El Paso continued . . .

Day 3, June 19, 2013

Today started with a beautiful 5:30 am 3 mile run solo around the neighborhood with the hills, followed by a 6 mile bike ride with Curtis UP the mountain.  It's so nice to be staying here with Curtiss's parents because we are able to get out together, even for an hour, we are so thankful!  

When he said up the mountain, he meant straight up!  I never believed they had mountains in El Paso until I arrived here.  The Franklin Mountains sit right in the middle of the city, and the city has completely grown a circle around it.  It's very beautiful, and the sunrises over here on the west side are incredible!

Not the best picture, but you get the gist.  After the picture was taken I was bit by yet another bush.  I didn't even see the thing, but I immediately saw the blood dripping down my leg....who knew this little thing would scratch you up so bad!!!  Unfortunately, that measly little Charlie Brown cactus attacked me on the same leg I fell on yesterday.  I really need to keep my eyes down and alert, apparently!

With some huffing, puffing, and quads burning, we made it to the top of Thunderbird!

 And here is the amazing view from the other side!

Curtiss's Grandma Hazel used to live at this country club, and we rode past his grandma's beautiful home....he said, "Yep, it's as hard a ride as I remember."  Well.....we took a deep breath, and cruised back down.....FAST!  When we returned, the boys we up and ready for play.  We took a couple rides around the block and rode in the culdesac with them, the loaded up and headed off to see Uncle Ted and Aunt Ruth in Las Cruces.

What a handsome bunch of Schettler's!  Curtis counts down the seconds til we get to go visit Uncle Ted and crack a beer with him at....oh....10:00 in the morning.  Uncle Ted is such a great role model for Curtis, having been a teacher and Asst. Superintendent for the Las Cruces School District.  Gotta love this guy!!!

After our visit, we headed to Curtiss's favorites Las Cruces Mexican restaurant, Chopi's....well, technically it's in La Mesa, this small hole in the wall with the best homemade red enchilada sauce in the state.....yum, yum!!!  I need to go for another 3 mile run to work off all the Mexican food!  We drove back home for naps and play time!  What a great day!  

Bad news for the A/C back home.  The compressor went out, so our options are new compressor for $2000, replace old unit for $6000, or replace old with new freon for $8000.......ugh!!!  Thankfully, we're not there, and our hot house can just wait for another day.  ;-). Until then, I can't wait to see what tomorrow has in store for us!!!!