...5.23...New Mexico...Day 1...

...this will be kind of a phone dump of photos...just in the order they were taken...

...Saturday we got everything ready to go...packed and in the car...and then Sunday...immediately after Church...like it was a getaway car or something...haha...we got in the car and left for the airport..for our first flight in over two years...

...the airport was REALLY croweded...much more so than I'd expected...we were masked...of course...but I'd say less than 50% of the people were...we got in the long TSA line...

...then once we were through TSA...we nabbed a bite to eat...just a snack...fried pickle and Dr. Pepper...it was yummy...we'll get a meal on the flight...I chose the cheese plate - as the only nearly vegan option...without the cheese of course so it will just be crackers and fruit...haha...

...just another crowd photo from our gate...hardly anyone is masked...

...in our seats...

...leaving the jetway...

...in the rather long queue to take off...

...airborne at last...

...leaving the lush spring green of North Carolina for the desert of New Mexico...

...and then...no lunch...there was quite the medical emergency right in front of us on the plane...a man went into diabetic shock...and they called for "any licensed medical professional to please come to the front of the plane"...there were three on board...a PA...an army medic...and a retired EMT...

...I was so shocked that they just tried to stabilize him for the hour that was left of the flight...I fully expected to be diverted...but we got to Dallas a half an hour early...and of course there was NO wait time taxiing or waiting for a jetway after landing...the EMTs boarded and took the man to the ER...and everyone on board applauded the medical professionals who assisted in flight...it was pretty scary...and I hope the gentleman is all right now...

...so...we were then pretty hungry and we had more than an hour before our next flight...so we decided to sit down and eat...and I got the "Hippie Burger"...it was really good...and I ate the whole thing...not sure why this photo is sideways...sorry...

...then after all that drama...we were back in our seats for the flight to New Mexico...

...the land gets visibly drier as we go westward...

...and no meal on this flight...but we got some vegan snacks...mine...cookies...they were pretty good...chocolate-chocolate...

...the Man's...trail mix...also good...we both shared...

...and the fields become circular...so unlike North Dakota with it's VAST square fields...New Mexico uses Center-pivot irrigation (sometimes called central pivot irrigation)...where equipment rotates around a pivot and crops are watered with sprinklers...because probably nothing grows here without it...and I don't know where the water comes from...

...and then as you approach the Sandia mountains...things are green on this side...

...when Our Airman's wife and I flew out in February of 2020...this was all covered with snow...because all of the rain and snow stops at the mountain and falls on this side...

...and then...as soon as you cross over the peaks...it's all dry desert again...

...we arrived a couple of hours before Our Airman...so we checked into the AirBnB and then went back to the airport to meet him...and this is our very first glimpse of him in person in a year and a half...we're super happy!

~Have a lovely day!