Carlsbad and beyond

Carlsbad Caverns can be summed up in the words we heard from Andrea and Erin: "Wow, this is so cool!  This is awesome! Can we do that trail again?  I'm not done yet! "  I'd heard that the geology in the caverns was great, but I was blown away.  The size of the caverns is immense and the decorations are grand and mind boggling.  It gives just a little perspective regarding how short human life spans are relative to other natural processes.  A stalactite the size of my pinkie nail was 75years old, and there were columns many many times larger .  It's a place I'd like to go back to.  I'd actually plan ahead and reserve some of the the other ranger-guided hikes that we couldn't do in our limited time.  (once again, pictures are on flickr)

After we left Carlsbad we headed to Alamogordo, NM to White Sands National Monument.  We were surprised when we discovered that there were real mountains to cross.  At an elevation of 8600 feet we saw a few snow remnants.  The truck handled the inclines easily, which was reassuring.  We left the mountain range and camped at their feet for the night.  We spent the later half of the afternoon at White Sands National Monument where the girls enjoyed "Walrusing" down the sand dunes.

We left Alamogordo and headed towards Tucson, where we stopped at Saguaro National Monument.  We went on an eight mile bike ride, non of which was flat.  The girls enjoyed the down-hills, the up-hills weren't as popular.  The Saguaro cactus is very cool.  Unfortunately we left our camera behind, but we saw some cacti that were most likely about 150 years old.  Andrea got to experience cacti cling-ons that deeply embedded themselves in her shoes.  By the time we got back to the RV we were all very hot and very thirsty, so we headed out in search of ice cream.  (the ice cream was also used as a motivator on the half-mile, 6 degree climb at the half way point of our ride).

We spent the next night at the John Wayne Rv Park near Mariposa, Az.  Other than the sent of feedlot cattle it was a nice park.  We then made the short drive to Yuma.