Hiking

One thing I wanted to do in New Mexico was to go to Bandelier National Monument to see the volcanic landscape and ancient cliff dwellings. However, Craig was busy at his conference, and I was apprehensive about going without him. The site is 45 minutes out of Santa Fe, and the easiest trail is 1.2 miles round-trip. Would Isaac be agreeable? Could I handle it without another adult as back-up?

Well, I went for it, and the happy surprise is that Isaac is a good hiker. On walks around town when he has to have his hand held, he nearly always loses interest after a few minutes and says "Carry you!" (He means, of course, that I should carry him.) With this in mind, I took the stroller. However, it turned out that when he was allowed to roam unfettered, he walked on his own for nearly an hour.

In fact, he ran ahead of me for a portion of our hike, and his enthusiasm was so great that in order to get him to stop and rest in the shade, I had to bribe him with the camera (he likes taking pictures) and a bag of potato chips (as you see from the photo). We sat in the shade there for a long time, and everyone who passed us on the trail commented on the same three things: (1) Isaac's blue eyes, (2) Isaac's red face, and (3) their hope that we were carrying water with us. (We were.)

He and I had a fun time together, and it wasn't all running and chips. We paused to look at rocks, plants, sticks, and animals on the trail. We read all the interpretive signs. We sat on a log beside a babbling brook. We paused to listen to the noises around us (and every time I asked, "What do you hear?" he answered, "People talking!"). But he finally did end up in the stroller near the end of our hike -- because he began running back up the trail the way we had come!

And yes, he slept in the car all the way back to Santa Fe.

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This picture as well as the rest of the pictures from our trip have been added to our photo album.