An Ounce of Prevention

They left the canyon with renewed interest in the vacation. Alex drove the van the rest of the day. In the evening they crossed the state line into New Mexico.

Carmen was surprised to discover that New Mexico also had a city named Las Vegas. The only city she had heard of was Roswell…and Santa Fe, of course. Jonathan wanted to go to Santa Fe, but they were already behind schedule. They should be in Arizona by now.

"Maybe we can do that on the way back." She told him.

Alex gave her a startled look, but he didn't say anything. Maybe he was hoping to make a fast trip home. She felt as if she was dragging him along everywhere they went.

The country around them was getting more arid and it was broken with hills and valleys. Alex stopped in Santa Rosa to eat supper and get a hotel room for the night. At this rate, they would reach their destination in time to turn around and go back.

"Is this Arizona?" Destiny asked.

"No, this is New Mexico," Carmen said.

Destiny frowned. "But you said it would take us two days."

Alex lifted a brow at Carmen before turning to Destiny. "Things look different on a map. You can't figure time mathematically by the number of miles. Even if you lower the average of miles per hour, there are always other factors."

That was true - like all the detours and early stops. Still, he was right. This was the first trip she had planned and her experience was lacking. He had the experience, but he hadn't been involved in the planning.

"When are we going to camp," Matthew asked.

"When we get to Arizona," Carmen answered in a grumpy tone.

Alex lifted his gaze to her. "Tired?"

She sighed. "Not really. I guess I'm disappointed that we're not in Arizona yet too."

He smiled. "I thought we were going to enjoy traveling as much as the destination. Wasn't that what you said?"

She wrinkled her nose at him. "Rub it in, Alex."

He laughed. "Relax. We'll be in Arizona tomorrow."

"Will we camp tomorrow night?" Matthew asked, his large eyes open wide as he fixed his gaze on Alex.

Alex lifted Matthew to his lap. "Probably not, but we'll camp sometime soon."

They were up early the next morning, traveling again. This time Alex was driving because it was raining. The rain stayed with them until they reached Albuquerque. They were in the mountains at that point, but it wasn't like Carmen expected. The cloud cover reduced visibility to a short distance. Some clouds hung low enough that they had to drive slower.