We left Carlsbad NM this morning in a drizzle until we crossed the border into Texas then the sun appeared and blue skies shown through. We made our way around El Paso and headed to our campground in Las Cruses, NM. It was only a 200-mile drive so we were set up by 1:00. We decided the day before to head over to the White Sands National Monument and we were so glad we did. What a unique part of the country. We had been to the Great Sand Dunes NP in Colorado and thought we would see some of the same. That was not the case as the sand is indeed white. As we drove through the park about 3:00 the sun and shadows made the landscape change in each direction. We came to a sign that said the pavement was ending and we thought gravel, wrong, we were now driving on white compacted sand. It looked like we were driving in snow but it was 83! We walked on a walkway that led out into one of the sand dune areas, this was very nice. They had a very unique picnic area with covered shelters. 

At a rest area we got a nice view across Texas

Another shot of our new camper

Picnic Area

We left this morning with over cast skies and mist to visit the Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Texas. The mist had stopped by the time we got to the visitor center and we picked a couple of short trails to get a small feel of the park. The first trail, Pinery Trail, started at the visitor center and only ¾ mile round trip to the Butterfield Trail stage coach station ruins. The second one was the Frijole Ranch Trailhead where we hiked the Smith Spring Trail to the Frijole Ranch museum. We went a little further and it started to drizzle again so we turned back, we were both a little sore from the day before and needed to rest. We did enjoy the variety of vegetation and the overcast skies gave us a different prospective on the landscape. Here are a few of the pictures from today.  

Carlsbad Caverns NP was our activity today. It was a rainy day but we would be inside the cavern so it worked out. Unfortunately, the elevator was out so we had to walk both ways. The trail is paved with handrails but steel and about 1.2 miles each way. We went slow and enjoyed the experience and was happy when we finally saw daylight and headed for lunch, then back to the camper to put our feet up, take some Ibuprofen and a cup of coffee.

The natural entrance

Steep switch back trail

Walkway to the restrooms at the bottom

Wales mouth

Reflections in the under ground pool

Our day in Abilene began at the Frontier Texas Old West Adventure. This was more than expected, the quality of the presentations and exhibits were excellent. The introductory film was done exceptionally well as were all the exhibits. What made the experience unique was the use of life-size holograms at different stations. Each one was a different character who provided information about their lives in the old west.

We had plans to walk the historical district but it started to rain hard so we went back to camp.