Rockhound State Park, NM

Sunset At Rockhound State Park, NM

Monday, May 21 -Rockhound State Park, NM- 57.4 Miles Today, 3352.9 For the Trip

OK, time for my first "gripe" with Reserve America. I looked up Rockhound State Park and Reserve America told me there were no electric sites available for 2 nights, and only one for today (Monday). So, I reserved it & paid a $10.60 reservation fee on a $14.00 site (a bit much). Anyhow, when I got here there were empty electric sites all over the place. Seems only some of the sites can be reserved, and Reserve America doesn't tell you that there are first come electric sites their map indicates that the other sites are not available - they are, but not through Reserve America. So, while I'm in site 18 tonight, I will have to move to another site for tomorrow.

The park is beautiful. Hot (102°F this afternoon) but beautiful. The desert sun is a physical thing that hits you over the head. You can get used to the heat, but I'm not sure that is possible with the direct sunlight. It is also very dry. I took out a couple of slices of bread when making lunch, and by the time I got out some mayonnaise to spread on it they were crusty!

Since it was a short drive, I arrived a little after 11:00 so it was still cool enough for a walk. Took the "Thunder Egg Trail" that goes up the side of a hill & back down into the campground. If I do it again tomorrow I'll take the camera - a neat view of the place. I did find a couple of interesting rocks - not gemstones, but worth adding to the empty slots on the printer's type case on my living room wall (I'm dating myself by admitting that I have set type using one of these cases - I doubt there are very many people who know what they were originally used for.)

Dinner was simple tonight - a couple of Nathan's Hot Dogs & Grand Ma Brown's Sauce Pan Beans. Let me tell you - Nathan's hot dogs do not compare favorably with Syracuse's Hoffman's hot dogs. After that I sat around and read until the sunset, which was worth photographing. I don't shoot many sunsets, not sure why since many are pretty, but tonight's was an exception.

As usual, more photos at today's LakeshoreImages post.

It got very windy after dark - it it clears up (both the wind and the clouds) I'll try for some star photos - it is pretty dark here in the campground with interesting lights in the flats below.

Till next time -

White Sands National Monument

White Sands National Monument

Sunday, May 20 - White Sands National Monument - 213.4 Miles Today, 3295.5 For the Trip

Today is another two for one deals, sort of. I changed from US 285 to US 82 at Artesia, NM and headed west. Lots of signs warning of long 6% grades, no long or heavy trucks, etc. While I wasn't too worried about the grade, there sure were a lot of signs. One interesting thing happened - I filled up the tank at Cloudcraft, which is at the top of the downgrade. I have a ScanGuage that gets reset at each tank filling. After resetting it & starting down a 16 mile downgrade it told me near the bottom that I could expect to get 4582 miles out of that tank of gas! Boy would that be nice. Unfortunately, by the time I reached Las Cruces it was back to normal readings.

I made two stops along the way to Las Cruces - the first to drive out into the White Sands National Monument. Sure is white. Tough to take photos - I had to overexpose by 2 stops to get anything useful. I did take a couple of the car & trailer to show I was there. I didn't drive to the end, but turned around where the pavement ends.

After that I continued down US 70, a 70 MPH four lane road. Saw a sign for the White Sands Missile Range Museum, and decided to stop. After being grilled by the gate guard I did get into the outside exhibit - the museum was closed. They are very careful about photographs - I was told what direction I could point my camera, otherwise they would erase my memory card. They don't want any photographs of the missile range or the gate. I took a few of some of the missiles in the exhibit, they let me through the gate to get out without re-grilling me, then headed on to Las Cruces.

After setting up in site GG of the Sunny Acres RV Park (with a Good Sam discount it was $34.69 for a full hookup pull through) I dropped the trailer and drove to 16 miles to La Mesa and Chope's Bar & Grill. Although it is Sunday & I expected they would be closed, I had to try. As many of you know, I'm a "T" Shirt addict. One of my favorites is my "Stuff It" shirt from Chope's, a present from a former student. The problem is that was in the 80's, and it is pretty worn out. I tried to stop by on a trip in 1996, but they were closed. Well, I found out that not only are they closed on Sundays as expected, but also on Monday so I can't even try on the way out of town. Looks like I'm never going to get a replacement!

After that it was a drive back up NM 28 to the campground. I passed over the Rio Grande, and had to take pictures; for a river named Grande, it has been sucked dry, not a trickle, but dry!

As usual, check today's LakeshoreImages 2012 Trip Page for the rest of the photos.

I'm now waiting for it to cool off enough for me to get interested in cooking a steak for dinner.

Tomorrow will be a short drive to Rockhound State Park near Deming, NM. I did pass a Toyota dealer on the drive along NM 28; I may try for an oil change in the morning.

Till Next Time!

Guadalupe & Carlsbad National Parks

Carlsbad Cavern

Saturday, May 19 - Carlsbad KOA, Carlsbad, NM - 219.2 Miles Today, 3,082.1 For the Trip

Today is a two for one day - two National Parks. After leaving Balmorhea State Park I eventually got back on I 10 after passing a interesting church on TX 3078, exiting on a pretty but empty road, TX 54 which parallels the Black Mountains, and runs into US 62 which runs past the Guadalupe National Park & into Carlsbad National Park. So, I visited with both. I didn't spend a long time at Guadalupe National Park - it was 95°F and the short hike I took on the Pinery Trail was in full sun. I did get a few photos, including one of an interesting bus conversion that I also saw at Carlsbad. SufariParty.com's web page says they are doing Spring Weekend in April - must be a very long break! The church & bus photos are on today's LakeshoreImages 2012 Trip Page.

More photos of the Pinery Trail hike on my Guadalupe National Park page.

After leaving Guadalupe National Park I stopped to photograph the only rest stop I've see that includes Wind Power. A short time later I was in New Mexico & headed to Carlsbad.

Because I had been in Mammoth Cave & was wearing the same boots, I had to have them cleaned to prevent the spread of White Nosed Disease among the bats. They must do a better job here than at Mammoth - at Mammoth we walked through a Lysol foot wash - here they took my boots away & spent 15 minutes cleaning them! I have the brightest soles since they were new.

The cave is interesting, and even larger than I remembered. It is a bit of a letdown after seeing the Caverns of Sonora. Carlsbad is about 95% "dead" that is not actively building surfaces. There is a big difference between it and a live cave like Sonora. The structures are the same, but the live cave looks like crystal while the dead cave looks like rock. Still wonderful formations throughout the cave, and the size of the rooms is amazing. I did notice one interesting bit of political correctness change from the last trip. In 1996 there was a sign identifying the "Breast of Venus," a breast shaped formation. The formation is still there, but the sign is gone.

I took the unguided tour starting at the natural entrance, around the Big Room, Top of the Cross, Mirror Lake, The Crystal Spring Dome, and back to the elevator to get out. A good 2-3 mile workout, although mostly downhill. While there is quite a bit of color in the photographs, it is from the lighting:

Again, there are more photos on my Carlsbad Caverns National Park Page.

After that I stopped & picked up some groceries at the Carlsbad Albertsons, and headed to the Carlsbad KOA, about 15 miles north of the city. I'm is site C4, a nice level pull through with full hookups.

Till Tomorrow -

Balmorhea State Park, TX

Site 20, Balmorhea State Park, TX

Friday, May 18 - Balmorhea State Park, TX -195.8 Miles Today, 2,862.9 For the Trip


More driving along I 10 in Texas. Lots of wind today.  Wish it was behind me since that would improve the gas mileage, but then it could have been a headwind.  It was cross winds, and I could definitely feel them as I hit the road cuts through the hills.  Nothing to hairy, but you could tell when it stopped & started.


I stopped for the night (well actually, early afternoon) at Balmorhea State Park, Site 20. It has water & electric & boy, do I need the electric. While the weather report says it is going to hit 95°F, my outdoor thermometer says 108°F. I thought it might be lying since it is inside the LP tank cover, but I opened the cover to let more air through & it went up to 116°F. No matter how you look at it, it's hot! Maybe not to a Texan, but I live on a lake where we rarely break 90F. Of course this is "dry heat" what ever that is! I wish the photo could show the heat, but you will just have to imagine it. 


The park is OK, but other than a roof over the picnic tables, there is no shade. I did wander around the park & found the swimming pool fed by the San Solomon Spring & the Cienega (a kind of swamp) that they rebuilt after the pool installation destroyed the original. Filled with turtles, catfish & minnows. There are more photos at the LakeshoreImages page for today.


The AC is going & even in this heat the temperature in the trailer is fine. I'm going to wait a bit before I go outside to sit & read. Not sure what will be for dinner - I know there will be left over rice from yesterday, but I haven't decided what will go with it. It is probably a good day for something other than milk to drink since I dumped what was left of the last half gallon. It wasn't bad, but milk tends to pick up local flavors, depending on what the cows eat, and I really didn't like it.


Well, dinner was canned soup. I didn't want to fire up the grill so I knocked off one of my "emergency" meals. By the way, it is now 11:08 & it is still 83°F outside (and, of course the thermometer is not in the sun!) I may restart the AC - I tried it with it off to cut down the noise but it is pretty warm inside.


That's about it for the day - hope to have some photos of the Guadalupe Mountains tomorrow.


Till then -

Caverns of Sonora, Sonora, TX

Caverns of Sonora, Sonora, TX

Thursday, May 17 - Caverns of Sonora, Sonora, TX - 162.5 Miles Today, 2,667.1 For the Trip

You can tell by the title of the page that I decided to go to Sonora and see the cave rather than drive to San Angelo. Even though I don't enjoy driving on interstates, I have to admit that I 10, at least in this part of Texas isn't anywhere near as bad as it is in Louisiana. The last time I drove it in LA it rattled everything loose in the car, let alone the trailer. Even though the speed limit is 80 MPH & I was only doing 57 MPH, the traffic passing me wasn't that bad.

Anyway, I arrived at the Caverns of Sonora campground around 12:30, got set up (pick your site, no site numbers, and $20.00 for water & electric) and got a tour for another $20.00. I have to give Horst a big THANK YOU for suggesting I stop at the caverns. I would have passed this by on my way to Carlsbad, and as far as I'm concerned, this has been the most beautiful caves I visited. It was also a great tour. All in all, I have way to many photos - I am posting a separate set of pages with over 70 and only posted one of them here.

By the way, this is not the cave to go to if you want to cool off on a hot day. While it is 71°F in the cave, the humidity is 98%; the 90° weather outside feels cooler! Lots of steps to climb, but we had plenty of time (there were 3 of us on the tour.) Hard to believe, but the woman on the tour was from Mexico, NY, born in Oswego, and worked on one of the summer productions at the college while I was teaching. A very small world!

Actually, the photos (and this page) won't be there until I get an internet connection - No WiFi, AT&T or Verizon here at the campground. I'll probably stop at a rest stop to post all of these pages.

It is now 6:22, and the outside thermometer is down to 91°F (While it is inside the LP tank cover it still has the sun hitting it) so I'll finish up the pages & make some dinner.

And now it is 9:06 on Friday morning & I have to thank the Super 8 Motel for their WiFi, letting me post yesterday's update.

Till Later!