White Sands NM

It just goes to show you, never take someone's word for fact. White Sands turned out to be just fine. As a matter of fact, since it was wet, the sand packed down better and made the sledding down the hills that much more fun.

I even had a turn or two down the hill *smile*

A Wet Desert

The past few days have been very wet for where we were. From talking to a couple of people, they normally get something like 5 to 6 inches of rain a year in lovely Southern New Mexico. I think we got that by mid afternoon day before yesterday and it hasn't stopped since then.

When it started, luckily our day was planned around going into Carlsbad Caverns and wandering around. Originally I was going to take the boys on one of the various guided tours of the cave system, but everything was booked up solid. So, we did the self-guided tour which turned out to be just fine. If you haven't been, I highly recommend visiting the cave. Don't let anyone talk you into just taking the elevator down though. Go ahead and walk down through the natural entrance. It is about an hour of walking. Yes, it is a bit rough on the knees if you are not used to hiking, but it is quite the trail. Here is a picture from my cell. Sorry about the quality of the picture, not much light down there for some reason.



Once you get to the "bottom" section, you will emerge at what used to be a full service cafeteria. They discountinued cooking years ago because the grease and smoke were building up on the cave ceilings and causing damage. Now you can get a box lunch and drinks, etc.

The rest of the tour is about an hour and takes you through the "Big Room";it is the largest open cavern area in the western hemisphere according to the signs. You could put over 13 football fields in this one section. It is HUGE!

Anyway after caving we drove over to Guadeloupe National Park and the rain letup for a bit. So we hiked a little over two miles to Smith Springs which is by Frijole Ranch. If you could get internet access at the ranch, I could live there. *smile* Very nice. A small oasis in the middle of the desert just below El Capitan.

After the hike, we were going to go watch the bats emerge from Carlsbad Caverns but the rain started back so intense the boys and I decided it wasn't worth drowning for.

When we got back to camp, our tents were of course flooded. Apparently the tent area at Carlsbad KOA is smack in the middle of the drainage area for their hundred year flood plan.

So, we spent the night sleeping in the laundry room on the floor.

We packed up first in the morning and headed over to Alamogordo with a brief stop in Roswell New Mexico. Of course we had to visit the local museum dedicated to the alien crash of 1947. Let's just say there are some odd folks visiting that place. It was interesting and I think something did crash, I just don't know what.

The boys found the local junk yard more interesting. We may have found a source for some fenders for Zachary's truck at one of them. Hopefully the owner calls me back with pricing that is reasonable once shipping has been added.

Once we finally made it to our next campsite, the fellow here at the Alamogordo Campgrounds (Casey) felt sorry for us and upgraded our tent reservation to one of the small cabins they have. He said he had "been there" and could appreciate the desire to dry out and sleep on a real bed. We spent the evening watching a movie at the local movie theater.

With the rain, visiting White Sands today will probably be a bust. Casey told me that the sand wasn't really sand but gypsum. And when you get gypsum wet it just turns to goo. Oh well, we'll go see and head on to our next stop, Gila National Park where the cliff dwellings are located. Even with the rain, we are having fun!


Time to pack up and head out. Until next time!

Carlsbad New Mexico

Roughly 2100 miles down and several more to go! This vacation stuff could get addictive. *smile* We are enjoying the trip quite a bit. The boys are getting along well and I've almost stopped twitching (which I hear is a good sign that you are on your way to recovery from lack of email access). The picture is the view from our campsite in Panama City Beach. Not too bad of a way to start off the trip huh?

I'll try to catch you up in this post (ie - long post).

Last update had us looking for stuff to do in New Orleans. Seems like a week ago we were there. We visited the French Quarter and Buorbon Street mid morning and through lunch. Of course we stopped at one of the local spots and had some excellent Jambalaya and Crawfish Etoufee. How can a person skip such a crucial element of a visit to Louisiana?


I will say that much of the Eastern side of New Orleans looks abandoned compared to what I'm used to in Atlanta, or pretty much any other major US city. You get a couple miles out of the French Quarter and it is pretty rough looking. However, there are signs that things are picking up. We found an AMC movie theater just over the river from our campsite and that area looks like anywhere else. Lowes, Office Depot, Longhorn's, etc. on every corner.

The ride over to New Orleans from Panama City was an eye opener though... We drove through Biloxi and all I can say is "where did everything go?". About the only things around are new casino's and a couple of new shopping centers. Miles and Miles of beach front property is gone. And much of it for sale.

I will say this though, while other corporations have not rebuilt, you can find a Waffle House about every 2 miles. But of course you can!

Once we packed up from New Orleans we drove over to a state park just outside of Houston, Brazos Bend State Park. We checked in and reserved a spot to look at the stars at the George Observatory. Wow, what a view of the sky! while time on the big telescope was limited, we did get probably 45 minutes of uninterrupted time with one of the Astronomers on one of the smaller scopes (the one on the right).
I left wanting a telescope. I do see a problem though... I would always want to see more and better, which would of course require bigger and better equipment. And though getting started isn't that expensive, I can quickly see it getting to be a big big money pit.

From Brazos Bend we went to Balmorhea State Park in West Texas. One the way over we stopped at the Alamo in San Antonio. The boys were ready to leave shortly after arrival since there was no pool or rides.
It is hard to imagine what those that were there went through.

Once we got the park they were better. The campsite was a bit rustic but the reason I picked it as a destination was the pool. Based on what I had read, it was pretty cool. It lived up to expectations.



Imagine a 20-25 feet deep crytal clear lake fed by an underground stream flowing over 1 million gallons of water an hour. Now put a swimming pool around it. It was simply incredible. The pool was built in the mid to late 1930's and is quite the setup. I think Zachary and Ethan would have stayed for a couple more days just to swim in the pool.

It was complete with wildlife too. Nothing like sharing your shower with a 4 inch Tarantula, or waking up with an even larger one 8 inches from your head on the side of the mesh pavillion we are using when it is too hot for the small tents.

I did feel a bit of guilt when I flipped the Tarantula off the tent and he literally was skewered on the scrub brush next to the tent. A thorn pierced him dead center his abdomen. I was able to remove him from his predicament but i think the damage was done. He was still lying in the same spot when we left. Ooops.

Today we are in Carlsbad as the post indicates. The drive over was only a couple of hours and through some of the wide open Texas high desert. I even let Ethan have some time at the wheel (shhhh. Don't tell his Mother!). His first time at the wheel on a public highway. Think he was a bit excited? *grin*


We've taken the afternoon to wash cloths and just hang out. Tomorrow we will go to the caverns and maybe to see "El Capitan" which is just down the road a bit.

Here are a few pictures from Ethan's camera and more from Zachary's camera.
Until next time!

Dad's Day 2

*Groan* Now I remember why I like Marriott: A/C, nice comfy beds, and no mosquitos.

So far so good. We've made it to Panama City Beach and now to New Orleans. i had some concerns when pulling into New Orleans. The campsite appeared to be smack in the middle of the hood. However, it has turned out to be a nice place. Tomorrow we go exploring a bit and see if we can find stuff to do.

Zachary's pictures can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/28238378@N03/?saved=1

Yes, I shaved *smile*

I figure it will grow back during the trip. It gave the boys something to pick on me about... for the last 3 days of course.

Until next time!

Ethan's First Post Day 2

Oh no... You found my post. Well how's it going? Al is good here except for the continuously muggy heat. When you start to travel around a bit you start to realize that not evrywhere is like your perfectly addapted life style, and you aren't use to all the differant things. But traveling does have its up's too. One of them being the cool sights and new places that you have never been.
Some of the things that we have been doing so far include, visiting the U.S.S. Alabama, gambling in biloxi (curse you security lady for not letting me on the casino floor), swimming in the Gulf of Mexico, and fighting for the front seat... i usually lose. Next time you hear from me i should be in Texas. If i'm not then im out with the ladies. :)

Zachary's Update Day 2

Howdy all hows it going? the earth is very hot thats all i have to say. Also the ocean is very big but you all knew that already. well here are some pics so far from Ga to LA.

We are off!

Tomorrow morning we hit the road. I was beginning to think the day would never get here.

Today has been one long day indeed. Is is almost 10:00 p.m. and I'm still at work trying to wrap up all the loose ends so I can leave for a month without looking back.

Not much to do on the packing side. Basically throw the food and clothes in the car and head off.

I'll try to post when we arrive at our first destination tomorrow.

Wish us luck!