After our “real winter” weather adventures in Charleston and Dallas, we headed west and while we did NOT take the road to Abilene, we settled for a week outside Carlsbad, NM. It was a nice respite to end up in 60-70 degree days and sunny, blue skies. The drive through western Texas and New Mexico is almost like being on another planet. The wide open spaces, lack of traffic congestion, and sunshiny days made our journey stress free and almost easy. We passed miles and miles of desert landscape, oil wells, and cotton fields. What we did not see anywhere was water. Dry, dry dry…with warning signs.. not of “slippery when wet” but instructions of what to do in a dust storm. Rest areas had rattlesnake warnings. While the government shutdown cancelled our tour of the Carlsbad caverns, we spent the rest of our time hiking in the beautiful Guadalupe Mountain National Park. The rugged, rocky terrain had some pretty amazing vistas. Our hikes made me thankful for a decent pair of hiking boots and my hiking poles. Some of the more challenging hikes (Devil’s Hall trail…appropriately named) certainly tested my recovery from my foot injury/surgery last summer. Saw lots of elk, deer, unusual birds as well as many different desert plants, cacti. Fortunately we had no contact with other more threatening wildlife such as mountain lions and rattlesnakes. We certainly learned quickly to avoid any contact with just about any of the desert vegetation…they all have thorns or needle-like leaves that don’t feel particularly pleasant if stuck in your skin. There were days when it seemed like we had the park to ourselves as there were so few visitors which was on one hand so wonderful but we made sure that we took along our handy, dandy walkie-talkies, plenty of water and a first aid kit. You just never know…
There were four hunters staying next to us in our campground, two of which were from our home town of North Tonawanda, NY. None of us had lived there in several decades, but we compared names and reminisced about “old NT”. This was a typical multi-day conversation that is staple of the “retired people RV lifestyle”.
SEB
