Road Trip Part 1 - NOLA to Santa Fe, NM via Austin

We decided it was time to break in our Jeep with a road trip adventure this summer. After lots of deliberation, we picked a route that would give us a few different environs to enjoy but wasn't too amibitious. As soon as the kids got out of school in early June, we packed up the car and headed to Austin. It was the perfect place to kick off our summer adventure, and we spent a few days hanging out with the family and swimming up a storm:

story time

check out little O behind Dada

Yes, Oscar is in there too…

An evening out at Fonda San Miguel

A few days later, we headed out of Austin a little sad to be leaving the family, but happy knowing we'd be back on the way home. I'd packed a bunch of presents and goodies for the kiddos to keep them entertained during all the time we'd be in the car. Some things were hits (like Silly Putty and listening to Harry Potter) while other things were bombs (like the sticky bugs that didn't stick and the widely exciting marshmallow sculptures they raved about…but were done with in 10 minutes). Even with all of the planned distractions,  they spent the majority of the time in the car on the iPads. But here's some photographic proof that we at least tried to do other things…

 It took us about 11 hours to drive from Austin the Santa Fe, and once we arrived we found a cheapy Motel 6 to spend the first night before checking into our lodge the next day. The motel was right near downtown, and a perfect walk into the heart of Santa Fe. We had dinner on Santa Fe Plaza and for the rest of the trip Oscar would talk about the awesome sliders he ate for dinner. The next day we walked around some more and took in the sights of Santa Fe.

We checked out The Cathredral Basilica of St. Francis de Assisi:

 

Took a hike up Fort Marcy Park to see the Cross of the Martyrs:

Discovered the oldest house in the United States (circa 1200s):

 Right across the street from the oldest church!

Oscar took the opportunity in the oldest church to teach the kids the sign of the cross, complete with a finger kiss at the end. (I'd never seen it done before, and found out it's common practice in Spain and other Latin countries!)