Day 4 – The Rendezvous

Today was the day for the big rendezvous at the Albuquerque airport (ahem “sunport”)…whatever that means…My dad and I had roughly 2.5 hours of driving and Jaclyn, Brooke and Beckett had about 6 hours of flights. Jaclyn appreciated that Al came to our house at 4:15am to drop her and the kids off at the airport!

Brooke did an amazing job being super helpful during both flights and even pushed the stroller for Jaclyn through the airport. Beckett gave Jaclyn a scare by kicking and screaming for 20 mins while boarding the first plane. Fortunately though, after that incident both kids were great for the rest of the plane rides.

We miraculously all ended up at the airport within 10-15 minutes of each other. Everyone was really excited to see each other! We then said goodbye to Grandpa Dan who was going to stay the day in Albuquerque, rent a Tesla and explore one of the mountains.

Next up was a 3.5 hour drive. Twenty minutes into the drive, Brooke said she had to use the bathroom (despite just using it at the airport). I explained to Jaclyn and Brooke that NM isn’t like out east and there isn’t an exit and bathroom every few miles. Luckily, she fell asleep so that bought us some time. We headed towards Cloudcroft and turned onto route 380 only to find 70 miles of straight road without a single exit and one rest stop which was literally just 4 picnic tables. No bathrooms, no structures, nothing. Jaclyn then realized she’s not in Kansas anymore. We would later find out that this area was so remote that it’s home to the Trinity Site aka the first place they ever detonated a nuclear bomb.

The kids woke up towards the end of those 70 miles and we were graced with a gas station, a bathroom that Brooke didn’t use 🙄, and a family dollar to take a break. Beckett spotted a real-life train and tons of trucks at the family dollar. This might end up being the highlight of the trip for him. As Jaclyn and Beckett stood outside to watch the train several locals offered them help and rides as they knew that a red headed 1 year old had no business being outside in a 90 degree desert.

After that stop it was smooth for the rest of the drive. Brandon and Christina live in the mountains at just under 9,000 feet. We ascended about 4,500 from Alamogordo on a gorgeous winding mountain road. We arrived to find the Sullivan’s waiting for us with beautiful 75 degree weather and a sweet mountain house!

We hung out outside pretty much all afternoon and the kids had a blast playing together. We mentioned to Brandon and Christina the close call with the bathroom and how remote it is out here and they knew the exact solution. We were quickly gifted their travel port ‘o potty for the remainder of our travels.

Then we had some dinner and put the kids to bed. Their day which started at ~1:30am local time was finally over, they had survived haha.

Brooke’s Comments: Brooke was reallllllllyyyyy excited to finally get to see Parker and Serafina after all that traveling!

-Jay and the family