At the start of our journey back East today, I began reminiscing about the past three weeks and the amazing time our little family has had together.

In no particular order, please enjoy a random collection of lessons learned, pictures that won’t quite fit elsewhere, and other thoughts from along the way.

There are more hummingbirds in the Southwest than I have ever seen in my life!

Brian may or may not have had a slight panic attack while driving over the Red Mountain Pass.

Colin gets bored waiting for pizza and must entertain himself … He is also known to walk like an ostrich and fall out of bed at night. I have a new appreciation for 12-year old boys.

Free range cattle live in CO & NM. This means NO fence. None. This is not what we witnessed while driving through Texas. Pay the extra money the next time you shop for beef, or better yet, shop local.

Brian: “Remember kids, this trip is not about you — it’s about me and your mom.” Yeah, real parenting… Incidentally, this became the punchline of the trip.

Saw this sticker at a rest stop somewhere in Illinois, a sticker from our “home” resort:

I may or may not have fallen off of my bike in Durango. In the Rite-Aid parking lot.

People in Marble, Colorado pronounce the word quarry, quare-ey. Like square, with a long ‘e’ at the end.

When we didn’t make it the whole way up to the marble quarry, we explored the old mill site and it was still pretty cool.

Me: “Agh, Colin… You are such an a$$hole.” (After losing his phone in his backpack for the third day in a row). Real parenting — take two.

Deke occasionally gets frustrated with his brother (can you imagine?) and gets revenge by sucking his face.

Years ago, my grandma vacationed in Mexico and fell in love with a fairly large ceramic chicken which she carried onto the plane for the flight home to PA. Since she passed away, the chicken makes random unannounced appearances at major family functions. I found a mini version of the chicken on a shelf of our condo in Red River, NM.

Thanks for letting me share these little random memories with you. Stay tuned, NM updates are coming up next!

Until then, say a prayer for us as we continue our trek east…

xo- Beth