Mexico Addendum...

I nearly forgot to mention one of the best little tidbits about the trip south of the border. On the way home, we stopped at White Sands National Monument in southern New Mexico, near Las Cruces. It's a cool spot: Sand dunes where the sand is powdery white, so fine you can sled, slide, jump, roll, dive, flip (etc.) down the steep slopes of the dunes.

Now as a bit of science trivia, the secret to the powdery white sand is not its close proximity to a world-famous missile range where the first US nuclear bomb was tested (at least that's what THEY say). Instead, the sand is a rare type made out of gypsum that has been deposited on the desert floor and blown around to make a giant sandbox.

Which allows for cool tricks like in the shot above.