So, we ended up getting to Carlsbad at around 4:30am.
I was pretty tired so we just slept in the car for a bit until morning when we would decide what to do.
The caverns were never really high up on the priority list and we wanted to get a little further down the road.
Carlsbad just doesn't have a whole lot going on. We stopped off at the camp grounds where we WERE going to stay the night. After a shower it was back on the road again.
We headed north to Roswell. We didn't see any spaceships, but we DID get a few pics of an alien.
On to White Sands.
Wow. What a cool place! It's basically a National Park desert area where the sand is made of basalt. It's very white and, even though the sun is blazing down, it's cool to the touch, and feels really good on bare feet. The military even does some sort of missile testing at another part of the desert.
The wind, oh man, the wind was blowing so hard, there was a white dust cloud over the entire area that you could see from miles away. The ranger said it was always like that this time of year so no worries. Actually, the wind has been CRAZY for this entire trip. I don't think I've ever seen it like this...
From White Sands, we proceeded northwest to Socorro. A small town that ALSO didn't have very much going on. We finally found some information on a place called "Box Canyon". That's where we would stay the night.
We had a lot of fun getting to it. You have to have a four wheel drive and rock crawl for several miles. Well, maybe you don't HAVE to do it, but that's what we did and it was a highlight! Fun!! That Lexus really handles well in four wheel drive and I suddenly don't see it as a girl's SUV anymore. Haha good times to come!
We set up camp on a rocky hilltop and discovered that the new air mattress we JUST bought was missing the end cap. Luckily, we brought our smaller backpacking air mattresses too so we set those up and had a so-so sleep.
I want to break my mountain bike out and hit some of these hills... Soon enough. Maybe when we get to the Grand Canyon.
From White Sands, we proceeded northwest to Socorro. A small town that ALSO didn't have very much going on. We finally found some information on a place called "Box Canyon". That's where we would stay the night.
We had a lot of fun getting to it. You have to have a four wheel drive and rock crawl for several miles. Well, maybe you don't HAVE to do it, but that's what we did and it was a highlight! Fun!! That Lexus really handles well in four wheel drive and I suddenly don't see it as a girl's SUV anymore. Haha good times to come!
We set up camp on a rocky hilltop and discovered that they new air mattress we had JUST bought was missing the cap. Luckily, we brought our smaller backpacking air mattresses too so we set those up and had a so-so sleep.
I want to break my mountain bike out and hit some of these hills... Soon enough.
Maybe when we get to the Grand Canyon.
KoP
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