Cajun Sensation

Our next destination after New Mexico was Louisiana! However, we just so happened to be be lucky enough to be passing through Texas while my mom was flying in for business. We met her in Huston for a night and got to see the training facility at Honeywell where she works. It was really cool to finally see it after only hearing about it for so long! We went out for a nice dinner and drinks after that and all had a great time! 

The next day we hit the road for New Orleans! As there aren't many good places to park the van in the city that would allow us to walk around to all the great areas, we got a hotel downtown within walking distance from everything! (Big thank you to my mom for the help on getting the room with her Honeywell discount; You are the best! )

After checking in and getting settled, we went for a walk to a bar close by the hotel. We didn't want to be out too late as we had to get up early for a swamp tour in the Louisiana baiju!

While at the bar, we met these really cool people. They invited us to sit with them at their table and even got us some drinks. Southern hospitality is alive as well. After a great night of drinking and laughing we walked back to the hotel for a good nights sleep

We woke up bright and early, had the complimentary breakfast, and headed a half hour down to the swamp! We used the Cajun Encounters tour company. (You can check out their site here) They have the best rates and provided an all around great experience. We took a boat into the swamp an got to experience an array of wildlife. It was so beautiful there. We saw snakes, alligators, wild boar("Big Swole"), raccoons, spiders, and an array of birds. I was also lucky enough to feed an alligator from the boat! Even when we weren't dealing with wildlife, simply being in the moss dripped trees of the baiju was a comforting picturesque experience for me! 

That afternoon, we got back to the hotel, took a nap and prepared for a night out in the city! 

We had a great dinner on Bourbon St on a balcony overlooking the craziness that passed by down on the street. Once we got our fill, it was time to drink ! We explored the area and took advantage of the amazing drink deals that were offered. While hanging out on a balcony at one bar, we met these really cool brothers that were there drinking as well. We all enjoyed the "people watching" as well as the bead throwing! Haha 

While walking around we came across some painters and bought some really great artwork by W.L. Griffin. (Check out his site here). He does work in restoring homes in New Orleans and uses salvaged wood from the Hurricane Katrina disaster to make the frames for his paintings! It's like owning a little piece of history.

It was a wild night in New Orleans. I will certainly miss this city. We had some great times, met great people, and made great memories. I hope to one day return to this wonderful culture rich city for another crazy adventure! 

"The Land of Entrapment"

Getting to New Mexico has been a long awaited goal for this road trip. What's better than relaxing and having fun with friends and family that you don't get to see very often?! 

Albuquerque

Our first stop after leaving Bryce canyon was Julie and Alex’s house. We drove 9 hours south from Bryce Canyon national park to Albuquerque. It was so cool coming up to the top of this big hill on rt 66 after hours of nothing but pitch black scenery to see this vast expanse of lights and activity of the city on the other side of the mountain. We spent the weekend hanging out, swimming, going out to eat, and exploring the city. We took a nice scenic drive up to Sandia Peak one evening and had dinner overlooking the city while the sun set in the distance. The view of the city at night is amazing. After spending a few days there we headed further south to Liam’s house!

Las Cruces

“The Land of Entrapment” as Celine’s Uncle Tony would say. (because it is so nice here, you will never leave) We have been staying with Liam at their families KOA. The campground is located on a mesa allowing us to have an amazing view of Las Cruces. 

The first night we got there there just so happened to be a full moon. During a full moon White Sands National Monument is open later than usual so we headed over to check it out. It was unlike anything I’ve seen before. The dunes aren’t actually made of sand, they are pure gypsum deposits left over from when the whole valley was an ocean. The full moon reflecting off the white dunes made for a very cool experience. 

 We spent a lot of time at Lauren and Chad's house hanging out. We finally got to meet the infamous pups Duke and Izzy. They were so funny to watch run around.

It was great to get an inside look at how the Picacho Coffee Roasters work their magic in the roastery. We even

helped out one day bagging coffee!

We took a hike up into the Aguire Springs on the backside of the Organ Mountains. The mountains are formed in such a way that incoming air masses get funneled into the "bowl" on the backside of the mountains creating a unique micro climate causing a drastic contrast to the surrounding dessert scenery.  

With Chloe being the great little violist that she is we went to see her teacher perform in a symphony that just so happened to be featuring a 13 year old Cello prodigy, Sujari Britt. The show was great. We also got to go watch the soccer star Coltrane play his youth soccer game that Saturday! Those kids were a blast to hang out with all week. They both have such kind, outgoing personalities that always have the whole room laughing. 

Celine's uncle Tony has this incredibly fun hobby of building and flying remote controlled quad-copters which we got to witness and take part in one night before dinner. He makes it look so easy. However, for a first timer, it's no walk in the park. It took me a few light crash landings to get the hang of the ultra sensitivity of the controller before I could get a semi decent hover around the back yard. All in all, it was super fun and has sparked an interest of building my own one day soon!

It was nice to feel at home thousands of miles from Massachusetts. Although we wish we could have stayed longer, we had to continue on to Texas. We will be meeting my mom in Houston since she is flying in for work around the time we will be there. Can't wait!!