Balmorhea State Park

Our last day of vacation was spent at Balmorhea State Park. 

We woke up early, got donuts and headed back to the park through the Davis Mountains.

It was a beautiful drive. I told Justin the scenery looked like something out of the movie Jurassic Park. The weather was in the low 70's

Once we got to the park we found a spot to sit and checked out the pool.

The pool is pretty big, it is spring fed and does have fish, turtle and other wild life that swim in the water. 

The water is around 76 degrees all year long which is perfect if it was blazing hot outside but it was 71 degrees and the wind was blowing. I'll be honest I kinda didn't want to get in the water cause I knew it was going to be cold. 

The pool has a huge deep hole that runs pretty far down. Lots of divers come to explore the hole

Stepping in

we finally all got in. I stayed with Jewell at the shallow end while Justin and the girls swam across to the diving boards.

We got to swim for a good hour and a half before the dark clouds started rolling in

Once the wind started really blowing Jewell and I got out to cover up and dry off

We decided to pack up and go to the car once we saw other people leaving. We made it to the car, changed and ate lunch just in time for the rain to start

We decided to go ahead and drive the rest of the way home. We had a long 6 and half hour drive home. We knew it would be a long trek back but we were all ready to get home to our own spaces and sleep in our own beds. 

We had such a great trip this summer. It was long at times and was alot to unpack and pack up the car each day but we are so glad we had the chance to make this trip. We got to see a part of the country that none of us have been to and we got to all experience it together. I hope the girls learned a lot about how other people live and enjoy the desert. I know Jolee did! I can't to do it again! Until next summer!

Alpine, Texas

After our night in Las Cruces we were anxious to get on the road and back in Texas. After a short 40 minute ride we were leaving New Mexico

And back in Texas. It's crazy because you could immedately see the difference between the two states. Everything really is bigger and better in Texas! The houses, stores, even the gas stations. I'll have to admit I was glad to be back in Texas! I LOVE traveling but after a week it was good to be back.

See those mountains in the back, that's Mexico! And the brown fence, that's the great Trump wall. This was my first time to ever visit El Paso. It's alot bigger then I thought. I'm glad the girls could see the HUGE difference in what it would be like to live in Mexico then in the United States. Jaina couldn't get over the "shack" houses we saw. We told them that it makes you thankful to be born in America. 

We drove on another two hours or so. The girls kept busy by watching movies and sleeping

I will have to brag on Jewell she did so well the entire trip. I'm so glad I bought the portable tv's before this trip. It made it so much easier on us.

We saw lots of wide open spaces, pecan farms and mountains

Our next stop was Balmorhea State Park to swim in the largest spring fed pool. We pulled into the park where we were greeted by state park workers who told us the park was full for the rest of the day and we had to buy tickets online in order to swim. That was a bummer. The weather was perfect, hot and sunny. 

Then we had to make a decision, do we stay the night and come back the next day or do we go home. Justin wanted to stay and come back and I wanted to go home. So we ended up staying the night so we could come back the next day.

We decided to stay in Alpine which was about 45 minutes away. We drove through the Davis Mountains. We took a trip out to Alpine when I was little. Justin has never been out this way and couldn't get over how beautiful it was. 

We were going to get a room at the Indian Lodge in Ft. Davis but decided we were stay in Alpine instead. I remember staying here at the lodge on our vacation when I was little. It brought back alot of memories. And it's alot smaller then I remember too!

We stopped for a potty break before heading on down the road

The weather was pretty nice too. In the 70's, not hot at all

We drove by Ft. Davis but did not stop 

Then we finally made it to Alpine. We stayed at the Holland Hotel. It was a really pretty old hotel on their downtown square. And the best part was it's suppose to be haunted!

After we checked in we headed across the street for some pizza

We were going to go see the Marfa Lights but we were exhausted and decided to go back to the hotel and go to bed early. 

Saguaro National Park

 One of the things I wanted to make sure Justin and the girls got to do while on vacation was go on a trail ride and what cooler way then to do it in Arizona. I really wanted to get a ride for them in Tombstone but they were all booked up. It so happened that the resort we stayed at had stables on the property and I was able to book them a ride.

They went on the 7am one hour ride. They left early and got breakfast while Jewell and I relaxed and watched tv.

When they got back the girls said how much fun it was! Jolee rode a white horse and Jaina rode a brown and white one. 

They went from the resort into the Catalina Mountains. There you can see a waterfall and lots of view points.

Once everyone was back at the resort we all backed up. We stayed in the yellow cottage. It was a nice resort and would love to come back again one day.

Here is all the different variety of cactus around the resort

Once we checked out of the resort we were starving for breakfast so we headed to Teaspoon. The wait was a little long. The food was really good. The girls got bubble waffles with chocolate on top!

After breakfast we headed to the Saguaro National Park

To see my all time favorite kind of Cactus the Saguaro Cactus. 

The park is huge. Not much to do besides drive and see all the cactus or go hiking. 

We did go to the visitors center. Jaina and Jewell were alseep in the car so Justin stayed out in the car with them while Jolee and I checked out the center.

Not a big center but I was able to get the girls some patches and Jolee got a cool cactus shaped pencil.

And then of course we took lots of pictures

I might not seem like a big deal to some people but coming from a Texas girl who has never seen big giant cactus' before it was a big deal. It was one of my main things I wanted to see while in Arizona. 

Driving back to Tucson. You can see the city by the big mountain

Leaving the park

We were debating on whether we were going to stay another night in Tucson or not but we decided to start heading back to Texas. It's alot with kids and once we hit the highlight of our trip which was Tombstone and Tucson we were kinda anxious to get back home. 

If it was just Justin and I we could travel forever. It's one of my most favorite things to do with Justin. It's when we connect the most but with 3 kids it's harder then you think lol. But worth every memory!

So we started our track back to Texas. I was a little sad to leave Arizona because I know there is so much more to see. I'm so glad the girls got to see something different for once

In less then a few hours we were back in New Mexico, another beautiful state. 

Roadrunner statue as you get into Las Cruces

We decided to stay another night in Las Cruces. We really enjoyed our time here plus it was on our way home to El Paso so we stopped here for the night. We ended up staying in the same hotel. We went down to Mesilla again for dinner but chose a different place to eat. Not as authentic as the other place we ate at but it was good. We were exhausted and ready for bed by the time we got back to the hotel room.