Cochiti Lake, NM - Castle Rock, CO (Sat.5/3-Mon.5/5)

Sunday and Monday we had a couple catch up days for home school (maybe not catch-up but catch-close-to-up). Rewards included ice cream at the lake. It's another dam, believe it or not – this being our third dam on the trip – we're just about groupies. This earthen dam is a lake made from the Rio Grand and just a mile from our campsite it has a nice beach.

major excavation going on by the boys

Monday was all driving. From near Santa Fe, New Mexico to just north of Colorado Springs, CO. New Mexico and Colorado both allow riders in the back of a 5^th wheel which spreads us out giving us a bit more room.

A day of travel to get to Colorado – is a good time to review our family rules of the road...

*When in the truck, the default is “Truck Mode” - this means: talk in a low tone, no extra noises (if you have kids you know that much of what comes out can be categorized as “extra noises”), no singing (unless we are all singing together), no whistling, no wrestling, etc.
*Whisper Mode. When we need it quieter than Truck Mode it goes to Whisper Mode. If Kim is on the phone, it's Whisper Mode.
*Silent Mode. Again this is obvious and sometimes needed as a consequence for not properly following Whisper Mode.

When we are getting close to a destination (e.g. campsite, McDonald's), then we are “On approach” which moves us to Silent Mode

The boys do quite well with this and I know that I'm pickier than most about noise in the vehicle.

An example on our way to Colorado is when Kim is on the phone (which has been needed a lot to change items which were billed to our now-stolen credit card number). It may not sound like Kim's on the phone, but every 10 seconds she declares “Speak to a representative” (don't you love trying to weave through the digital matrix to try to talk to a real person). “Boys, we are in whisper mode because mom is on the phone”. “It doesn't sound like she's on the phone” - says Kobe, “all she wants to do is speak to a representative”. “That's still whisper mode”, replies Dad...

taken out the window just into Colorado