Labor day trip - Pecos and Jemez Falls

This year on Labor Day we wanted to get out of town!  We went on a little trip with some good friends, and we had a great time!  We didn't want to camp, because honestly it's so much trouble, not to mention our tent poles are broken and we haven't fixed them yet.  So there were some places we had been wanting to visit, and one of them was this hike I'd heard of where a waterfall goes through a cave.  It was a long hike - at least 2 miles one way - but it was really beautiful.  Way greener than we're used to here in New Mexico. 



It was kind of funny, we just kept hiking and went right past the caves, but luckily there was someone down there who told one of us that we should check them out.  They were SO COOL!  Big enough to walk around in, and fortunately we brought some great flashlights so we could explore.













Pierce and Parker decided to do some chopping while they waited.


We decided to stay the night in a hotel in Santa Fe, which was also fun.  There was a swimming pool and hot tub - and sauna - and the kids loved that.  The dads sat in the hot tub and the moms sat and chatted while the kids ran around and splashed. The next day we went to Jemez Falls, a really nice waterfall that we'd been to before but not when we had a lot of time, so we wanted some extra time for wading and splashing.  When we got there we were unpleasantly surprised to find that the waterfall base was covered with thick, chocolate-pudding-looking goo.  It was a lot like quicksand.  Parker right away lost his shoe way deep in the muck (he got it back, I'm not sure if it is wearable any more though).  Another guy there said it is ash from the huge forest fire we had.  Whatever it was, it was terribly terribly messy, but the kids loved it very much.


Mattie was prepared and brought a swim suit to change into.  (Mattie is almost always prepared.)


Zoe told me "Mommy, at first I was scared to go in the mud, but now I'm dancing around and it's FUN!"








The boys were so determined to make it across the quicksand/water.  The mud was so deep but maybe they were light enough to get past it all. 


I got a new fisheye lens that's kind of tricky to use, but fun.


It did rinse off pretty well, fortunately.  Such a happy little face. :)






"But I don't want to go home!  Waaaaah!" (This as a huge storm had just arrived overhead.)


It was such a fun trip! We were really glad to get out in nature and do something kind of different.