New Mexico

We arrived in New Mexico and loaded up with tourist brochures so we could make a plan of places to see and the route we would take.

There was lots of interesting places like the Gila Cliff Dwellings, Silver City, hot springs, Forts, Petroglyphs, rock collecting and Space Museums all along the southern route we were travelling. John had to keep me focused or we would never make it out of New Mexico.

Finally the temperature began to warm up and our chilled bones began to thaw out and we enjoyed nice clear blue skies.

We stopped a night nestled at the base of the Florida Mountains in Rockhound State Park a place where I could quite happily while away the days searching for alluring rocks such as Jasper and quartz. While John worked on making a new magnet holder to display our growing collection of National Park magnets I strolled down the road to the Visitor’s Centre. I chatted with the park volunteer who suggested the best location for finding the rocks was on a trail leading back to the camp ground.

By now it was late afternoon and the sun was getting low on the horizon so I decided to stay on the trail and take in the view rather than set off rock collecting....it was still warm and I didn't want an unexpected encounter with a rattle snake.

The tourist brochure advertised there was a Balloon Rally in Las Cruses and for the first time our travels coincided with this event being held over the weekend. So we left camp early the next morning and drove to Las Cruses. The only hitch was there was no address for the event only that it was being held in an area called Mesilla Valley. After a few stops we eventually made it to the location only to find by10am the Balloons had been packed away and everyone was enjoying a pot luck breakfast. So we left the festive rally and vowed to come back at 7.30 in the next morning.   

With the Rio Grande nearby we drove out to the Leasburg Dam for the night. We ventured down to the Rio Grande River expecting to see something similar to the Colorado but it was bone dry. All the water was being retained in the Leasburg and Percha Dams above us. 

Next morning the alarm went off at 6.30 and as I jumped out of bed to turn it off the cold air hit me and it was then I noticed the temperature of 17.5 F (-8 C). On our way out we discovered Dude's pipes were frozen. With time ticking away we headed into Las Cruces to rendezvous with the group of Hot Air Balloonists.

We arrived to find them busy pulling out their colourful balloons and filling them with air from the fans. People in their 2 man baskets were noisily firing their gas.

We walked out onto the paddock with the early morning light giving no reprieve from the cold and we were instantly frozen.

The balloonists didn’t appear to be wearing anything more than beanies and warm jackets but it must have been extremely cold up in the air.

We watched the ground support as they helped each basket take off and it was very peaceful to watch as the bright colours filled the sky. It was a very memorable morning.

We then drove up into the Organ Mountains to the Aguirre Springs National Recreation Area and camped at the base of the mountains. We were at 7,000 ft (2,133 m) and it was nice in the sun but chilly in the shade. There were patches of snow that hadn’t yet melted from a recent snow storm covering the campground.

We hiked a 4 mile (6.5 km) loop trail higher into the mountains and saw a rock formation much like half dome. The trail was still covered in lots of snow.

We got a great view of the valley below and could even see a vast area of white sand and the Sacramento Mountains on the other side of the basin.

The next day we arrived at White Sands National Monument and watched a video of the park before driving into the Park. At first we were on a paved road and then as we drove further the road turned into rock hard sand. Everything was white as the dunes towered above on both sides.

We stopped at the Alkali Lake Trailhead and went on an awesome 5 mile (8 km) hike through the desert following marker posts on top of the dunes.

The white sand and the blue sky made for some amazing photos.

We drove to different viewing areas around the park and as the afternoon light softened we went back out into the sand dunes in our own worlds to take some photos.

We drove onto Lee Oliver Memorial State Park below the stately Sacramento Mountains and during the night I was woken up by the scurrying noise on our roof of a Ringtail Cat, like our ringtail possums. Then with excitement we got to watch him climbing up and down the rear steps to the roof of Dude. It was so cool that we could look through the window with our faces only inches away from him and he couldn’t see us.

We camped a night at Brantley Lake State Park and saw the famous Pecos River before driving down to Carlsbad. On the way we saw signs to Roswell and in true Roswell spirit we donned the appropriate protection and took a photo of the sign getting a honk from a passing driver in appreciation.

 We drove onto the Carlsberg Caverns NP and heading into the Visitors Centre I tried to suppress my claustrophobic fears of riding an elevator 750ft (228 m) underground.  However when the elevator doors opened and I walked out into the Big Room I was blown away with what I saw and all doubts ebbed away.

With 1.25 miles (2 km's) of trail just in the Big Room and another 1.25 miles (2 km's) of trail to the Natural Entrance we decided to explore the later first because they close the entrance at 1pm.

We took a leisurely walk back up 750 ft (228 m) marveling at all the formations along the way until we arrived at the top. We had enjoyed it so much that instead of taking the lift we walked back down to the Big Room.

We reached the bottom just as our stomachs began to rumble and decided to eat some lunch in the underground restaurant; it was eerie but fantastic having the place to ourselves. We then did the absolutely huge Big Room. In total there are over 90 caves and 120 miles (193 km's) of underground passages in the park.

You really need to see it for yourself to appreciate the grandeur, it is awesome.

We left the Caverns late in the day and promptly drove back westward into the setting sun…..