We had been thinking for visiting our dear friends in Las Cruces for some time now and it’s Thursday morning 8am when we stand on the patio and Marco says that he is still considering going and I tell him that I’m ok with it and we should get ready to drive on the weekend – one hour later we are on the road!!!

We arrive right at dinner time and we had our secret helper, Jack, who unlocked the door for us – what a surprise when we walk right into the kitchen!

M has had her birthday 10 days ago and now has been sick and in bed with a fever. But on Friday she magically feels better. On Saturday though, she is back in bed with a fever again and we have to leave her at home when we go to Dripping Springs up in the Organ Mountains with her brother.

We take the hike up to the ruin of an old hotel which was built back in the 1870’s. For M it’s a long 1.5 miles and he misses his sister. We still have some fun though, even so much that he is with us on Sunday when we go again but his time with his sister. They have much more fun together and the energy is great, we take a much longer tour and walk about 2 hours. It is a great area but there is no water at all in any of the springs, it’s been way to dry in the recent months.

On the way home we treat ourselves to a nice round of refreshing Frappuccinos at Starbuck – a real Sunday treat and well deserved.

Due to me having a lot of work and taxes to do and also because Marco’s brother will be visiting in a couple weeks, we do not want to stay any longer and decide to drive back on Monday. It’s a sad morning and tears are shed when we hug each other goodbye.

Kids – we love you, we miss you and we hope to see you soon, maybe even here in San Diego!