It's been a long time since I've written anything - oops!
I guess I should give an update on our Fairly Frugal Holiday.
It was super fun! If any of you are ever in Southern New Mexico (I can't see why you would be, though, unless you live in West Texas) you should definitely see Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands National Monument.
Day 1 - Three Rivers Petroglyphs - a billion petroglyphs! It was so cool! Ate lunch from our cooler under one of the picnic benches. It was a $5 entrance fee. Went on to Alamogordo where we went to the toy train museum and checked into our hotel which had a pool. Hotel was free with my mom's points. Ate dinner from the cooler heated in the microwave.
Day 2 - White Sands (brought our sleds and it was so much fun!!). Then the pistachio ranch where we got pistachios for the people watching our pets, and also took a photo with a giant concrete pistachio, and also tried every sample they had! Then the Space Museum. Entrance for all three of us with an IMAX was $20. Breakfast was free at the hotel, and we ate lunch and dinner from the cooler. Did I mention that food in Alamogordo is... not great. So this was not just to save money.
Day 3 - Drove to Carlsbad (NM) and swam in the pool for a bit, then went to the river and got a pedal boat ($10). Breakfast was at the Alamogordo hotel, and dinner was from the cooler. We ate lunch out in Carlsbad. The hotel was free (I had a free night) and had a real kitchenette, not just a microwave.
Day 4 - Carlsbad Caverns - gorgeous and a total natural wonder! Admission was $20 total. A bargain. We had breakfast at our hotel (and ran into friends - isn't that weird? and then again in the Caverns - different friends!). We were out of lunch things in the cooler, but had some fruit and snack stuff, so we supplemented with food from the Visitor Center; it wasn't worth it. Then the long drive home. We managed to get home by dinner which was good because it was astounding how few towns there are between Carlsbad and Santa Fe. F decided to skip the alien museum in Roswell.
I didn't get any decent photos, but my husband did... but you should look it up - it's such a cool place.
The trip was a good length, and cost us a total of about $200 with admissions, food and everything.
And now we owe $10,674 on our house; the low-key vacation really helped us with the mortgage - I paid off a bunch this month!
Holiday Update (with Photos)
April 6th, 2017 at 10:33 pm
April 7th, 2017 at 03:36 am 1491536212
April 7th, 2017 at 09:29 pm 1491600587
April 8th, 2017 at 02:48 pm 1491662932
'My son ref'd soccer games starting at age 12. Pay was $20 per game to be a line judge, when he was a bit older he could center ref for $35 per game (games range in length 60-90 minutes). Being a baseball umpire is another job they can start before age 16 and pay is decent.' I wondered if 'F' had summer plans and if she'd she this as a worthwhile experience.
April 18th, 2017 at 03:16 am 1492485397