March 11, 2005 –

Drove the two and a half hours north, through rural Texas (read – largely unpopulated) – into White’s City. As the area became more and more arid – and the cactus became more plentiful and varied in species – we were even able to see our first live Roadrunner. The short cut (back road) over to White’s City was a bit of a challenge – with cattle guards – and livestock at large – and a 55 MPH speed limit – on a 1 1/2 lane road.

Arrived in White’s City – in which the gas station, restaurant, general store, museum hotel and campground all seem to be owned and operated by the same group and situated on both sides of the road around the entrance to the Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Got the RV set up and took the Suzuki up the climb to the caverns. You climb from 3600 feet from the plains at White’s City – to the Park Visitor Centre at 4400 feet. (The interesting part is that once you walk down into the cave – you actually descend to an elevation of 3650 feet).

We decided that rather than taking the elevator down and take the guided tour – that we would walk in the natural entrance – and down into the cave – the way that Dad did when he was a kid. This turned out to be a hit with everyone – as it gave us better picture as to the extent of how big and deep the cave is. Walked down through the cave – and it was amazing just how far those sound travelled in the cave (we purposely let other groups get ahead of us – so we could appreciate the cave in all the reverence it deserves).

Although the bats for which Carlsbad is famous have gone to Mexico for the winter, we did see a large number of cave swallows. They flew quickly around in circles forming flocks before heading out the mouth of the cave to hunt for bugs. Managed to spend about four enjoyable hours walking through the caves. With the low level of light, we are not sure how our pictures were going to turn out – but Dad managed to shoot off more than 300 pics. The size of the cavern is amazing; we walked over 4 miles and just touched on a portion of what is here. The caves were filled with ‘decoration’ (stalagmites, stalactites, soda straws, popcorn, pearls and pools) with some variation but not a lot in colour. An audio tour provided the kids with some information although there was a bit of repetition as we combined two of the self guided tours.

The boys enjoyed the caves so much that we have decided to book a guided tour for tomorrow morning. Being that Spring Break has started for Texas and New Mexico – there are more people around here than usual – and the tour had been sold out today – so we thought it was best to pre-book.

Headed back to the campground, for a great steak dinner. Played a quick quiz with the boys, with the computer randomly generating pictures from our trip – and us trying to guess exactly where they were taken. It really gave an appreciation as to how many places we have been – and taxing our memory as to their locations.

March 12, 2005 –

Up this morning to go on our guided tour of King’s Palace. The temperature was already 70 degrees when we started to leave – and reached a high of 82 degree in Carlsbad itself. However with the heavy winds blowing most of the day it did not feel that hot.

The King’s Palace is an area of the caverns that were originally part of the tour that Dad did back in the 70’s when all of the tour was guided by rangers. However sometime in the early 80’s someone got the bright idea that the entire caverns should be self-guided. This area however was home to many of the low stalactites, and soda straw structures – many of which seem to have been broken off. As a result the parks then closed this area for several years – and subsequently then opened it to two guided tours a day. The tours have a maximum of 75 people each time.

Much of the ranger’s information that he gave us – we had already acquired from elsewhere – but seeing some of the more fragile formations made the tour worth it. At one point during the trip, the ranger turns the lights out and you get a feeling of what it is like to be in total darkness. Dad was somewhat disappointed as there were a couple of kids in the group that kept talking and spoiling the magic of the moment.

Returning to the surface several hours later we went through a display on Lechuguilla Cave – a cave just within the boundaries of the park. The cave was first used as a guano mine in the early 1920’s and then was mostly forgotten about. Its entrance was used a bit by some rock climbers, as it was a good up and down climb. However earlier in the 1980’s a group of cavers received permission to remove some rubble from the main cavern, where they could feel a strong wind, only to discover many additional channels and pathway. Although Lechuguilla is not as tall and does not have the big chambers that Carlsbad does – it is considerably longer (114 miles of caverns as compared to 32 miles). The Parks service has decided to keep Lechuguilla Cave in more of a pristine condition – and have sealed the caves off except for special groups. The other reason for this – is that have found some bacteria growing in some of the underground streams in the cave that may have important medical significance. It seems that the bacteria has evolved to the point were it eats other bacteria – and may be useful in the treatment of diseases. Therefore they want to limit the exposure that the bacterium gets to other outside sources.

Outside the wind continued to blow – so we decided to take a 9-mile gravel road out through the plateau on the Walnut Canyon. The road basically climbs westward through the cactus along the Guadeloupe Escarpment and then drops down into Walnut Canyon and returns eastwardly to the main road. Some of the cactus was just coming into bloom – however in another couple of weeks the place will be in full blossom.

Headed into Carlsbad City – and had a picnic lunch at a waterside park. The wind continued to blow and the locals say that this is usual during March. Continued on to the Living Desert Zoo and State Park – which sits high on top of a Mesa overlooking Carlsbad. As most of the animal exhibits we had already seen – we choose to go through the reception center only. It had some interesting displays on animals, plants and people in the area – which we enjoyed.

Returned home to White City and supper. White City has a number of shops and souvenir stands – and an interesting homespun museum. A sign on the wall outside the Museum states that they do not have the gun that shot Billy the Kid – as at least two other museums claim to have it. (Interesting bit of advertising). The restaurant across the road, in addition to some wonderful stained glass windows, has a replica of the bucket and winch that used to lower tourists into the caverns in the early 1900’s (I’d rather walk down – thanks). The lounge has imposed a three-drink limit – due to its somewhat isolated location – and has significantly reduced the number of motor vehicle accidents on this stretch of road. The weather throughout the course of the evening got progressively worse with the wind picking up until it became a real gale – with it rocking the motor home considerably. The campground is set on top of knoll – which makes it even more exposed to the wind. Both mom and dad struggled to sleep in the wind, occasionally looking out to ensure that we were still earthbound, however figured that with the Suzuki hitched to the back it would act like an anchor.

March 13, 2005 –

Well the wind finally eased up and changed direction about 4:00 AM – however the kids seemed to sleep through most of the storm just fine. Looking around the campground this morning there was very little sign of damage – a few more tumbleweeds in the barb wire fence, a couple of campers that had a tent pole fracture and their tent collapse, and one RV’er with his awning sort of sprung. We sustained no noticeable damage – other than a few lost hours of sleep.

Travelled through the scrub brush north to Roswell – the area infamous for the July 1947 incident involving UFOs. As we had seen some information on Roswell when we were in Florida – thought that our first stop should be to the International UFO Museum and Research Centre – on Main Street in Roswell. The Centre fills an old movie theatre and is surrounded by Alien Encounter shops selling t-shirts and souvenirs. The street lamps are even done up to look like alien heads – and there is even a new McDonalds being built in the shape of a flying saucer.

The International UFO Museum and Research Centre is a non-profit organization whose mission it is to inform the public about what has become know as the Roswell Incident. It is dedicated to the collection and preservation of all types of information about the 1947 incident and to be a leading scientific authority on UFO events worldwide. Across the street are a number of places advertising “different” interpretations of the events. After doing all the serious stuff we went to “Area 51” shop and took some novelty pictures with the little “green man”. Finished our visit off at the Crash Site Restaurant where we all had a great lunch surrounded by all sorts of alien paraphernalia.

From Roswell we headed west into Lincoln County. Lincoln country is probably best known for the cattle wars of the 1880’s – and the battle between the Sheriff of Lincoln County – Pat Garrett and one William H. Bonney – Billy the Kid. The small historic town of Lincoln (now considerably less important than it was in days of old) – has used a number of original and re-constructed buildings – to show where Billy the Kid, after being arrested by Pat Garrett and sentenced to hang, killed two deputies and escaped from jail on April 28, 1881. Sheriff Garrett finally caught up to Billy the Kid in the Fort Sumner area where he was fatally shot.

From Lincoln continued on to Capitan in the Lincoln National Forest. This is where in 1950 a badly burned bear cub was found clinging to a charred tree by fire fighters. He was nursed back to health and grew up to become the symbol of Fire Prevention (Smokey the Bear). There is both a plaque erected to Smokey in the forest – as well as a small museum and gift shop in Capitan.

From there continued down from the pass (6300 ft) into Carrizozo. From here you could see snow on the mountain peaks to the south (!) of us and up only about 700 feet. As we settled into the campground at a little roadside motel – the rain and wind once again picked up and continued off and on throughout the evening. Oh well I guess it could be worse – as a couple of hundred miles to the north of us they are predicted to get upwards of 14 inches of snow overnight. I am just not quite ready for that yet.
March 14, 2005 –

It rained off and on throughout the night – and the wind continued to blow. Woke up to a morning temperature of about 45 degrees – however with the wind it felt much colder. Although no new snow in Carrizozo, north of us the about 100 miles the snow fall was so significant that it closed the road.

Dug out our warmer clothes – and headed south to Three Rivers Petroglyph Site about 30 miles away. The Petroglyph site is about 5 miles off the highway and up several hundred feet in elevation. However when we reached the site – we were pleasantly surprised that it was considerably warmer – and almost no wind blowing.

The Three Rivers Petroglyph Site has over 20,000 petroglyphs that have been identified and catalogued. The rock carvings were made over 600 years ago by the Jornada Mogollon (hor-NAH-da muggy-OWN) prehistoric Indians of which there are no known descendants. The exact purpose and meaning of the petroglyphs’ are not exactly clear – as some depict the animals and plants around them, while many others appear to have religious significance. The rock carvings extend on rocks along a ridge – and it is unsure whether the ridge was a meeting place, a sacred site or just a good lookout point.

We spent three hours tramping up and around the ridge – seeing many of the petroglyphs. Some are small or are on individual rocks – whereas other rocks have many carvings on them. The sheer number of symbols is almost overwhelming, as you seemed to be making a discovery almost every few feet. Unfortunately, there is also a fair amount of modern graffiti interspersed with the petroglyphs. All in all it was very enjoyable – and the weather cooperated in the best way it could – given the storms that are surrounding us.

Continued south from the Petroglyphs (somehow the wind switched directions in the valley and Dad was once again fighting a significant headwind – so much for good gas mileage). Stopped into the Eagle Ranch (Heart of the Desert Pistachios farm) – just in time for their free tour of their operation. Although there are 20,000 trees on their 85 acres – this is still a relatively small and non-mechanized operation – with there still being hand sorters – and on demand orders for roasting and flavouring. Managed to pick up some fresh pistachios – as well as some wonderful pistachio flavoured ice cream and brittle.

Although we had wanted to stop at the White Sands National Monument – it was raining so hard – that we decided to just drive on by. In the Tularosa Valley Basin water is very scarce and what water that does come down normally settle in into ancient playa lakes. Playas lakes are the lower part of an inland desert drainage basin that fills with alkaline and briny salts that rainwater washes down from the surrounding highlands. The White Sand Dunes come from Lake Lucero (a playa lake) that when the seasonal rainwater evaporates, the fine gypsum sediments dries, and is blown downwind to form the giant white sand dunes). The valley is also home to the White Sands Missile Range – and it is a bit unnerving to see a sign stating that you are entering the Missile Range – and that the road may be subject to closure at any time. (I guess they figure it is not a good idea to have people driving down the road when they are testing their heat seeking missiles).

Between the strong headwinds and the steep hill up and over the San Andres Mountains into the Rio Grande Valley – we were glad to finally reach the summit and roll our way down into Las Cruces (on gas fumes). As it was just before rush hour – decided to gas up and keep rolling – heading west. We were also somewhat concerned with the amount of wind we had experienced in the Tularosa Basin that we would encounter sand storms, which the road between Las Cruces and Deming is notorious for. However this valley – in addition to being for more fertile than the Tularosa Basin – also did not seem to have the high winds that we had earlier experienced.

Pulled into Deming and although our first choice for a campground was full – were able to find another – that not only had a pool for the kids – free cable TV but also free internet for Dad. This will be our base camp for several days so we may as well enjoy ourselves. In watching the news – the amount of snow that they were receiving in Santa Fe and places north – we think that maybe it was a good thing that we headed south. We saw a little metal carving today with a saying on it “Carpe Manana” – or seize tomorrow – which seems to suit how we are feeling these days.

March 15, 2005 –

Up this morning, and to our surprise we saw big snowflakes coming down. Oh well, I guess we didn’t get far enough South – so we will have to do Mexico today. The snow did not last on the ground but it was nice to see in a strange sort of way. The “home” like weather must have brought on the domestic influence – as Mom was up and defrosting the freezer – before running out to re-stock it. The kids spent the better part of the morning – writing up their journals on the petroglyphs and drawing up and identifying the symbols that they saw.

Headed thirty miles south to Palomas, Mexico and the Pink Store… On the drive down, the base of the mountains was a bright orange colour – from the poppy plants all being in bloom. You park your vehicle at Columbus, New Mexico – and walk across the border into Las Palomas. There was no one checking you at the Mexican side of the border – unless you are driving a vehicle so we just sauntered across. We had been advised that we had to go to the Pink store as they sold everything and the food was good. Just down the street from the Pink store is the Blue store – which sells pharmaceutical drugs at Mexican prices. Also close by were both optical and dental services reportedly at cheap rates – however they looked a bit risky. (Supposedly, the Pink Store and the Blue Store are owned by a couple of sisters).

Walked into the Pink Store and the space was full of almost everything that you could think of that was made in Mexico – pottery, ceramics, silver, metal, weavings, wood carvings, furniture and the inevitable Mexican blankets etc. To make the shopping easier they greeted us with a complimentary and very good, freshly squeezed Margarita – with more tequila than mix (talk about a great marketing strategy). Looked around the store for about an hour before going into eat – the best Mexican food that we have ever had. This combined with a couple more Margaritas and Corona’s and the bill was still under $35.00.

Ended up picking up a number of items at the store – including some very cheap Mexican booze, and trinkets. Wandered through some of the rest of the streets – but decided that we had seen enough. Walked back to the American border – and after a couple of quick questions and examination of our passports were sent on our way. We did notice a number of Mexican women waiting at the border and asked the border guard about it. He indicated that since Las Palomas does not have very good medical facilities – a lot of the children are actually born in Deming – and as a result are American citizens. As such they are entitled to an American education – and we saw more than four school buses full of children arriving. They do not pay tuition and he said that it was covered through taxes and saw it as a charitable action.

However the border patrol also seemed to be very active. There were two units with people locked in the back headed into Deming, 5 more units that we passed on the road coming back out to the border – plus a helicopter frequently hovering overtop. It seems that earlier last week a Hummer with a number of illegal aliens was involved in a chase – and ended up overturning and killing four of the people.

Headed back to the campground for a swim and hot tub before supper. Although the weather here is cool – it is not nearly as cold as it is further north – where the snow has closed roads and schools for today and tomorrow. However as the skies are now clearing up – we are supposed to drop below freezing tonight and then only warm up slowly tomorrow.

March 16, 2005 –

Up this morning to a temperature that was a couple of degrees above freezing – but with the sun it warmed up quickly. After making a telephone call to confirm that the bridge had been repaired (from a washout) headed north towards the Gila Cliff Dwelling National Monument. The road there was windy and crossed the continental divide before dropping into another valley. At various places along the road they would advertise a dip in the road and water on road – as it seems the run-offs often are directly over the road. The snowfall the last couple of days has left snow in the trees but the road itself was bare. However with the melting temperatures some of the dips in the road had water running over it. When we were 56 miles away – they posted a sign indicating that the travel time to the Dwellings was 2 hours – this give an idea of how windy the road is. However Dad loved the windy roads – and soon everyone was humming the theme song from Indiana Jones as we went whipping through the corners. We got there in less than 1 1/2 hours and that included being behind a dump truck for a while. Yee haw!

The Gila (HILA) Cliff Dwellings are unique in that they were built by a small band (about 50 people) of Mogollon (MUGGY-OWN) Indians – unlike the most cliff dwellings which were built by the Anasazi – who lived further north. The Mogollon usually built pit dwellings – and although it unsure why this small band built the cliff homes – it is speculated that they may have travelled from the North and in their trading relationship with the Anasazi may have learned the benefits of cliff homes, or that perhaps they felt the need for more security due to tribal warfare. There are a series of seven south facing caves – overlooking the Gila River. There is evidence that the Mogollon used five of them. Archaeological evidence shows that the dwellings were built over 700 years ago and probably only lived in for two generations. The actual reasons that they left the cliffs are also a mystery.

The path up to the caves is windy and steep – and you had to have an appreciation for the Mogollons having to make this journal on a daily basis – with their crops, game and water on their back. Although the dwellings were initially vandalized of their pottery and tools early in the 1900’s, the external walls leave an impression as to the significance of this community. There were larger rooms that were probably used for ceremonial use, various sizes of sleeping rooms, as well as storage areas for foods, etc. None of the walls were extended all the way to the ceiling of the cave – in order to allow the smoke from the heat and cooking fires to escape.

The boys enjoyed looking through all of the ruins and were even excited about climbing down the traditional ladder used to get down from the larger cavern. Headed back down the car and then went on to some local pictographs about a mile away. These pictographs were painted on the walls of the rock with a combination of ground hematite and mixed in water (leaving a bright reddish tinge). Further around the corner is a lower and smaller cave dwelling that the boys were able to climb into. Although closer to a water source – it is not sure who occupied this much smaller residence.

Took another route back to Deming through Silver City, and historic Pinos Altos. This route also crossed the Continental Divide was signed as being extremely windy and unsafe for vehicles pulling trailers, etc. This one allowed 1 1/2 hours for about 26 miles. The road was truly spectacular with its views and windy turns and switchbacks. There were large Ponderosa Pines and small creeks throughout the area and it was hard to believe that we can be in the Desert in just a few miles. There were a number of great little places for sale in the area – and the temperature is apparently moderate in both the summer and winter. However, the kids did not figure that Auntie Arlene would come out and visit us if we lived out here – given her dislike of windy, narrow roads.

Back to the campground and we all headed to the pool for a swim and hot tub before coming back to a late supper and Survivor. Even managed to find Mickey a Key Lime Pie – so he figured he had almost a perfect day (he only needed his buddy Paul to make it perfect).

March 17, 2005 –

Today is a travel day – but we tried to squeeze in as much as possible. We packed up the RV and then the kids took off for a swim – while Dad went to get the oil change on the Motor Home. Great little privately owned Insta-lube place – with an almost totally Mexican crew – that were truly helpful and friendly.   Dad met up with Mom and the kids at the Deming Luna Membres Museum. We had a number of people tell us we should go and see this museum – and although we were a bit sceptical – were pleasantly surprised.

The museum itself is located in the old USO club – that originally had a bowling alley and social area on the main floor, gymnasium on the second floor with a running track around the top on the third floor. They have converted all of this space into a first class museum – with a wide selection of donated exhibits. Everything from recovered New Mexican pottery, huge rock displays, collections of bells – and a variety of antiques from the shops that originally lined the streets of Deming. They had a cowboy display with a chuck wagon, a cowboy cabin and an old front porch. They had some unique things like the first electric golf cart, a child’s scooter and a selection of duck costumes from their annual Duck Parade??? Perhaps most amazing was the collection of liquor bottles. They were in shapes of elves, animals, states, houses, dolls, Elvis and more.

Volunteers mostly run the museum – and they all are very proud of the collections. One of the volunteers was talking about how they continued to receive bequeaths of collections – but were running out of space to display everything. We probably spent close to three hours in the museum – and could have spent more time but had to get on the road. Keelan however made out very well – as he asked to purchase one of the rocks in the display case upstairs and came back with a pocket full of rocks for a dollar. The volunteer who took him up to get the rock – was also the rock hound who had donated the collection to the museum and “undonated” about 7 rocks and gave them to Keelan.

Headed West through New Mexico and into Arizona. There was again quite a strong headwind blowing (gusts to 45 MPH) – and you could see dust devils forming in the distance closer to the mountains. Crossed the Continental Divide for our last time on this trip and the road was basically straight. Passed through some interesting rock formations where smooth rocks were basically stacked one on top of another. It looked like someone was purposely setting things up in unusual patterns.

Arrived in our home resort in Huachuca City. This is the resort we bought into for two years – primarily to get the travel discounts it provided – but had never really seen the place. As far as the RPI resort that we have stayed in – this one does not have all the amenities – that some of the others have – but the people seem friendly. We can also tell we have crossed the divide – as there are a lot more BC and Alberta licence plates around. The retired couple beside us is from Ontario and bought the membership for the same reasons that we did – but as they had taken less time on their trip – they were not sure if it was worth it.

In walking around the campground this evening – the sky provided an absolutely spectacular sunset back dropped against the mountains, and there were quail and rabbits all over the place. As we plan to spend a week here – to take in some of the sites and give the boys a chance to get ahead in their schoolwork before heading north.