Click on a photo to enlarge it.
On Monday we set off so early we could take photos of the sunrise. Then we had to turn around and go back to hunt for Kirsten's camera cap! It
turned out it was inside Winnie all the time! We got up to Chisos Basin at 7-20 am and then went on a 9.5 hour walk that was 13 miles long, up
to the South rim.
It was a really good walk with an elevation of 2,100ft (700m) going passed the highest peak in the park (Emery Peak 7825ft, 2384m).
We got up to the South rim at 1-15pm in time for lunch with great views across the desert over to Santa Elena Canyon and down into the valley.
Unfortunately it was too hazy for photos.
We saw butterflies, deer and rabbits but no mountain lions or snakes. We got back at 6-15pm and then went for burgers at the lodge restaurant.
On our way to the campground we saw a whole family of Javalinas (wild pig type animals) who crossed the road behind us. It looked like they were
also on their way to the campground!
The campground in the Basin costs $10 and we managed to find a fairly level spot - not always possible here! Kirsten found out that there was a
plug in the toilets, so she took the computer in there, sat on a camping chair and downloaded her photos so she can delete her two camera chips
which are now full.
On Tuesday we did the best walk in the park - a 4.5 mile walk down to a "Window" between rocks where rain water gushes over onto the valley below.
It is very narrow and slippery near the window.
We met some other people there, two from Bisbee, Arizona a place we really like and another from Hamburg! It took us 3 hours to do the walk because
we stayed chatting for so long at the window.
Then we drove back down into the valley but couldn't get any petrol because there was some problem with the pumps. Then we filled up with drinking
water (another 4 gallons!) and drove out of one of the best National Parks in the US.
We tried to get petrol outside the park but there was only diesel or super plus (which is expensive). So we carried on towards Presidio hoping to
find a petrol station on the way. But there weren't any! So, in a small place called Lajitas, we ended up having to get our extra tank off the back
of Winnie and put the petrol into our tank.
We pulled into the Badlands hotel as it looked like a road in a Western movie - small shops joined by a wooden boardwalk across the fronts of the
shops and wooden railings to tie up your horse!
We spoke to two ladies who told us that the whole complex is still being built and will eventually be finished in about 3 to 5 years. There is
already the hotel and golf course along with a swimming pool. The main road is also being moved!
They also told us about the "Trading Post" which is the only original building left here from the early 1900s. The best thing about Lajitas was
the mayor - Clay Henry has been elected for the past four years running and is a goat!!! At the last election he beat two men and a dog to get
re-elected!!!
Apparently it's a fund raising thing for the local school! But fancy getting beaten in an election by a goat! But Clay Henry enjoyed the photo
opportunity with Kirsten and he especially liked the ear rub!! Well he does have to think about the next election!
Afterwards we carried on along the very scenic route along the banks of the Rio Grande which was a real helter skelter of a road and finally got
to a campground in Presidio right on the border with Mexico at 7-30pm. We did two loads of washing and charged up all our batteries etc and didn't
finish getting everything done until midnight!
After leaving the campground the next morning we found a Mexican bakery in the town. We had to wait 15 minutes for the fresh bread rolls and
chatted in Spanish about the World Cup football this summer.
Helen asked for one of the muffins and the man went to put it into a bag. But she wanted it to eat right away! It was really yummy so she asked
for 3 more to take away and got an extra one for free! Then we got introduced to the mans father who is also the baker. We ended up buying 10
bread rolls and got two for free along with three free donuts!!! It was well worth stopping!
We headed north and stopped at a little place called Marfa where we had a look at the hotel Paisano where the film "Giant" was filmed in 1956
starring James Dean (his last film), Liz Taylor and Rock Hudson.
We also wanted to have a look at the Marfa lights but the video is shown 40 miles away in Alpine! So we would have to wait until dark and see if
the mysterious lights could be seen. We were told that everyone sees them differently and no one knows exactly why or where they come from. They
are basically 3 bright lights in the sky.
We went back into mountain time and gained an hour and got to Guadalupe National Park at 6pm. We found a wonderful picnic area just outside the
park boundary with a great view into the valley below where we stopped for the night.
On Thursday we went to the visitor centre and watched a short video about the National Park. Then we went to McKittrick Canyon and did a 7 mile
fairly flat walk through the lovely canyon. We visited Pratt lodge where a volunteer ranger told us in heavy Texan drawl about the owner. Helen
couldn't translate all of it because she couldn't understand the accent! There was also a grotto with large mud stalagtites and mites.
Later we drove to Carlsbad Caverns National Park and had 20 minutes before the visitor centre closed to get information about the bats that fly
out of a cave entrance in the evenings. At 6-30pm we walked down to the natural cave entrance, sat on benches and listened to the ranger whilst
waiting for the bats to come out.
The Mexican free-tail bats migrate from Mexico around March/April and fly here around May. The females are already pregnant and give birth in the
caves here, upside down! They only weigh about 1 ounce but have to eat half their body weight every night! Bats are also the only flying mammals.
They return to Mexico around September.
We were a bit too early in the year to see the resident bats who haven't arrived yet. But there were still other bats who stay for a few days.
When they come out of the cave they fly out in a spiral flying pattern, spiralling higher and higher at the cave entrance to gain height and then
fly off to their feeding grounds.
We counted hundreds and thousands coming out but were told that there weren't very many. In May to September the sky must turn black when around
680,000 come flying out!! The highest population used to be 8-9 million but now it is steady at around 1 million. We sat and watched for 20 minutes
before it got too dark.
Afterwards we drove down to a rest area for the night and had another hailstorm! Fortunately this one only lasted for 5 minutes and the hail stones
weren't very big!
Early the next morning we drove back to Carlsbad caverns through the early morning mist and then spent 3 hours walking down into the caves to see
all the spectacular formations, stalagtites and mites, holes and mirror lakes. The caves are really huge and well laid out. We only did the self
guiding walks, there are also tours for $8.
Bats at the entrance to the Carlsbad Caverns.
In the afternoon we drove further north and went to Living Desert State Park which is a zoo for injured animals and well worth the $5 each entrance
fee.
It was really well done and we enjoyed walking around seeing lots of different sorts of animals including mountain lions and bobcats. At least all
the plants had name plates! (We're not very good at plant names!)
Living Desert State Park.
On the way further north to Roswell we had heavy winds which slowed us down a lot. Then, just as we got into Roswell we hit a sandstorm! Once we
got into town we went to Pizza Hut and then parked up at Walmart for the night and went shopping.
On Saturday we emersed ourselves in the alien environment. Even Walmart had aliens painted on their walls and in the bus stop outside. We spent a
couple of hours in the museum reading all about the 1947 incident where it is believed the government covered up the fact that aliens had landed
and were examined in laboratories. Eye witnesses that include army officers and doctors and nurses, seem to die in mysterious circumstances after
the incident and it seems they were killed to shut them up.
Who knows??? There definitely was a cover up but will we ever find out the truth???
Later we drove west into the hills and found a spot at the side of the road which is National Forest land and parked up for a very cold night!
On Sunday we dorve down a very steep grade to White Sands National Monument and got great views of the massive sand dunes on the way.
The National Monument is 275 square miles of almost white, very fine, gypsum sand which is used for plaster of paris and plaster board. After
watching a short film at the visitor centre we drove out into the dunes and did two small trails. It was extremely hot and we needed to drink a lot.
Then we continued on the road which turned into what looked like a salt crust road but was in fact made of compacted sand crystals. Kirsten and her
mom went off into the dunes for about 20 minutes and then came back with the brilliant idea of getting the boogie board out to use to slide down
the dunes.
Kirsten came down at a speed of 0.00000001 miles per hour!!! She couldn't have gone any slower if she had tried!! (The video shot is, of course,
quite long!!
Fun day at White Sands National Monument.
Afterwards we drove south to Las Cruces.
