We are documenting our travels starting with this three month trip across the United States (warm areas only).We will be sharing our experiences and recommendations for great places to stay and beautiful things to see.
We woke to a sunny but very chilly morning on the dunes. Greg bundled up and ran around taking pictures of the sunrise but we opted to stay under the covers in the tent hoping for the temperature to warm up.
As we were all cold and had no campfire or coffee to warm up, we decided to pack up and head back to our trucks. We wanted to drive around the monument a bit and check out the interdunes boardwalk we had seen on the way in.
When we left White Sands, we went to a coffee shop in Alamogordo, New Mexico to use the wifi and make some plans for our next stop. Greg had let us in on his idea to look for gold while in the US and there was a place nearby he wanted to check out.
When we arrived, we saw a sign warning that the area was someone's claim and any prospecting was prohibited. We did however find a place to camp. With the trucks strategically parked to block the worst of the wind, we were able to make some dinner and sit outside with mugs of hot tea.
We woke up to what was by far the coldest morning of our trip. Instead of his usual cheerful " Good morning," Greg greeted me with the words," Where the hell have you brought us?" I could not really blame him. I had focused on location and price and failed to check the weather. I tried to point out the beautiful scenery but frankly I was not buying it myself at that point. Francis and I had talked about trying some winter camping but we quickly realized that probably was not for us.
Fortunately, we had plenty of wood to get a fire started quickly. We warmed up with some coffee around the fire and made our plans for the day.We were going to White Sands National Monument about 40 miles away. Greg and Beata headed to the waterfall for some pictures then we got on our way.
After a quick stop at Walmart for some groceries, we made it to White Sands in no time. We headed to the Visitor Center to get our permit for one of the primitive hike in sites on the dunes. We had read and heard about the incredible night sky views and were looking forward to viewing the full moon from the dunes.
We packed up our gear and headed to our site. The primitive campsites are only about a mile from the parking lot so it was an easy trek over the beautiful white dunes. We got our tents and our canopy set up quickly. We laid on the cool sand under the canopy. It was like a sunny day at the beach but without the water. We thought about staying there to take a nap but we needed more water and Greg and Beata wanted to cook some food back at their truck so we walked back to the parking lot. As we hiked, we noticed dark clouds forming in the sky that looked liked an approaching thunderstorm. We decided to get back to our campsite as quickly as we could so we would not be hiking in a storm. Francis and I loaded up on water at the Visitor Center and were preparing to head up when the wind picked up tremendously. It turned out it was a sandstorm not a thunderstorm. It was strong enough to damage the canopy attached to the side of Greg's truck. Worried about our tents and canopy, we hurried toward our campsite. The quick hike seemed much longer in the middle of a sandstorm. The temperature had dropped significantly and the blowing sand stung any exposed skin. Fortunately the trail was well marked because it would have been very easy to get lost in the shifting sand. When we arrived at the site we were happy to see our tent was still there and had not been damaged. Our canopy did not fare quite so well and Greg's tent poles had bent. We took shelter behind the dunes and waited out the storm. After about twenty minutes, the sun came back out and the wind died down. The storm was over.
We got into our tent to relax for a bit while Greg walked back to get Beata who had remained with the truck. We were about to do a little exploring when we realized the GoPro camera was not charged and we needed it for the night sky photos so we hiked back one more time. We made some dinner on the camp stove while the camera charged. We also chatted for a bit with Rob, our fellow camper from Guadalupe. It is fun to run into the same people on our travels. By this time, the sun was setting so we knew we had to get back to camp so we would not get lost in the dark.
We left the rain fly off the tent so we could have a clear view of the moon and stars all night. It was a little chilly but worth it. The full moon made the sand really bright. Francis got up several times during the night to take more pictures.
When we woke up, we could see that the campground was actually really beautiful in the light of day. There was snow on the pine trees and the hills above us and a waterfall flowing. Definitely a lot cooler than our last stop but we figured a fire would help with that.
Our only neighbors were a young couple and their adorable husky puppy, Astro. We offered coffee as usual and chatted a bit with Matt. He and his girlfriend are college students. They just got Astro and wanted to get him introduced to camping right away.
After breakfast, we headed up the nearby hill to look for firewood. There was quite a bit of snow on the ground especially in shadier areas. We happened upon a campsite with lots of firewood, including some nice big cut logs. We rolled them down the hill and picked them up on our way back to our campsite. The temperature started dropping and the wind picked up so we were happy to have lucked into a good supply of wood.
We headed to bed in the truck when it got too cold to be outside even with the fire. We woke up around 11:00 when we heard a car come into the campground. Francis looked out the window and said, "Hey I think that is Greg!" Turns out it was. We had been keeping in touch since we left Florida and they decided to surprise us by joining us. We had just missed each other at Dog Canyon. It was very cold by this point so we chatted briefly then all headed to bed with plans to catch up in the morning.
We woke to a
beautiful warm morning. We took our time with breakfast and took
advantage of the wifi we were surprised to find we had in such a
remote, secluded location. On our way out, we stopped to talk with the
ranger to get some advice on the best route to take to our next stop
which was in Lincoln National Forest in New Mexico. It was on our way to White Sands and the national forests are great for nice free campsites.
We headed to the nearby Sitting Bull Falls State Park in New Mexico. It was a beautiful park with lots of space for picnicking. We hiked the short distance to the waterfall. You can view it from the top or walk down to the bottom of the falls. We took the trail to the bottom.
Back on the road, we stopped in Carlsbad for some supplies for the battery and ate dinner at an Asian buffet. We have found those give us the most food for our money and we knew we would get to our campsite too late to make dinner. In fact, it was getting late enough at this point that we briefly considered finding a hotel for the night. We decided to keep driving but about an hour later we wondered if we had made a mistake because we still had a long way to go.
After about an hour and a half on a windy dirt road, we finally made it to Bluff Springs campground. As we drove in, we noticed something white along the sides of the road. At first we thought it was some kind of rock but then Francis said, "Is that snow?" We soon realized that was exactly what it was. When I found the campground on the internet I had failed to notice the high elevation so that was completely unexpected. It was hard to see much in the dark so we quickly chose a spot to park and got the truck set up figuring we would have time to explore in the morning.
We packed up bright
and early to head to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. We planned to
spend the day there then loop back into Guadalupe National Park to
spend the night in the other campground, Dog Canyon. The two
campgrounds are only about 12 miles apart but there is no road
through the park to take you directly there. You have to drive into New Mexico then back down into Texas.
We stopped at the little town of White City for gas, coffee, and breakfast. It is a tiny place that seems to exist primarily as a stop for people on the way to the caverns. A friendly young woman at the gift shop recommended the town's lone restaurant for breakfast. We were warmly greeted by the sole waitress and as the only customers we had our pick of tables. There were photos and descriptions of famous people from the old west at all the booths as well as brightly colored stain glass windows. Our tex-mex style breakfasts were delicious and the portions were very generous. Our waitress entertained us with stories of the ghost in the restaurant kitchen and some of her more interesting customers.
When we arrived at Carlsbad Caverns, we were informed that the elevator was out of order so we would have to walk the 80 story trail down into the caverns and back out again. We figured it would be a good way to work off the big breakfasts we had eaten. We spent a few minutes looking at the exhibits in the Visitor Center then headed to the cavern.
We entered the cavern and began the long descent. It quickly became dark and much cooler as we got lower. The walk down took quite awhile as we stopped often to take pictures of the incredible formations and read the information posted along the trail. While taking pictures, we chatted for a few minutes with a couple of young women, Allysa and Sandra. They were visiting the caverns as part of a trip celebrating their 30 year friendship which had started in preschool. Native Californians, they gave us some suggestions for places to see particularly in the northern part of the state. Finally we reached the bottom where you enter The Big Room which is about a mile and a half loop of beautiful sights like the Painted Grotto and the Rock of Ages. Eventually it was time for the hike back to the top. It is always interesting to me how things look different coming from the other direction and we saw things we had missed on the way down. Stopping to take more pictures had the added bonus of giving me a minute to rest from the steep climb. We knew we were near the end when we started to glimpse sunlight from the entrance. The spectacular things we had seen underground were well worth the effort.
We headed back across the border to Texas and made our way to Dog Canyon campground late in the afternoon. The set up there was similar to the other campground in Guadalupe where you park and walk a short distance to your site. There was only one other camper who was sleeping in his truck so we had our pick of sites. We had just enough time to set up the tent and eat a quick dinner before the sun set.
