Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Just south of Carlsbad Caverns National Park, across the border in Texas, is Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

Passing through the town of Carlsbad again on the way there:

Carlsbad

Cave people art:

Cave people art

We stopped for lunch at a tiny separate section of Carlsbad Caverns NP, Rattlesnake Springs Picnic Area:

Rattlesnake Springs Picnic Area

They have a very nice picnic area in an oasis of trees, which we had pretty much to ourselves (only one other group in the distance):

Rattlesnake Springs Picnic Area

Rattlesnake Springs sign:

Rattlesnake Springs sign

This area has a spring that is the source of the water for the caverns:

Spring

Spring pool:

Spring pool

With fish:

Fish

Continuing on, we entered Texas:

Entering Texas

Mountains:

Mountains

A brief stop at the small McKittrick Canyon Visitor Center of Guadalupe Mountains National Park:

McKittrick Canyon Visitor Center;

Then on to the main part of the park:

Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Pine Springs Visitor Center:

Pine Springs Visitor Center

You know I enjoy 3D relief maps:

Relief map

Inside the visitor center:

Pine Springs Visitor Center

We walked along the Pinery Trail, about a mile of nature trail:

Pinery Trail

Pine Springs Visitor Center

Pinery Trail

We took a look at the “campground”, little more than a parking lot (and too small for our coach):

Campground

We were impressed by El Capitan mountain:

El Capitan mountain

A rest area and view:

Rest area

El Capitan mountain again:

El Capitan mountain

A quick spin along Frijole Ranch road:

Frijole Ranch

Then back north into New Mexico, a much-needed carwash, and back home to our coach.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

We visited Carlsbad Caverns National Park in southern New Mexico:

Carlsbad Caverns sign

The road to the visitor center:

Road

We had a reservation for a ranger-led tour, so after checking in, we had a picnic lunch:

Picnic

Back to the visitor center:

Visitor center

Bat artwork in the foyer:

Bat artwork

The ticketing area:

Tickets

There are two ways down to the caverns: elevators, or the natural entrance. This time, we took the elevators. They lead to the underground rest stop, with food, swag, and bathrooms:

Underground rest area

We joined the ranger for our guided tour:

Ranger guide

He was a bit of a character, with multiple philosophy degrees. That definitely showed in his talks, with discussions of paradoxes and raising questions about the caverns.

The tour we went on was the King’s Palace tour (the only one offered currently). It gives access to caverns not open to the general public, via this gate:

Gate

Heading down:

Heading down

Stalactites:

Stalactites

The King’s Palace room:

Kings Palace

The ranger passed around an old photo showing the room (sorry, not a great shot of it):

Old photo

Through a tunnel to the next room:

Tunnel

The Papoose Room:

Papoose Room

Tunnel

The Queen’s Chamber:

Queen's Chamber

An actively dripping column; the ranger turned out the lights and we sat by this in total darkness for a few minutes, just listening to the dripping of the water:

Column

A fossilized bat:

Fossilized bat

Queen's Chamber

Telephone:

Telephone

Queen's Chamber

Tunnel

Back to King’s Palace, on the other side:

Kings Palace

Tunnel

Green Lake

Green Lake (a small pool):

Green Lake

Heading up some stairs:

Stairs

Column

The end of the tour at the exit gate:

Gate

Looking down:

Looking down

Old stairs:

Old stairs

Looking down

Swiss cheese:

Swiss cheese

New York Skyline:

New York

Info sign:

Info sign

Back at the underground rest stop:

Rest stop

Rest stop shop:

Rest stop shop

Restrooms:

Restrooms

Another map:

Map

Exit to elevators:

Exit to elevators

Elevators:

Elevators

Heading up from 750 feet underground:

750 feet underground

The elevators debouch into the gift store, of course:

Gift store

An impressive 3D map of the caverns:

Relief map

Jenn just hanging around:

Jenn

Another gift shop and restaurant:

Gift shop and restaurant

Gift shop

Gotta have her pressed penny:

Pressed penny

Back outside the visitor center:

Visitor center

White Sands National Park

While in Las Cruces, we visited the nearby White Sands National Park.

This park features the world’s largest gypsum dunefield. Until December 2019 it was a National Monument, and many of the signs have yet to be updated:

White Sands sign

White Sands visitor center:

White Sands visitor center

In addition to the park service visitor center shop, there is a commercial gift shop onsite:

Gift shop

We do enjoy the cactus candy:

Gift shop

They have disc-shaped sand sleds for sale (and can buy back); we thought about it, but decided not to bother:

Sand sleds

Jenn does enjoy her pressed pennies:

Pressed pennies

A flowering shrub out front was covered in butterflies, moths, and bees:

Butterfly and flowers

The entrance station:

Entrance station

The road between sand dunes:

Sand

Sand dunes

About halfway the pavement ends, so one is driving on compressed sand:

Driving on sand

Sand dunes

They have several picnic areas, with lots of shelters:

Picnic shelters

We parked at one, for a picnic lunch; the shelter didn’t do much to block the strong wind, though:

Parked at a picnic shelter

A selfie:

Selfie

We climbed the dune behind the shelter:

Picnic shelters

Shiny gypsum sand; a nice property of it is that it doesn’t get hot:

Shiny sand

Sand dunes in all directions:

Sand

Other people sledding by the picnic area:

Sledding

Shadows:

Shadows

We then went to a boardwalk in an area with more foliage:

Boardwalk

Boardwalk views

An interesting park, somewhat different than the sand dunes of Great Sand Dunes National Park, but fascinating in its own way.

Palomino Campground at Caballo Lake State Park

We stayed at Palomino Campground in Caballo Lake State Park in Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico. (Campground Reviews listing.)

We do enjoy state parks, and lake views. Our specific site only had a glimpse of the lake, but still nice.

Dates:

Check in: 2022-10-09
Check out: 2022-10-15
6 nights

Weather:

Mostly sunny
High temps ranging between 67-77°F, lows around 49-53°F
No significant wind

Noise:

No road or train noise

Site:

#2, pull through, gravel
Needed to disconnect toad; parked beside coach
Fairly level
Smallish site: about 45 feet long by about 40 feet wide
Full hookups:

50 amp power, conveniently located
50 PSI water, conveniently located
Good sewer connections, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Picnic table on concrete with shelter; no fire pit
Partial lake view

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 12-25 Mbps down, 18-26 Mbps up, 70 ms ping
AT&T: 90 Mbps down, 7 Mbps up, 72 ms ping
Verizon: no service
Starlink: not used
Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

Garbage dumpster
No pool

Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:

Picturesque and pleasant park

We stayed at Palomino, Site 2, and thoroughly enjoyed it. We were met by the camp hosts who helped get us centered on the site and chatted for a bit. The site was level and pretty big, with plenty of room outside of the picnic shelter to get settled in. The only downside to the setup in Palomino is that all the sites are backward, so you can’t enjoy the view of the lake if you have a motorhome. If you have a fiver with a rear window or a toy hauler with a “back deck” you’d get much more enjoyment of the view. The picnic shelters are also backward on the site, so you have to walk around the wall to get to the table. Weird, but not dealbreaker stuff by any means. We camped at Caballo Lake State Park in a Motorhome.

The park map online is not great, but does highlight our site:

Map

Here’s an interactive map — tip, site 4 would be the best view of the lake (site 3, not shown above, is the camp host):

Our site:

Our site

A glimpse of the lake:

Our site

There were a number of birds in the area, and some liked to nibble dead bugs off our mirrors, which Paladin found super fascinating:

Paladin and bird

Our site

Utilities:

Utilities

A lake view from the edge of the campground:

Lake view

Other sites:

Other sites

The camp host site, briefly vacant during changing of the host:

Other sites

Bathrooms:

Bathrooms

Dump station:

Dump station

Cacti:

Cacti

We got out our bikes to take a ride down to the lake and around the campsites:

Bikes

Me on my bike:

David on bike

Boat ramp:

Boat ramp

Another campground; this one has power and water, but not sewer:

Other campground

A video of the bike ride route:

Some sunsets:

Sunset

Great Sand Dunes National Park

We visited Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado:

Sign

Mountains and sand dunes:

Mountains

The picnic area parking was full of people who had inconsiderately parked there then gone to the dunes, but we found an empty amphitheater as an alternative place to have our picnic lunch:

Amphitheater

With a better view of the dunes, anyway:

Amphitheater

The visitor center was being renovated:

Visitor center

So they had a temporary visitor center building set up:

Visitor center

Jenn enjoys collecting cancelation stamps:

Cancelation stamp

And smashed pennies (with a couple of fascinated little girls watching her):

Smashed penny

The temporary gift shop:

Visitor center

Then we headed out to the sand dunes:

Sand dunes

A selfie:

Jenn and David

We rented a couple of sand sleds from the KOA RV park:

Jenn with sand sleds

Sand dunes:

Sand dunes

Jenn:

Jenn

Sand dunes:

Sand dunes

Jenn preparing to slide:

Jenn preparing to slide

Me with a sand sled:

David with a sand sled

Jenn waxing her sand sled:

Jenn waxing sand sled

Selfie:

David

A video of Jenn sliding down a sand dune, and wiping out at the end:

Sandy Jenn:

Jenn

Kite:

Kite

Beard in the wind:

David

Grasses and rainy mountains:

Grasses

Log and dunes:

Log

The dunes with the stream in the foreground:

Sand dunes

Impressive sand dunes, and a fun experience.

Pikes Peak

We visited Pikes Peak near Colorado Springs. It has some interesting twisty roads, a cog railway, and a view that apparently inspired the “America the Beautiful” anthem.

The Pikes Peak Highway entrance:

Pikes Peak Highway entrance

Entrance station, which has a timed entry window:

Entrance

Viewpoint:

Viewpoint

Big Foot Crossing:

Big Foot Crossing

Crossing an empty dam, that is being updated:

Dam

Gift shop:

Gift shop

Big Foot:

Big Foot

“America’s Mountain”:

America's Mountain

Mountain

Trees

Trees and rocks

Historic Glen-Cove Inn:

Historic Glen-Cove Inn

Which contains a gift shop:

Gift shop

And café:

Café

We got lunch from the café, eating outside:

Lunch

View:

View

Continuing up the mountain:

Road

A stop for a walk up a peak:

Path

Road

Jenn and David

Further up, a view of some lakes:

Lakes

At the summit, a cog railway car arriving:

Cog railway car arriving

Cog railway cars

Cog rails and a nice view:

Cog rails

The view inspired the “America the Beautiful” anthem:

America the Beautiful

View

The summit visitor center:

Visitor center

Café:

Café

We tried the famous high-altitude doughnuts:

Doughnuts

Of course, another gift shop:

Gift shop

Info displays:

Info displays

Relief map

Info displays

Outside again:

View

The remains of the first summit house:

First summit house

The visitor center:

Visitor center

A selfie by a cog rail car:

Selfie

Another cog railway car arriving:

Cog railway car departing

View:

View

Heading down the mountain, using manual gear to avoid using the brakes other than on corners (and not even then for several):

Manual gear

The winding road and views:

Winding road

View

Winding road

View

Winding road

Fun switchbacks:

Switchbacks

Switchback

Timberline:

Timberline

A mandatory brake check, where they used a heat sensor to tell people to let their brakes cool down if they were riding them down the hill, as these people in front of us were. Our brakes were 111°, which is within the normal range for flat driving, excellent for mountain driving:

Mandatory brake check

Rocky Mountain National Park day 2

We visited Rocky Mountain National Park again, checking out different areas.

Starting with the Fall River Visitor Center:

Fall River Visitor Center

Entrance sign:

Entrance sign

Rocky Mountains:

Rocky Mountains

Again we stopped at a picturesque picnic area for lunch:

Picnic area

Onward:

Rocky Mountains

Holzwarth Historic Site:

Holzwarth Historic Site

Kawuneeche Valley

A ranger memorial at the Kawuneeche Visitor Center:

Ranger memorial

Cancelation stamp:

Cancelation stamp

A relief map:

Relief map

Rocky Mountain National Park day 1

We visited Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado:

Sign

In the Beaver Meadows visitor center, a relief map:

Relief map

A line to get into the park, which was using a two-hour window timed entry system:

Line

We headed along Bear Lake Road, and stopped for a picnic by a creek:

Jenn

Rocky Mountains:

Rocky Mountains

Another stop at Sprague Lake:

Sprague Lake sign

Sprague Lake stream

Fish in the stream:

Fish

Sprague Lake:

Sprague Lake

Selfie

Sprague Lake

Bridge

An accessible campsite:

Accessible campsite

Sprague Lake

Rocky Mountains

We enjoy winding dirt roads… so headed up the one-way Old Fall River Road:

Old Fall River Road

The dirt road ends at the Alpine Visitor Center:

Old Fall River Road

Alpine Visitor Center:

Alpine Visitor Center

Jenn

Rocky Mountains

Elk:

Elk

Outside the park, more elk on the side of the road:

Elk

We also saw a moose:

Moose

Video

Video: drive through Bighorn National Forest

We took a day trip drive though Bighorn National Forest in Wyoming, along US-14 though the forest, then around to US-20, -31, and -16, passing through the forest again.

Golfing to the Sun and waterfalls in Glacier National Park

Once the family arrived at the campground, we did another couple of trips into Glacier National Park. I didn’t go on one, but for the last trip, we all went to West Glacier Village for lunch, swag shopping, and mini golf. Then went a bit into the park to look at some waterfalls.

The Café:

Café