we were in hueco tanks for so long, we needed to take a break. bouldering is hard, and the body needs to recover. so what did we do? roadtrip .. while on a roadtrip? exactly!
side note: i might even call this "Walmart Roadtrip!" each night, we stayed in a new walmart. the best part was renting redbox movies! we'd pull in for the night. we'd go into walmart to wash up and get ready for bed. on our way out, we'd get a redbox movie, and watch it in Nessa. in the morning, before we leave for our outing, we return the movie and head out! three nights in a row :) it couldnt have worked out any better - it was so fun!
stop 1: carlsbad caverns.
huuuuuuge caverns! holy amazing! sadly, the pictures do not do it justice (but i'll try to pick some good ones). these caverns are a must-see if you are ever in the area.
you walk 1+ miles down into the Natural Entrace. it is nicely paved now, but you can see how the cavern floor used to be - very unstable, huge boulders, steep drops. i'm not sure how the founder of the place survived his discovery with just a candle! once at the bottom, you are in the Big Room where you can walk another 1+ miles and tour the room. the formations within the entire cavern are indescribable. how the stactites and stalagmites form, how the ribbons form, how the boulders got there, how the water carved out the entire cavern itself, the time it took to create this place, the time it took to discover the place. its tough to fathom it all.
moonlit mountains.
instead of wood-carved bears .. ALIENS!!
natural entrance.
paved, windy trail.
stalactites from above.
there are a few ribbons in here.
stop 2: roswell
we toured around the small town in just a few hours. we stopped in a few gift shops, and we walked through the International UFO Museum. the exhibits recount the history of the UFO crash in Roswell and how the witness stories corroborate each other - from townpeople to military officers, how multiple military personnel saw a "survivor" among the bodies, and how the government covered up the incident with a weather balloon story (oh, please). it was really neat, and of course, a little creepy. i've been afraid of aliens my entire life! i believe.
UFO mcdonald's!
at the visitor's center of Roswell ;)
International UFO Museum .. creeeepy..
stop 3: white sands national park
vast sand dunes of soft white sand. its hard to believe this is the same mineral that creates the huge boulders at the bottom of the cavern - gypsum. fascinating!
white sand.
looks like snow, but its white sand.
three separate jumps, but the series of photos looks good doesnt it!
Looks like a great time!
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