How Else Would We Celebrate?

Well, Justin and I have turned into old fogeys!  The absolute best way we could imagine celebrating was a road trip!!  Our poor kids!  They totally groaned when we told them that we were going on an adventure.  But, we know how the last adventure turned out- from groans to grins!  I knew they'd have fun in the end.

We headed up into the mountains with the goal of finding a village that is known for having amazing cave paintings.  After a very twisty, curvy, bumpy hour we decided to stop for a breather.  Justin and I ended up at this ruin back in the spring when we were out here trying to find and apartment.

Not much is left but the footprint.

Guess how much fun melody pops are when you're on a road trip?!
I think this is the real reason we had to get out of the car!

Noah is such a teenager.  Here we are in the middle of such a cool place and he is busy taking selfies!

After we got ourselves together it was time to see the crater lake just down the road. 

Found it!

Searching for frogs

I love these people!

We hiked the trail around the lake.  Noah brought his survival backpack again.
He found this cool tree with a hollow trunk and wanted his picture taken inside it.

Callie taking a picture of Lucy hiking.

We were a little over halfway to our goal of the cave village.  So we had to head on out to try and find it.  We were out in the middle of nowhere and folks were getting hangry (hungry+angry).  Of course, there was nothing around, not even a gas station or little market.  Finally we found a tiny town that had a bread store and a market.  Once everyone had a hunk of bread and some water tempers settled back down.

Poor Callie was getting car sick so we stopped at this natural spring to let her splash cold water on her face.  You can find springs like this all throughout the country.  The water is fresh, clean, and cold.  Callie practically bathed in this spring.  The water was like ice.  She felt so much better afterwards.

Lucy had found the perfect spot to squat behind this wall to tinkle.  (Justin pointed out later that perhaps letting your kid tinkle at the source of a natural spring might not be the most sanitary idea.  Whoops!)  Then this guy pulled up in his van and Lucy was stuck waiting for him to leave so she could go potty.

She waited.

And waited.

And waited.

This guy was washing vegetables, rearranging stuff in his van, and all sorts of stuff!

Finally we gave up and promised Lucy we'd stop next chance we got and headed out.  The roads were pretty intense and we still had quite a way to the village with the caves.  The sun was starting to set, so we had to give up.  We found a new road that would take us on a different route towards the sea and headed home.

Landslide!

We had a quick dinner out and then went home for brownies and ice cream.

Next time we attempt to see the caves we'll have to plan for an overnight, pack a lunch, and chug the Dramamine!

Even though we didn't reach our destination, we had a fun time trying!  Getting out and exploring more of this beautiful country is the perfect way to celebrate our 7 years here!