Let’s do this Defender. Had to move the girls’ carseats from the third row to the second row. Sitting 3 across in the middle for this trip. Partly for luggage, and partly to help with handing them food and snacks. Plus, good sibling bonding time….maybe.

They wanted to match.

Excited for the road trip.

First, to get out of Texas. It’ll be roughly 7 to 8 hours of driving today.

Oops, took a wrong turn, and ended up having to take this tiny county road to get back on the main road.

I’m always amazed that these obscure random county roads exist all over the country. How long ago were these roads paved and how many cars have actually passed over them in that time?

How have they done? Surprisingly good. We’ve made it pretty far without Ipads. They were each allowed to bring a stuffed animal with them for the trip.

Pretty cool mural, especially for a tiny town like this.

The magic of Ipads. Now, leave baba and mama alone for a few hours.

We passed by this RV earlier, then took a wrong turn, and now we had to pass it again. I think we ended up passing it 3 different times due to restroom stops and whatnot.

San Angelo, TX.

Lookin’ good. A supremely comfortable long distance cruiser. Quiet, relaxed, and commanding seating position.

This restaurant used to be house a whore house.

Has no idea what a brothel is.

So cute.

Basic American fare, nothing to write home about.

Second time she’s ever driven the Defender, no big deal.

So baren.

Red Clay, not something you see in Austin.

Finally, and immediately, the road condition gets worse. More pot holes, uneven pavement, etc. etc.

Just eating up the miles like nobody’s business.

After a long day of driving, we’ve arrived in Carlsbad, NM. We left Austin at around 8am and have arrived here a little before 5pm, but due to time change, it’s only about 4pm. Time’s a good amount of time to be on the move. Of course, first thing after getting here is to go to the waterpark. I guess the kids deserve it after a long day in the car.

Not too bad for a city water park in a small town like Carlsbad. Kids had a blast, the adults were just tired. Hard to see it, but there is even a tiny, lazy river in this water park.

Our dinner spot, located literally right next door to our hotel. Off road group met up here tonight. They’ve got some aggressive Jeeps here with aggressive tires and bumper stickers.

Nom nom nom. After a long day of driving, it feels good to sit down and eat.

What $176 a night gets you in Carlsbad, NM. Our hotel suite, or rather, two hotel suites. We had reserved a suite with two queen beds. They only had King bed suites available, which would have been doable for us, but ideally two queen beds and a pull out couch fits all 5 of us the best. Since they didn’t have our type of reserved room, they gave us connecting king bed suites. Score!

So much space and room for days.

We are going to be spoiled after having this much space.

To be continued at Santa Fe Day 1.