Summer Wedding

This July Dexter, Flip and I went to New Mexico to watch my oldest sister, Buffy, get hitched.  Seriously, when you think weddings, don't you immediately think of New Mexico.  Apparently my sister does...

We decided to leave Vivian with the in-laws because destination weddings aren't her thing.  She probably would have had fun, but there was something about bringing a two year old on a three and half hour flight,  two hour drive and then hanging out for three days on desert ranch that just didn't feel right.

Flip was ecstatic about his first plane ride.  He wore his jeans and cowboy boots that we bought for the wedding and didn't let go of his dad's hand while we checked in and went through security.  Of course, as soon as we got on the plane, Dexter found a seat by a quiet adult and snoozed the entire flight while I got to convince Flip to stay seated for three and a half hours.  This is unnatural for a five year old therefore it was difficult for me.  I did have my other sister, Bitsy, to help with what I call Operation Entertainment/Containment.  We had books to read, stickers to stick, colors to color with, but somebody in our traveling party thought that candy was a good snack for an already overly energetic boy.  So to be kind to all the passengers on board, I ate the candy.  Flip would not have done well after access to all that candy.  Of course Flip had lots of great kid questions:

Flip: Mom, are we flying higher than a dinosaur?
Me: Yes.

Flip: Are we close to heaven?
Me: I don't know.
Flip: Why not?
Me: Because I have never been there.

Flip: What happens if the wings break off?
Me: They won't break off.
Flip: How do you know that?

...and so it went all the way to Albuquerque.  We were on the road after feeding the boys (Dexter was hungry after all that napping and Flip was hungry since I ate all the candy) and making a necessary stop at Wal Mart.  We were informed by Buffy that the ranch was completely off the beaten path so we had to gather up supplies before heading into Billy the Kid country.

Once we arrive in Carrizozo (population 18, us included) Buffy meets us at the Rainbow Inn (I'm not kidding) and we crash.  The next day we are up way too early since we were still on Eastern time, so we stumble over to a really great coffee shop which immediately became our favorite place.  But once Buffy arrives and has had her cup of Joe, we are off the the ranch to clean up and set up.

A few days work by the Randerson sisters will make a desert ranch look like someplace you want to get married...at least we hope that was the case for Buffy.  The wedding was lovely, the people were awesome and the wind made the desert feel more comfortable than Hotlanta.  There are a few things we learned on our trip that I would like to share with you in case you are looking into a destination wedding in New Mexico:

1.  There is a lot of dirt and sand in the desert.
2.  Wild horses do NOT like watermelon, Doritos or your company.
3.  If you don't like Mexican food, then you probably won't like the food in Carrizozo.
4.  Watch out for poop and snakes.