We hit the bricks for Christmas in Las Cruces, New Mexico with Josh’s mom Carole this week. And let me tell you this – if we’re flying somewhere, Josh and I pack light thanks to the airlines and their $25 a bag charges.

But driving? Forget about it. That’s a whole other story.

Road-tripping for us involves hours upon hours of prepping, planning, packing, and some other great p words like parties, potato chips and pooping. We’re the sort of folks that like to have things ready for any possible situation, from a quick roadside diaper change to the end of the world taking place while we’re on the open road.

It’s a little draining. But then you finally climb in the car, blow outta town and end up here:

and it’s so worth it. I love the drive to Las Cruces. Hours and hours of open desert driving, with tunes from the Killers and Marty Robbins along for the ride.

Phil went on this New Mex journey last Thanksgiving and again at Christmas, and it took longer becuase we had to stop to nurse him every couple of hours. Other than that, it wasn’t all that different. But this time he was so much more aware of everything going on. The last two hours of prep before we left, he was feeling pretty anxious because all this stuff was getting pulled out, put in piles, and put in the car – where is all this stuff going? Some of that is my stuff! Am I going, too? So he was totally attached to the hip. My left arm got an amazing workout holding his 20 pounds steady on one hip while running things out for Josh to put in the car.

Once we were driving, though, he calmed down and started having fun. He even took over for a while when Josh got tired of driving:

Good thing he’s been practicing his navigational skills in his Cozy Coupe!

Hope everyone’s gearing up for a fun and relaxing holiday – what do you have planned?