New Mexico Summer Vacation July 2019

We left San Antonio early Friday morning at about 6 AM. Ideally, we hoped, Porter would go right back to sleep after being woken up so early. This was not the case. Yet, he behaved and didn't begrudge us too much all things considered. In fact, the whole car trip he was agreeable and had very few outbursts. Originally, we had even considered stopping midway to stay overnight at some cheap hotel just to break up the drive, but Porter cooperated wonderfully so we kept on going straight through all the small smatterings of so-called cities in western Texas and eastern New Mexico. We arrived in Cloudcroft at about 4 PM their time. Our first stop after dropping some things off at Crystal and Nathan's house was to visit the coffee shop. Chelsea lit up like Christmas. It is clear that coffee and working behind the bar holds a dear place in her heart. The shop was fully decorated and stunning to say the least. They did a superb job establishing a cool and chill vibe that any customer feels as soon as they walk in the door. The only possible problem that I noticed (which I was later told was completely intentional and part of the aforementioned vibe) was the small menu that was difficult to read and missing many items, including prices. Aside from this issue, I'd say the shop is close to flawless in its initial impression on customers. Behind the bar, there are many areas of improvement that scream out, but I have to remind myself that this coffee shop isn't about efficiency or pumping out mass numbers of orders in a timely fashion — it is about maintaining that vibe and energy that probably attracted Crystal and Nathan out there to the New Mexico get-a-way in the first place. Throughout the rest of the vacation in Cloudcroft, we often returned to the shop and it never got old. The highlight of the trip would have to be White Sands. Even though Chelsea and I had already visited the National Park just about five years ago, it was still stunning and breath-taking as it had been the first time. Porter absolutely went nutzo. He loved being able to walk and run around barefooted. And it was great for Chelsea and I to not have to worry about him falling or bumping into anything sharp. Once we got up onto the dunes, we were a little worried he might tumble down one of the sides, but this fear turned out to be unfounded. I have to say, simply being in such a beautiful and exotic place with my parents, Crystal and Nathan's family, and my little family: it was awesome. White Sands, more than any other place on this short vacation, revitalized my soul. True, the coffee shop was fun and definitely inspirational in terms of business ideas and motivation, but the sunset highlighting the pink and baby blue clouds along with the contrast of the bleached dunes sears the soul with wonder.