About two weeks ago Tim sprung an idea on us. We have been talking about moving away from Arizona and New Mexico is a forerunner in the locations to move our family so he thought why not take a short vacation when he has his next three day weekend. We thought it was a fantastic idea and the only drawback was the timing of it all. Tim’s next three day weekend is the 31st less than two weeks from when he had the brilliant idea. We, also, opted to include my mom on the vacation because she would be moving with us more than likely.
We’re renting a mini van to allow ample space for everyone and all necessary luggage. It was really hard to find a mini van, or any large vehicle, that had unlimited miles that weekend. One place even said that she was surprised it didn’t have unlimited miles and asked if there was a special event because normally that changes the mileage allowance. After lots of phone calls and many online quotes, we settled on Hertz. The customer service was fantastic at working around their system to get us the best deal AND keep unlimited miles. We pick up at one place because they have the van available but we’ll drop it at the airport because it has a later drop off time. This allowed us to keep the van the extra few hours we needed without having to pay for an entire day or for every mile over the very limited mileage.
We researched online for things to do while in New Mexico and stumbled across some local coupons for visitors. One of the coupons was for a free night at Red Roof Inn if you stayed three nights. We already had made reservations but thought we’d call and check out the price with the free night. It was a tad bit more than our current reservation but it included a few things that the first hotel did not and it was worth the few bucks more.
We’re planning on spending one day neighborhood spying, as I’m referring to it. We’ll drive around to the different areas in town and get a feel for the good and bad things about each area. We’ve done some research on home price and rental prices to help us with our spying.
Another coupon was for a local shop that was offering a free dreamcatcher. Drama King has been asking for one of these for the longest time. He wakes up frequently by bad dreams and the only time he doesn’t is when he’s at Grandma Deb’s house. The difference: She has a dreamcatcher on her bed and he doesn’t. See how that could lead him to believe that he needs one, too. I haven’t found a place online that sells them because of their unique qualities and we haven’t had a chance to go to the reservation to pick one up for him. This will be a perfect solution.
The last day we are deeming kids’ day for two reasons; a) It’s Drama King’s birthday and b) they’ll deserve it after the adults check out the area. We are planning on spending the entire day at the local zoo. They offer a reciprocal 50% discount on admission because we have a membership to our local zoo. However even at their regular admission price, it would be worth it for what you get.
For now, I’m off to finish our itinerary and do laundry to begin packing. I’ve learned through our many trips to pack enough entertainment for each child so I’m customizing their backpacks for New Mexico. I have printed a coloring ABC book, a few activities, and placed blank and lined paper in their binders. I, also, printed a Flat Stanley for them to design on the drive up. And we’re bringing some books, a few toys, and their table trays. I’ll be packing their portable DVD players and a few DVDs for each of them. I’m not sure if we’ll need them but better safe than sorry.
What’s going on with the blog while we’re gone?
I have a few Blogmaniacs posts scheduled for some bonus entries. We also have the $25 Kroger gift card giveaway for you to enter.
Any guest posts?
I’m looking into that. I’ve never done a guest post but if you’re interested, let me know.
Will we be checking in?
I’ll probably check in at least once for comments but am not expecting to write anything until we get back. Our new phones are smart phones so we may check in on Twitter or Facebook so make sure you’re following us on there, too.
Will we get to hear more about the trip?
Yes, after we get back. We’ll probably do a post covering the places we visited and things we learned.
Are the boys excited?
Oh yes! And so are the adults.
