Good parents give their children roots and wings. Roots to know where home is, wings to fly away and exercise what’s been taught them. — Jonas Salk

I keep repeating that to myself alot these days.

You see, in September I had to hug my daughter, my Baby Girl, good-bye and leave her in New Mexico.

She is off on a new adventure! She accepted a position as Au-pair for a professional couple with a darling two year old daughter. I was so tickled that she wanted me to accompany her on the drive to New Mexico to meet her new charge. It was a fast trip, but we did take the time to make a small adjustment our route so we could visit Arches National Park in Utah. Boy, what a wonderous place!

We arrived at Arches National Park about half an hour before sunset, enjoying each new colorful sight as we rounded turn after turn of the road, winding our way through the canyons. The amazing colors of the canyon walls and the unique rock formations were spectacular. We took lots of pictures and enjoyed watching the sun set behind the canyon walls.



Can you see the depth of field in this photo~~these canyons seem to go on forever!



The colors were so vibrant in the light of the setting sun

We returned to the park before dawn the next morning so we could enjoy the sunrise and the play of light on the other walls of the canyons. We hiked up to one arch and watched as the sun rose above the canyon walls.




The Window, opening into the morning sun.
Can you see the kiss of light along the top of the arch?

Standing center of the window, I could see in the valley beyond,
bathed in the light of the rising sun.

The view from the center of the window looking west

And just as fascinating to me as the geographical wonders was the beauty of the stunted trees in this harsh landscape.

We returned to the hotel for a quick breakfast before making our way to Albuqueruqe by evening.

I savored the remaining hours of our journey. The time together in the car was a blessing to my eyes in the beauty of the landscape we passed through, to my ears as we talked and sang along to the radio as we drove, and to my heart as I savored the remaining hours with my Baby Girl.

Before leaving New Mexico, I was welcomed into the home of some wonderful friends of my Aunt's. Tom and PJ graciously took me in, feed me, entertained me, and gave me haven while I adjusted to the idea of being without the daily presence of my daughter.

The next day I was treated to a delicious deli lunch and had the chance to get to know a little about a loving and fun couple, who I hope to visit again. After returning home to get my luggage, Tom decided we should leave early for the airport so I could have a little tour of the area before my flight home.

Imagine my surprise when after, carefully stuffing my bags into the trunk of their little red Miata, Tom tossed me the keys! As I drove through Old Town and along the Rio Grande (which isn't so grand just here) Tom gave me a history of the area and a peek at the local mansions and  luxury compounds of the rich and famous.

Quickly approaching the time I wanted to be at the airport, we made a detour onto the Air Force base for a quick errand. While there, I talked Tom into playing photographer so I could picture text SonMySon and DearHusband the following teaser:

This is the view from the drivers seat of a little red Miata!

Followed next by the 'proof':

It is a fact that zipping around Albuquerque in Tom and PJ's lil' red sportscar provided me with an excellent distration to leaving my Baby Girl to begin her new adventure, in a new state, with a new job. So I am sure that it was all the very warm sun and the wind on my face that afternoon that was causing my eyes to tear upon take off.

                                           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As you might have guessed, this post was delayed. I made several starts on it, and just needed to let it be for awhile. I distracted myself being busy with harvest time activities and time got away from me. Of course, losing my laptop's screen and the ability to pull up my first versions of this post added to the delay. Fortunately, the pictures were still on the memory card and I could download them to DearHusband's desktop.

I will wrap up this post on our big adventure by giving you the countdown: 7 days until our girl is coming home for a quick weekend visit! It will be a whirlwind of activity as she tries to get all her visiting in (with family, friends, and old co-workers) and she will be the photographer for a close friend's wedding before she returns to New Mexico on Monday.  We are all eagerly awaiting her visit!