Spring Break in Pictures

Leaving before the sun caught us Friday morning, Danielle, Brenna, and I set out on our long, long cross-state drive. We drove through rain on and off all day, with overcast skies further keeping the sun from knowing our whereabouts. Fittingly enough, at almost the exact moment we hit the El Paso City Limits, we saw our first taste of blue sky:

Once we got to El Paso, it was business first, and we grabbed a bite to eat at one of my family's favourite restaurants.

Then we headed to White Sands, one of Brenna's favourite spots and an old favourite of my childhood.

I had not been to White Sands in over 6 years, so it was fun to go back .

Of course, I also had not been at high altitude (4235 ft/1291 m) in quite some time, and the lack of oxygen was definitely felt climbing the dunes








Sometimes White Sands feels like a different world

"Those clouds don't look too friendly, and I think they're coming towards us"

Eh, too pretty to be concerned with some ugly clouds

And then we got sandblasted as a coldfront hit us

It was probably pictures like this that caused my camera to ...not work... the rest of the week...

Yupp, so while the sandstorm was an experience, and made for some cool photos, I have now screwed up a second camera at sand dunes... You think I would have learned in Florence

So, I have no more photos from the rest of the week, but I assure you it was incredible. We got in some awesome riding at around 7,000 feet, including one day where we did a beautiful 60 mile ride with over 4,000 feet of climbing. It was not easy, but the beautiful weather and scenery more than made up for it, in my opinion. There was also hiking, road tripping, unsuccessful snow sledding, and lots of eating, drinking, and merry times.

We got back Thursday after a very looooong day in the car (no thanks to me) and spent the remainder of the break trying to avoid the hipster infestation that is South by Southwest while still trying to enjoy some of the festivities. I would call it a success. I may write about all that fun, excitment, and irony, depending on my mooooooood.

Now back to the daily grind.