Labor Day weekend fun.

Labor Day weekend was our last official hurrah before we become buried in school and work this fall. We decided to try something different and go camping in the mountains about two hours away from home. Due to AJ's work obligations, we had to adjust our plans a bit but everything still worked out perfectly.

On Saturday afternoon we drove straight up to a campsite in the mountains of New Mexico. Although we were initially disappointed at how many people were already there, we managed to find our own private spot on the top of a hill nearby. Once we were up there, it really felt like we were all on our own. We set up the tent, and then AJ went back down the mountain to grab us McDonald's salads for dinner. I read a textbook in the tent while he was gone. We shared dinner at a picnic table at the campsite before gathering tinder and wood for a fire near our tent (there was already a fire pit made of rocks, so it was totally safe). AJ got a great fire going, and we spent the rest of the evening listening to piano music on his phone and talking. It was so relaxing.

Although we didn't get a ton of sleep because of the hard ground, the weather was great and there were no scary forest critters to speak of besides the herd of wild horses at our campsite. In the morning we packed up the tent before heading to Denny's for breakfast, just to have a nicer meal. I took advantage of being in the Southwest by adding some "world famous" (as they say here) green chiles to my breakfast burrito while AJ got his usual. It was fun seeing the local crowd with all the men dressed in cowboy hats, button-down shirts, jeans, and cowboy boots. Definitely something we would not have experienced back home!

We grabbed some Subway sandwiches for lunch and then drove back up the mountain for some hiking. We were really the only people on the trails, and went pretty far. Even though most of the trees had been burned in a wildfire a few years ago, it was still stunningly beautiful. I definitely enjoy hiking in the national forest much more than the rocky desert here. After eating our sandwiches we headed back to town, grabbed some tea from Starbucks for the road, and went back home. We loved the chance to get out of the city and enjoy nature, but we sure were glad to come home to the modern conveniences we enjoy every day :)