Looking forward to These Trips

Sweetie and I have a lot of plans for the next few months and I am so looking forward to them. I am amazed at some of the diverse travel destinations we have scheduled. 

First, we will be helping Sweetie recuperate by spending a couple of days at an Apache Indian resort near Ruidoso, New Mexico. We plan to visit White Sands National Monument and Lincoln National Forest while there. Although I have visited Ruidoso before (and it was a LONG time ago), I'm sure this is going to be like a brand-new experience for me. I'm looking forward to the mountains and much cooler temperatures.

Next on our schedule is a 3-day camping experience at Leesburg Dam State Park and the International Chili Festival at Hatch, New Mexico! That should be another exciting time as we'll be trying lots of different chili recipes! Sweetie isn't one who likes too much capsaicin in her meals so I'm suspecting she'll be the one who will be hesitant to try everything. I like peppers even though I don't want my face burned off by them. So, our trip here might be less at the Festival than just exploring the town of Hatch (although, as I understand things, there isn't much else about Hatch except for the chilis :) We didn't make this trip :( So, we took a two-night trip to Abilene SP where it was hot and crowded.

Later on, we'll be camping at Lost Maples State Natural Area, Texas, to view one of the most beautiful forest areas in the Hill Country during the time the leaves are changing colors. I am really looking forward to this trip since we will be camping in a much cooler time of the year. 

We will be rounding out the year by staying in the Chisos Mountains Lodge at Big Bend National Park. I am hoping that our hiking in this park will be much easier than last time since we will be visiting during the first week of December. Since the mean temperature during our anticipated visit will be in the low 70's, we should be able to do much more hiking. We might even be able to take all of Lost Mine Peak Trail!

Finally, we are planning on our first ever cruise! Yep, Sweetie finally agreed to take a trip from Galveston to Montego Bay, Jamaica; Grand Cayman Islands; and Cozumel, Mexico! I am already planning our excursions and one will be to take a cooking class in Cozumel.

That rounds out our scheduled and reserved trips through January. There may be other small trips that pop-up and I actually hope we do have a few non-scheduled trips!