We made it back to New Mexico last week. I’ll stop short of calling it “enchanted” as this sign says, but Amy and I sure were glad to be there (Northern Texas was humid, and with the right cloud cover it felt way too similar to Indiana.)
Our spot for the week was at Brantley Lake State Park, a rather remote little place with nice, dry air and wide-open spaces. This is the sort of thing we like. We thought we were only going to have electric for the week (which means would have had to be ultra conservative with our water usage) but we got one of the few full hookup sites. (Whew!)
Every morning on top of a nearby tree, this bird would sing his little heart out. He sounds a little like R2-D2…take a listen.
There were some other cool birds too:
And lizards:
And jackrabbits the size of cats:
Being amongst nature has its down side, however. After sundown, the bugs come out, like those tiny Canadian soldiers (those things that look like mosquitos but don’t bite). We had to bust out the vacuum cleaner one night and literally vacuum the ceiling:
But nothing has been as maddening as these moths. I’m pretty sure they are hiding in various nooks and crannies in the RV because they appear out of nowhere every evening.
At first, we’d gently capture and lovingly release them, but after the first night it devolved into remorseless squishings. I wonder when we’ll have our first night of NOT seeing one (or twelve) of these things!
The pleasant weather combined with clear skies made for some wonderful stargazing. On three separate nights, we all climbed up on the roof of the RV to enjoy the view.
It was amazing (and the girls thought it was pretty cool being on the roof.)
Here are the girls helping make dinner – homemade noodles!
We ate outside a lot this week…our version of “eating out.” 🙂
I tried hard to sell our bikes over the last couple of months, but now Carrie and Emily are starting to enjoy them again. So, perhaps we’ll hang on to them. Here’s Carrie and me on a late afternoon bike ride, a little too much off the beaten path:
Saturday morning we hit the road and landed in the Guadalupe Mountains National Park, which put us back in Texas for the weekend.
It felt good to do some hiking again.
This whole area was underwater millions of years ago, so there are sea life fossils everywhere. Pretty weird considering it’s now a desert.
Our campsite was really just a parking lot, but it was way better than Walmart.
Here we are from this morning, all geared up for our hike in Slaughter Canyon, one of the many caves of Carlsbad National Park.
After a brief orientation, we met at the trailhead for a short half-mile hike to the cave entrance.
The rangers took it at a very slow pace (which actually made it seem way longer), but it did allow plenty of time to soak it all in.
More desert fossils of prehistoric sea life:
Finally at the cave entrance:
It was nice and cool inside.
It was nearly impossible to get any good photos since the hardhat LEDs were the only source of light.
Emily “on rope” scaling a slippery section:
At the farthest part of our cave hike (we hiked about a mile total inside the cave), the rangers had us turn off all lights and devices and experience a complete absence of light. It was cool.
Back in the 1950’s, Slaughter Canyon was mined for guano – something I had never heard of before today. It’s basically bat poop, and it makes good fertilizer. When you look at this stuff closely, you see what looks like little twigs mixed in. These “twigs” are actually skeletons of a long-extinct species of bat.
Our hike was a good 5 hours long, and after the trek back to the car we were all pretty hot (it was an almost-90 degree day). So we hung out at the air-conditioned Carlsbad Cavern National Park visitor center for a bit.
The girls and I were hiked out (Amy was fine) but it was easy enough to take an elevator down 750 feet for a leisurely stroll through Carlsbad Cavern.
This was a much different cave experience than Slaughter Canyon. This one had paved paths, handrails and museum-quality lighting.
We’re boondocking one last night here in the Guadalupe Mountains. Tomorrow morning we’re getting up bright and early and heading to El Paso, TX to help our friends Jake and Melissa move. Then it’s on to Alamogordo, NM for the week to see White Sands National Park.