Albuquerque

 We left Friday morning with 10 hrs of road ahead of us. Dallen was so excited for this trip and he was well prepared for the length of the drive. The drive down was nice, however New Mexico was of course peppered with cops. If they weren't racing past you on their way to stall someone else. They were pacing you no doubt checking plates and speed. We were lucky to get through the spiderweb untouched! Upon arrival to Albuquerue, we encountered a large snow storm. It was not what we expected, thanks Dave for letting me get new tires last week! 

We got in early enough for a nice dinner and some pool time. Then came the night....the night were most people get to sleep early in prep for competing early the next morning. But in sharing a bed with Dallen, it was kicks squirms and no sleep. Finally I asked him at almost 3am why he couldn't sleep. He said he was too excited! Go figure! Well we finally got some rest, and early in the am we headed to the feis.

It was business as usual once we got there with the big hair, bling, and tans. We set up camp and got dressed to bring it. Once the dancing started it went fairly smooth, ranging from 10am till about 3:30pm. Since the comps ran consecutively Arielle was in charge of Dallen. A couple times we were on stage at the same time, so I didn't get to see him in every dance. But I heard a lot about them! Countless people approached Arielle and I inquiring about Dallen. His nickname according to most the young girls in the room was "Orange Tie Guy"! Each time he would get on stage a bunch of girls would gather in front to watch him. Before the hard shoe rounds we were able to participate in a parent/child two hand in which we ended with a big kiss on the cheek. The judge and crowed got a kick out of it. It wasn't until after when a handful of people approached me asking me about him, and whether I was his sister that I felt a bit awkward. Confusion was across the board I guess, but we still stole a 2nd place trophy. 

By the end of the competition my feet felt like lead weights. It was cool meeting new girls from different schools. It was fun being with some of the Scariff Hardiman, and Power Academy gang. Although I did not perform the way I wanted to, I did my best and surprised myself with a few medals too. When I saw that Dallen got 1st in his reel I cried. As Momish as that sounds, I was so proud of him. He worked so hard and it paid off.

We celebrated with a nice dinner and some more pool time of course. On our drive home we had a couple stops that weren't planned. First I am ashamed to admit I got caught in the web and received my first speeding ticket in 10 years (this April). I was going 80mph in a 70 zone. The guy was hidden at the top of a hill and got me just as I gunned it to pass in the only passing area for miles. We were in the middle of no where and of course out of state licenses give them the right to pursue. I was peeved to say the least. A whopping $76 to the New Mexico state, who didn't even run my license, registration or insurance. Literally "highway robbery"! The second stop was to Arches. We decided to take a couple hours to drive through the park and check it out. Our minds were blown! That place is amazing, and we didn't even get to hike cause it was so cold and snowy. After trying to get out and freezing our faces off for a couple shots, we decided to finish the last 3 hours home. All in all the trip was a fantastic break and very rewarding. We are looking forward to our next road trip in a couple months!