A Little West Texas Road Trip ~

Well, here we are. The last weekend of Summer '12. I really can't believe how fast this summer has gone. 

I have to admit I'm in a bit of a state of mourning right now. This may sound a little crazy because I'm not mourning the loss of a loved one or even the end of summer. I hesitate to even admit it because it might make me sound like a brat. Ok, here it is...we didn't get to go on our yearly trip to Ruidoso. :( This is the first year we haven't gone to the mountains in 15 years. I think I have the right to be sad. In the past we've always gone the last weekend of summer; now that R is playing football and Big R is coaching all (and I mean ALL) of our time is taken. Isn't this just the way life is? As the kids grow, different things will take the place of other things. I guess I never thought our trip to Ruidoso would be replaced by Pop Warner football work outs. Don't get me wrong, I love that R's playing football...I just want to go to the mountains. Ok, I'm a brat. Enough whining...let's move on.

We did get to take a fun little road trip a couple of weeks ago with some great friends. For years we've been talking about heading north to Palo Duro Canyon to see the musical "Texas." How crazy is it that we live just a few short hours away yet have never been. What's even crazier is that I grew up in West Texas; have spent the entire first 40 years of my life in West Texas and have never been. I even had a cousin perform in the musical when we were in college and didn't go. Crazy. 

The food was good. Didn't quite fit into my "plan" but I have a hard time passing up bar-b-q and potato salad.

They had a series of maps pin pointing all the places people who had traveled to see the show were from. The first was a Texas map, the next one was an US map. The kids are looking at the world map. It was really neat to see how far people had traveled to see the show. All the pins in the maps were from this year alone. Pretty cool. During the show they gave an award to the person who traveled the farthest. He was from Japan. 

The boys spent a fair amount of time whittling wood. Just a side note: every time I think of whittling wood, say the words "whittling wood" or see someone whittling wood, I think about the moving "Son In Law" with Pauly Shore. I know, I'm weird.

So there it is ~ our Palo Duro Adventure. The show was great. K had a thousand questions about the stage, the actors, the dancers, the horses, the set. The thunder, lighting and fireworks were awesome. She had questions about those too. It was fun to experience another 'first' together. Cameras were not allowed, so no pics of the actual show. We'll definitely go back in a few years. I mean why not? It's practically in our backyard. :)