Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Imagine a black funnel of living, flying bats erupting from an enormous cave, spiraling into the air in search of insects to consume. Well, imagine is what I had to do since the bats were not present while I was there. They are there for the summer months only...because apparently they are smarter than I and must have a finger on the pulse of weatherchannel.com.

Yet the trip was still amazing and it was fun to try and imagine such a sight. The enormity and beauty of the caverns themselves are beyond my ability to paint a verbal picture and my little camera could not even come close to capturing the detail of the formations. This is simply one place that you will all need to visit. And I recommend the summer months...that's when I will try to make a trip back. The one thing that kept popping into my head while I hiked down into the cave...imagine being the person to first explore these caves. They are seemingly endless, reaching into the darkness for miles and miles. Simply amazing.

As evening approached, though, I needed a place to camp for the night. After researching some options, I decide on going with an old (abandoned?) BLM campground nearby. It was free to stay, which has been a major factor for many of my decisions. The one concern I had was the person who wrote about this place on the internet mentioned that although 4WD was not necessary, a high vehicle clearance was. Well, my RV sits pretty high off the ground and I have very little reservations about giving it a try (some may question my intelligence at this point...and you people would be correct in this questioning). It started out decent enough...slow going, but steady progress. Conditions deteriorated rather quickly...inversely proportional to my speed. It took me 45 minutes to go the last mile to the campground. Large ruts in the road and a narrow path surrounded by cacti and trees contributed to the turtle pace I was maintaining. Damage Toll Taken: side mirror bent from tree, part of the siding on the RV was damaged, mud everywhere. Once I arrived, though, I felt very safe. Mostly because in my mind all I could think was "who in the hell would come out on this road??" Not a soul was seen during my stay.

I certainly could have spent more time at this campground since there were several caves nearby that you could explore (several miles worth of caves), though everywhere mentioned that proper equipment and at least 3 people should explore these caves. Thus, no exploration for

me. Next time...

Getting to Roswell and Beyond

The time had come to leave Fort Stanton. I had a wonderful time relaxing and taking in the scenery. I made a great connection with the gentleman who was the camp host in the area. He and I would take walks in the afternoon with Stella and his 2 dogs. But the itch to move on kept popping up, mostly brought about by colder weather and the occasional snowfall. It had not been my plan (like I have a plan...ha!) to stay in this area for long, but it just felt nice and comfortable. The reason for going this way originally was to check out Roswell and Carlsbad Caverns. Thus, on the road again...

Roswell: Not just about the Aliens

OK, first let me point out a small observation. I'm not sure if I was disappointed, surprised or impressed. Perhaps a little of each. But Roswell is NOT all about aliens. When I first arrived in Roswell, one of the first things I saw was a HUGE alien balloon statue at a car dealership. Granted, I should have taken into account that it was a car dealership, but my thoughts were still expecting aliens EVERYWHERE. Yet upon entering the grocery store, I was a bit disappointed in the fact that the people working there did not have spock ears or Chewbaca paws. Wait, these are just NORMAL people. Weird. Yes, you have certain areas that cater to that portion of the tourists that come for that reason (admittedly, I was one of said tourists), but for some reason I didn't think of the non-alien-Roswell at all prior to the visit. I went to the visitor center, which did indeed have aliens as a focal point, but also had information on other happenings in town. Museums (only one of which was UFO related), theaters, Historic locations, etc. For instance, did anyone else know that Roswell was a POW camp for captured Germans during WWII? Also, Robert Goddard, the father of Rocketry, did much of his testing in Roswell. While in Roswell, I even had the chance to go to the community theater (Roswell Community Little Theatre) for a production called "The Money in Uncle George's Suitcase". It was a great little play with some very funny parts. In fact, the gentleman who played Uncle George was excellent.

Well, as Stella munches an alien, I will be driving south towards Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Poor, little alien...

Getting Back to the things that Matter

Yesterday I drove away from the Walmart in Belen, NM, a place I had reluctantly stayed for the past 2 days. I had signed up to work on an organic farm (WWOOF - World Wide Organization of Organic Farms) for the next 7 days and was waiting at the Walmart for a call from the farm. The call never came, even after I left several messages and an email. Very odd since I had arranged everything with the farm previously. Well, as it turns out, the woman that runs the farm had become ill and was at the hospital. Thus, my first WWOOF-ing experience was foiled. Things happen for a reason, I suppose...

After several phone calls to the Public Lands Office, I was told about some BLM land 70 miles west of Roswell (Alien Capital of the world! Or would it be Universe?) where I could camp for FREE!! And I do love free. It was called Fort Stanton ACEC (Area of Critical Environmental Concern). It sounded perfect!

I arrived and found some gorgeous countryside to camp. I was the only one camping, but there was the camp host, a nice gentleman named Jerry. He told me some trails that I could check out and areas to explore. With a few hours of sunlight left, I decided to just relax and read by my pseudo-bay-window, which happens to face west towards the sunset...because I parked it that way. It's a

beautiful thing. And that is when I realized/remembered what this whole adventure is all about. Taking time to do whatever is

most important to me. I lost sight of that during my 12 days in

Albuquerque, where I was sequestered to parking lots, which do not rate high for "scenery" scores. While I originally I thought to only spend a few days here, I think I will extend that time-frame. It's beautiful and there are miles upon miles of trails to explore. Not a bad place to be...