Down to the south...

We have been heating up the highway!! From Taos we went to Ojo Caliente hot springs, where we bathed in sulfur, soda, arsenic, and iron pools that varied in temp from 96 to 106 degrees. We also drank lithia water, said to be good for digestion and mood disorders. Jaycie drank the most and was notably less gassy and more even tempered! We soaked in the pools for hours and were truly spiritually and physically recharged. Jason even received a mysterious red spiritual marking between his eyebrows that lasted for days after we left. It was there that we felt that we had gotten adjusted to life on the road, and when we left the next day, we were relaxed and very much in the flow of traveling.
The pilgramage to Houston, Texas to be with Brian O'donell and family for Christmas took us through the desert of southern NM and west Texas. We went to the Alien Museum in Roswell (Two words: COVER UP!!) and the road was long, but the desert scenery beautiful and the trip went by quickly...except for the portion when we were battling 60 MPH winds gusting at our side. We even stopped by the Alamo in San Antonio on the way. We got to Houston in the evening and were greeted by a neighborhood ablaze with Christmas lights!!! The subdivision has prizes for best decorations and they really go all out...it was a wonderful welcome. The best house had people tune to a radio station and their lights kept time with the songs that were playing. In keeping up with the Jonses, we pulled over and donned our DC powered Christmas lights and showed up in style. It was a great Christmas, with game playing (rummi cube), delicious food, and a really fun family. It was tempting to stay a couple extra days but we felt the tug of the road and left early the next day and made it to Louisiana. Not much going on in Louisiana the day after Christmas, we found. We couldn't even get ahold of any gumbo!! So we pushed on through Baton Rouge and stayed in a Hampton Inn parking lot. We've found that the Hampton really does a great job of selecting quiet locations and attracting well behaved guests that don't tip the employees off that there are vagrents sleeping in the parking lot, so we stay with them any chance we get...sometimes we can even freeload a continental breakfast! Just kidding...we are actually into teff these days, an ethopian grain for breakfast. So at this moment we are in a 4 star rest area in Mississippi with freeWiFi and an RV dump and water filling station. We should be in Pensacola, Florida by this afternoon sipping umbrella drinks and swatting mosqitos! Sorry we don't have picutures...the intenet connetion in the bayou isn't quite strong enough!!! Happy Holidays!!
pictures are coming as soon as we get to a better wi-fi spot.