The other side of the mountain ...

La Union Maze (and pumpkin patch)

Ft. Bliss sits at the base of the Franklin Mountains. They are not tremendously high mountains, but I think they are very beautiful. They cast shadows around the base. The sun sets behind them. Sometimes they are gray, sometimes purple ... their colors change with the day. Last July when Grandpa Jones and I flew into El Paso to say good-bye to Jesse before his deployment, he picked us up at the airport (which is less than a mile from their house) and instead of taking us right there, he drove us up one side of the mountain and down the other side. I loved it! I love heights. The views are stunning from up there.

I keep forgetting that El Paso is a border town ... Juarez (Mexico) is within sight, and New Mexico isn't far away either. After our disappointment in not finding a pumpkin patch yesterday, Diana looked around at sites in New Mexico and found one, only about 25+ miles from the base ... on the other side of the mountain! We were going to go to La Union Maze in Anthony, New Mexico! The kids were so excited! As we drove up the side of the mountain, we sang the little song: "The bear went over the mountain." It was only about a 35 minute drive to the pumpkin patch in New Mexico ... and it seems like almost everybody in the border region had the very same destination in mind! Whew ... it was SO crowded! We were able to use Di and Jesse's military discount to get in and saved ourselves $2 per ticket.

The giant and very fast tube slide!

Christopher loved it!

There was a giant tube slide the kids enjoyed for awhile. There were three gigantic corn mazes to explore. We only did one of them because after waiting an hour to purchase our tickets in the blazing hot sun, we were tired before we ever got through the gate! We actually did rest awhile under a large tent while the children watched and fed the rabbits. There was a nice hayride that took us out to the pumpkin patch. Wow, what a rugged piece of country this is! Right back to the old West! But it was a beautiful pumpkin patch with the mountains in the background, surrounded by cotton fields and as well as jalapeno peppers growing everywhere, and dusty, dry pathways throughout.

Running through one of the many corn mazes
Since there were so many people there today,
we had to keep the kids pretty close to us!
We didn't want anyone lost in these mazes!

This is a cotton plant. This flower turns into
a bulb of cotton!

This is a pumpkin plant ... this small yellow
flower turns into a ... PUMPKIN!

Feeding these bunnies gave the kids
so much JOY!

Matthew, posing very nicely for me!

The children picked out very tiny pumpkins (not big enough to carve, but just right to paint) and we carried them back to the hay wagon. There were really long lines for every activity and the kids were really exhausted from being in the hot sun. I think their favorite part of the afternoon was feeding and watching the cute bunnies. I love to watch the tenderness of children with animals, don't you? I love their fascination with every little creature.