A Desert Oasis

After two long days in the van, we took a welcome respite at our friends Bob and Judi’s house in Albuquerque, NM.   In fact, we pushed through and made Sunday such a long day on the road, so that we could spend the entire day with them on Monday. It was fabulous.

They have a daughter who falls in age in the middle of our oldest two children.  She got along wonderfully with all 4 of our kids though. 

The kids enjoyed a low key morning of fort building and playing around the house.

After lunch we had a little down time, followed by the afternoon at the pool.  Then we were back at the house for a delicious Mexican dinner. The views from their house were stunning.  You can see the mountain ranges from their back windows. 

Their back yard was a beautiful desert garden.  I was really taken with the differences in architecture and flora in the southwest.

And of course the desert view sunsets.

We ended the day with a game of soccer at the park at sunset.

After a relaxing and refreshing visit with friends we are set to embark on phase two of our grand adventure… the camping/National Park portion.  Today we have one of our last “longish” days on the road (a little over 7 hrs) before we set up camp tonight in Tuscon, AZ at Seguaro National Park.