A winter "vacation" (Angel Fire, NM)

Last week we've been away on "vacation" (hence the lack of an update) but what was supposed to be a fun and relaxing time turned into an exhausting experience. The plan was to drive the day after Christmas to New Mexico (Angel Fire) and spend five nights there, leaving on New Years Day. This trip was planned months in advance (April) but no one could have foreseen the endemic to come.

It all began on the last week of school before the kids got off for Christmas break. Jacob presumably caught something from a classmate and on Tuesday, we got a call from the nurse. He spiked a fever and had fallen ill. The next three days he stayed home from school and his winter break started earlier than expected. On Christmas day, I began to feel weak, achy and tired but just assumed it was from the chaos of Christmas or from playing football the day before.

Christmas Eve and Day

We left in the morning on the day after Christmas, which was also Andrew's birthday. And just like last year on his birthday, he was sick. To force a sick kid to sit in a car for over ten hours is a recipe for disaster. He made sure to let us know that he was miserable, which in turn made us miserable too.

Cadillac Ranch (Amarillo, TX)

Jacob tagging one of the cars.

By the time we got to Angel Fire, Andrew and I were sick. Fever, sore throat, cough, body aches, general weakness and tired. It might have been the flu... but we'll never know. The following day I decided to skip snowboarding and take it easy, as did the rest of the group. Then the Nesbitt family slowly began showing signs of sickness and by the end of the trip, this highly contagious virus infected 10 of 11 people in our group. Not a very fun vacation when all that you want to do is sleep. I could have done that at home and save myself from driving over 32 hours.

Sick Andrew.

Sick Tyson.

But the trip wasn't totally ruined. Jacob had the most fun since he was the only healthy one (only because he was the original carrier of this brutal virus). I got to board on a couple days and others got to go tubing. The kids also got to go sledding and play in the snow, which they will never see in Houston.

In the end, I'll never go back to Angel Fire. The trails they had opened weren't that great. There was not a lot of snow so my board took a heavy beating from the exposed rocks, but I guess that's not their fault. The staff were frustratingly clueless. As Mike so eloquently put it, "It's as if they just arrived to Earth and were new to interacting with people."

An excerpt of me trying to enroll Jacob for ski school, which took place on Friday.

I want to sign up for the kid's ski school on Sunday.
Sunday?
Yes. I would like to do it for tomorrow (Saturday) but the lady told me it was all booked.
She did?
Yeah. Is it?
Oh, I don't know.
Huh?
Let me check.

(5 minutes later)

Ok, it's all booked for Saturday. So Sunday?
Yes, Sunday.
Sunday?
.....
Yes! Sunday!

(blank look continues)

I'm just glad they didn't lose Jacob during the lessons.

We left New Mexico on New Years Day and headed to Dallas. The 10 hour drive there was much better. I don't think Tyson cried once and the older boys didn't whine at all. Everyone finally being healthy played a major factor.

The next day we went to Sea Life. The boys love all things aquarium related so this was a must see. They loved it. Later that night we had dinner, followed by ice cream at Milwaukee Joe's. Good stuff. We spent the rest of the night at one of their favorite stores, Barnes and Noble. A two-story one. We left with a bag full of books and that was that.

 

This trip really tested everyone's limits. But after this, a simple road trip to Austin or back to Dallas would be a cake walk now. As for doing another cross-state road trip... probably not anytime soon. Or at least, not until flu season is over.