Cloudcroft

(Spectacular view from our hotel--you can see White Sands in the distance there)

Noah and I just got back from an awesome marriage retreat in Cloudcroft, New Mexico. The army sucks a lot sometimes...and then sometimes it's really cool. They paid for everything except the transportation to the hotel and outside activities. Which consisted of MOUNTAIN BIKING for us! :D

I've been biking a lot but never mountain biking. The trail was pretty easy going for a while and then we decided to check out the downhill canyon trail. Holy crap. That thing was pretty crazy and I'm sure it was nowhere near some of the stuff hardcore mountain bikers take on. I had a wipeout. For a second I really though it was a possibility I'd broken my knee cap on a rock as I smashed right into it and also skidded into another with my face (full of dirt). Buttt after the initial scare, all was well except for a nasty bruise on my knee, a cut across it and some scrapes on my chin and arms. Lol, I felt a lot like a little kid actually. I wailed and hyperventilated for a minute or two and then I realized I was okay. Poor Noah, I know I scared him to death. I was definitely glad he was right there to take care of me and calm me down, though.

(Saw this guy on the trail!)

Cloudcroft was pretty cool. Just a tiny little speck of a town but it kind of feels like paradise in the middle of the desert. The land changes all of a sudden once you get past the lower mountains and it's green with grass and pines and the air is crisp and wonderfully cool! Not much to do up there besides nature stuff, but hey, that's my cup of tea so I was right at home.

(view from one of the trails)

The retreat itself was great too. The chaplain hit home with several subjects he talked about, just stuff we've been dealing with as a married couple and even though we have a solid and great relationship (I'm not just saying that for the sake of my blog, we really do.) it strengthened the bond and helped us move past some things we needed to. It definitely helped me realize some things I need to work on and be more aware of within myself for our marriage--stress management and clear communication at the top of that list. Anyway, it was just good. And I think we both needed a weekend away and to hear what the chaplain had to say in the training sessions. We even had a vow renewal at the end for all the couples who wanted to participate. :)

I'm also super glad we tried out the mountain biking together. We both had a lot of fun with it even in the wake of my going over the handlebars. Hope we can do more of that in the future...with knee pads. haha ;)