New Mexico Roadtrip ~ New Year's 2010

In November 2009 my husband was transferred to Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. We were engaged at the time, and I still owned a business. Therefore, I was stuck in Arkansas while he was stuck in Oklahoma. We wanted to spend some more time together before we got married, so we decided to take full advantage of his leave over Christmas. Since we had a big trip to Tahiti coming up, we decided to get away by loading up the truck and driving. We took our sweet little beagle/dachshund mix, Bentley, loaded up some clothes, a cooler full of food and drinks, an air mattress, a space heater, and a generator, and we started driving. As we got on the road my husband asked me which way I wanted to go. I thought for a second and said, "How 'bout west?" And so we did. We drove from Arkansas into Oklahoma. The sunset was beautiful as we drove through the plains part of Oklahoma, and we loved seeing the many windmills along the highway.

We drove through the panhandle of Texas and into New Mexico. We decided to stop there. We found a truck stop in a safe area, parked in the parking lot, set up a generator outside the vehicle, blew up an air mattress in the bed of the truck with a camper shell over it, and plugged up a space heater. We taped black trash bags over the windows for privacy.

Because it was New Year's Eve, we broke open a bottle of champagne with some styrofoam cups, and we rang in the new year in the back of our pick-up truck. It may sound redneck, but I must say it was the best New Year's ever!

The next day we hit the road again. We picked a spot on the map and decided to head to it. We were so excited when we finally hit snow, though, so we had to stop for a picture.

Then we headed on to our chosen spot on the map of Taos, New Mexico.

Unfortunately we were not as excited about Taos as we thought we would be, so we continued on. We came upon Red River, and we fell in love with it immediately. We decided to set up shop there for the rest of the day and night.

We decided to get a room in a motel so we could curl up by the fire and get plenty of rest for the drive the next day. We splurged on eating in a restaurant in that quaint little mountain town, too.

We got up the next morning and walked the shops in town a little more. We let Bentley play in the snow before climbing back into the truck for the road trip home.

The drive was just as incredible as the destination. We saw some beautiful sights along the way, and we frequently pulled over to take in the views. Hey... we were on no schedule, right? There was no reason to rush down the road.

Although apparently we really did decide to "rush" down the road without realizing it. We got the wonderful opportunity to meet one of New Mexico's finest on the side of the road. Tim was 40 years old at the time, this was the first time he had ever been pulled over, and it was his first and only ticket ever.

We continued on, stopping at each state to take a picture, and all the while enjoying the views.

So... an incredibly awesome trip, and it only cost us diesel for the drive, one night's stay in a motel, and dinner in one restaurant (which was very moderately priced).... well.... and one speeding ticket. But all in all, it was a trip worth way more than what we spent.

Mt. Magazine, Arkansas ~ November 2009

Arkansas is nicknamed "The Natural State," and visiting some of our parks will show you why. There is so much beauty in our state. You can make an incredible vacation by just staying in our state. Throughout the summer we like to visit lakes with our boat and camper, but in the fall you can't beat the beauty in the Ozarks.

In the fall of 2009 we visited Mt. Magazine. We took our cargo trailer with the 4-wheeler in it, a tent, and some camping equipment. Although it was just one weekend, it was without a doubt one of the most memorable trips I have ever taken.

The one bad thing about the trip was that the leaves had already fallen. I can't imagine how beautiful it was with all the fall colors.

Setting up our home:

Cooking in my high class kitchen:

The lengths I'll go to just to get a picture:

Cozumel, Mexico ~ 2009

Our first trip as a couple was to Cozumel, Mexico. We both love to scuba dive, so we thought this would be a good vacation for us. It still blows my mind to think that I went on a trip like that with a guy I'd only been dating for 6 weeks. I had known for 6 weeks, though, that I was going to marry him.

We got the deal through cheapcarribean.com. Our trip was a 7 days/6 nights, all-inclusive stay at the Palace Resort in Cozumel. When I saw all-inclusive, I mean all-inclusive! All room service was included! All adult beverages... included! All meals at any restaurant in the resort (and they served GOOD food)... included! All that, and it only cost us $1100 total INCLUDING airfare!!! Now THAT'S a deal! But... it gets better!

If you've never been to Mexico, let me warn you. When you get off your plane and get through customs you will be greeted by some locals that seem very helpful. I think they wear blue jackets. I can't remember the color for sure. You will see a lot of them, though. They are NOT there just to help you. They work for timeshare resorts and they are trying to draw you in to sit through one of their presentations and use high-pressure techniques to sucker you into buying a timeshare. Now here's where I'm going to give you different advice than some would give you. DO IT! If you don't have a schedule while you're down there, do it! We did, and we are so glad we did. If Tim would have been alone, it probably would not have been good. He's a pushover, and he probably would have bought into an expensive timeshare. I'm stubborn and outspoken at times, though, so I kept us from spending the money. For agreeing to sit through their presentation they gave us 2 days of 2-tank dives each for FREE, 2 days of a motor scooter to ride around the island for FREE, and a day's trip to Playa del Carmen to sit through the presentation with FREE transportation, FREE breakfast, FREE adult beverages while there, and FREE lunch. GOOD food! To top it off, we were given a FREE week's stay at the resort we visited. It had to be used within 2 years, and used it was! You'll see that post later.

Now... we did buy a type of timeshare, but it wasn't the full-blown timeshare. We got 10 years of 4 weeks per year stay at any of their resorts in Mexico, Spain, Dominican Republic, or one other place that escapes me. We paid $3000, and each time we go we only have to pay the all-inclusive fee of $37 per person per day. That means all your food is included. You would spend at least that much at home if you ate out every day.

Check out our pics, and feel free to holler at me if you have any questions or want any advice on how to score some awesome travel deals!

Dinner at one of the fabulous restaurants:

Heading out to our dive site. Isn't he cute?!?

One of the all-inclusive poolside bars: 

Margaritaville ~ Cozumel: 

Getting ready to board the ferry for our day trip to Playa del Carmen: 

Being silly in Playa: 

Our scooter we got to use for free for 2 days:

We forgot to mention... we got a FREE upgrade to first class!

Our awesome room! You can't beat that for the price!

Tim enjoying the hammock on our balcony:

The view from the resort in Playa that we visited:

Senor Frogs in Playa:

This was some of the most beautiful diving EVER!!! It's all drift diving, and it's awesome!