnival and wild-west.Tinkertown is an amazing destination and is preserved by the love of Mr. Wards family and incredible imagination. I particularly love his quote, "I did this all while you were watching television." (For more information on Tinkertown visit here)Finally, we made it to camp, set up our site and enjoyed nature as only a five year old can do (by getting amazingly dirty, climbing on everything and making lots of noise).It was sure fun hanging with my little camping buddy. Certainly, we have camping in our blood now and can't wait to get out again!

Our Nuclear Family

We were so disappointed to learn that we couldn't fly to California to visit the Jackman's because of blackout dates on our airline tickets. The kids were especially excited to play with their cousins, and Scott has been trying to get down to California for nearly three years now. Of course, we didn't read the fine print until late Thursday night as we were finalizing our packing. With bags packed and kids dreaming of an adventure we had to think fast.

Luckily, with an endless New Mexican "to-do" list we quickly brainstormed some ideas and apt. Kirk came to the rescue and negotiated a good deal on a hotel room in Socorro, NM. After waking to the disappointing news of not being able to fly to California the kids (and Lisa) humored dad with a reluctant excitement to be dragged onto another adventure in the middle of the desert. After packing "Monty" with the appropriate goodies and DVD's it was off to the Holiday Inn Express in Socorro, NM. While the hotel was probably on the higher range of our usual price range the prospects of an indoor pool was too alluring and who can turn down a full breakfast at a hotel?

The kids christened the room upon entering it by jumping on the bed and Austin did his famous "Daisy Dance" which is hilarious! In no time we were in our swimsuits and playing sharks, "puppies in water" and all sorts of aquamarine imaginary games. We had the whole pool to ourselves despite the hotel being booked for the weekend. After a night of sleep we all awoke with bright eyes ready for a huge hotel breakfast and a trip under Daddy's direction to "the middle of nowhere".Now when we say Daddy like to find things in the middle of nowhere we mean it. This time it was Trinity Site. Trinity Site is located in the heart of the White Sands Missile Range and is only open to the public two times during the year. Trinity Site where the first atomic bomb was tested on July 16th, 1945 after three years of secret testings as part of the Manhattan Project.

We were told that about 2,500 people visit the site, but we couldn't imagine who those people could be. I mean Trinity Site seemingly is in the middle of nowhere so imagine our surprise when we showed up to the military checkpoint and saw a long line of cars! After passing the checkpoint we drove for almost 14 miles through the north end of the range. We weren't allowed to take pictures and admittedly there isn't much to see but we did get a kick out of the Oryx crossing signs. African Oryx were introduced into New Mexico nearly 60 years ago but that's for another post.

Just as the kids reached their limit of being in the car we reached a massive parking lot next to more desert surrounded by a huge chain link fence. Military Police(?) guided us to our parking spot and soon we were making our pilgrimage by foot to the heart of the bomb site.

They had guides on hand explaining the mysterious Trinitite, a cool greenish glass which formed as particles of sand fused during the blast. Of course, you can only look at the Trinitite and it is a federal offense to take it home so we had fun reminding the kids that we could only look at it like a zillion times!They had on display the casing of a similar bomb which exploded in 1945. After wandering the site for a while the kids were surprisingly ready to get back in the car for the drive home. We stopped in Socorro again so Scott could get a picture of the oldest Catholic Churches in New Mexico the Old San Miguel Mission (1598) and then it was on to Sonic for some slushies and hamburgers. On the way home we had to stop and visit a bunch of longhorn cows. In the end it was a wonderful but quick trip in our own backyard. It's fun to just be with our "Nuclear Family" but we are still hoping we can make the trip to California sometime soon!

Birthday's 3 and 5!

We are so lucky to have little Allie and Austin in our lives. Over the past two months we've celebrated birthday's and had a blast just being together as a family.

For Allie it was all being a princess. She loved her new Cinderella dress and picked Dion's (pizza) for her special dinner.

For Austin it was a new bike and Dion's for his special dinner.

We love our kids! Thanks Austin and Allie for bringing such joy to our family.

~Mom and Dad

Some deep and personal thoughts...

Certainly the future will allow us the opportunity to see this period of our lives with greater clarity and understanding, but until then we walk forward with hope, faith, and resolve that all roads we are being asked to travel are for our experience and good.

Being unable to share some of our personal and professional challenges throughout the past several months with family and friends through our blog has been difficult but we appreciate the understanding and patience of those who realize that in most instances our disappointments cannot be broadcast.

Charles Dickens penned in the opening lines of Tales of Two Cities that, "It was the best of times and the worst of times." Such alliteration is also illustrative of our experience in New Mexico.

There have been (and continue to be) episodes in our experience here which can only be described as "the worst of times". But the price we've been asked to pay to grow ever closer as a family, realize the personal nature of our God, and rely more intimately on each other and the whisperings of personal revelation has been incredibly worth it. That our Heavenly Father has a plan for us we know.

Gratitude is ever extended to friends and family who support us even when we can't share all that we are experiencing. The next year will certainly bring incredible changes in our family, but we are incredibly optimistic and have a quiet assurance that all these things are for our experience and good.

Thanks for your prayers, faith and encouragement. We are so grateful for so much!