Adventures in the South, #2

New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment 

An Unplanned Detour

An Adventure on the Road isn’t always what is planned! Arizona threw us a curve ball on our way to NM! We drove from Benson to just a few miles from NM when we pulled over at San Simon Rest Stop. Steve had noticed some difference in the way the trailer pulled and upon inspection discovered a broken leaf spring on the trailer axle.

We spent a couple hours at the rest stop (a safe place to be disabled, PTL) while Steve made multiple phone calls trying to resolve our problem. Called Roadside Assistance, multiple garages to see if they had the part…not as easy as it seems to find what we needed. You don’t want to be in a remote area when you need a travel trailer fixed.

We finally decided to limp our way over 60 miles, on a highway, out of the way we were headed, to the only place that seemed to have what we needed, AAA Trailer Parts and Service in Silver City, NM. Over the phone they seemed confident they had the part we needed. 

We were able to overnight at

a Walmart parking lot (our first Walmart overnight) just 4 miles from the repair shop. Fortunately It was a quiet night at Walmart with some rain in the early morning. We were praying that when we arrived at the repair shop first thing in the morning they would get us fixed and on the way! 

We arrived at the family owned and operated trailer repair shop before they opened and when the crew arrived they got right to work on our rig! Steve watched the entire process! His take away lesson after watching the mechanics replace the leaf spring: “You don’t want to do that yourself on the roadside!” It took two mechanics, two jacks and lots of experience. They had us on our way in about 1 hour!

We have so much to be thankful for!

We are so thankful for those who tell us they pray for us while we travel! We are also so thankful for how the Lord watched over us:

Yes, we broke a leaf spring, however no tires were affected, we were able to stay safe on the road, we got to a rest stop where we could safely make calls.

Yes, we couldn’t get a part nearby, however we drove safely and slowly to Silver City where we were treated with kindness by skilled mechanics who could resolve our issue.

We have so much to be thankful for!

After our repairs were completed, we headed east to our bucket list destination of Carlsbad Caverns. Our route from the I10 took us towards El Paso, Texas, which we skirted to the north on Highway 180. We were making up time due to our mechanical detour so we were only able to stop for lunch in Las Cruces, rather than our originally planned overnight stop.

Highway 180 took us north of El Paso, through a beautiful pass with vast views of the valley beyond. Soon, the land opened out, with no sign of development as far as the horizon in any direction, other than telephone poles lining the highway, and a few buildings, mostly abandoned. Oh, and not a tree in site...or mountain!

We encountered more rain storms,

which limited our views of the Guadalupe Mountains that we reached after hours of driving.  Just prior to our arrival at our campground,  Sunset Reef, the clouds suddenly parted, giving us a beautiful evening to enjoy a sunset dinner at our BLM campground. We stayed here two nights, the first night by ourselves, and the second night some tent campers arrived.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

This out of the way National Park has long been a sight we have wanted to see! It did not disappoint us, with it's vast caverns and amazing Bat Flight in the evening. Carlsbad Caverns was designated a National Monument in October of 1923, and became a National Park in 1930.

 

 

The Big Room: a self guided walk

A rented Audio tour gave us some history and background at 30 points of interest. We descended 700 feet through an elevator ride that took about 1 minute. If we had more time we may have opted for the one hour walk down through the switchbacks of the natural entrance. As we stepped into the entrance to the Big Room, we were awed by the size of the caverns. The “big room” itself stretched a quarter mile from one wall to the other, one of the facts our audio tour pointed out at a point of higher elevation, Here we had a 360 degree view of all that we had walked through. Our walk took us over a 1.25 mile trail through the strange and magnificent formations, including stalactites, stalagmites, soda straws, draperies, flowstone, columns, and more. The water from the surface far above drips slowly through the limestone mountain to produce these features, as well as small pools of various sizes.

 

The caverns are dimly lit throughout with lighting professionally staged to illuminate the most interesting features. After strolling slowly for about an hour, we were only  half way through the big room and needed to hurry through the second half of the trail to exit the big room to be on time for our guided tour of the King’s Palace.

King’s Palace: Ranger Led Tour

This area of the Carlsbad Caverns, only accessible by Ranger guided tours, consisted of three distinct areas: the breathtaking King’s Palace, the Papoose Room, and the smaller Queen's Chamber.

 

 

 

 

 

Our tour guide, Ranger Leslie, narrated the history of the exploration of the caverns by Jim White, a young rancher who explored the caverns after he observed what looked to him “like a volcano spewing a dark cloud into the sky.” Upon further investigation, this turned out to be the evening bat flight as hundreds of thousands of bats exited the cave. Ranger Leslie also pointed out various geological features, explaining their formation, and gave plenty of time for us to enjoy each area and take pictures.

In the Queens' Chamber we experienced a few minutes with all the lights turned off, It was so, so dark! Ranger Leslie then lit a lantern to show us what an earlier explorer would have seen with such a small source of light. It was amazing to think that the caves were explored without the use of the electric lighting that is there now. The vastness and beauty are so much more enjoyable with the lighting!

After this tour we had a little snack and walked the Big Room again, unhurried and still very much in awe of God’s handiwork, which is hidden away below the Guadalupe Mountains of the Chihuahuan Desert in Southern New Mexico.

Bat Flight Program

From the Natural Entrance Amphitheater a small crowd gathered for the evening Flight. Soon a literal whirlwind of 250,000 (who’s counting!) Brazilian free-tailed bats soon came spiraling out of the cave entrance to fill the darkening sky as they headed to the Black River, up to 30 miles away, to feed on insects. Each bat uses echolocation to find, catch and eat more than half their body weight in insects during a single night!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This night’s bat exodus took about 20-30 minutes, As it ebbed and flowed in intensity, we were completely mesmerized while we watched these creatures move swiftly from the cave, circle upward and head as a group into the distance! 

 

Cave Swallows were returning to their nests in the mouth of the cavern for the night. They were swirling over our heads to catch insects. First a few and then more and more joined the circling flock, as they returned to their nesting ground, struggling against the tide of bats leaving the cave opening.

Photography and videoing during the bat flight are no longer allowed, as it may disturb the bats. (I took the picture above after the bats finished exiting the cave,) It is such an amazing thing to experience, visually and emotionally. I’m actually glad I put away my camera and fully immersed myself in this incredible, one of a kind experience!

 

Extra

I just found this news story "Inside the Carlsbad Caverns." Check it out for some video from inside the caverns and some footage of the the bat flight, if you are interested!

From here we continue our Adventures on the Road as we head into Texas. 

Thanks for following along and praying for us!

Adventures in the South, #1

 Arizona, The Copper State 

This is always a great rest stop, and this particular restaurant had a retro vibe!

 

We started our three month road trip across the southern United States with a much anticipated visit with our son Brent, daughter-in-love Abbie, and our grand girls Hannah and Ava. On the way to see them we made an overnight stop in Quartszite, AZ. A stunning sunset gave way to strong wind gusts, pouring rain and thunder and lightning. Quite the storm!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Family Time

 

Fortunately the next day was clear and calm

and we headed on to Camp Verde. We chose to stay at Verde Ranch RV Resort, which provided lots to do while we hung out with the family. 

 

Steve and I both enjoyed playing pool and shuffleboard with Brent, and swimming with the girls. The RV Park also schedules activities and the girls and I enjoyed making Tie Dyed shirts. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pool was closed due to lightning intermittently, but there was still lots to do, a playground, corn hole, checkers and blocks. Two of Abbie’s sisters stopped by to see us. One of them has a son who is Ava’s age so he came along and enjoyed the pool time. The kids had lots to do and space to run around. It felt like having a big home and pool to share together while we reconnected with the adults.

We also enjoyed going to church together as a family at Parkside Church. Lots of young families there, and the service started with three people getting baptized. Each one shared their testimony of how they chose to follow Christ. Two of them were teenagers who were very articulate in sharing their stories. The worship of as great and then Pastor shared a great message from the Gospel of John. 

Sunday evening, while we used the laundry room we met a sweet couple who are living in the RV park with three kids and two dogs! The husband is working in the area and this was the most affordable option for them. As they had not yet found a church we were able to refer them to Parkside Church! I hope they give it a try.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 San Xavier del Bac Mission

Leaving Camp Verde on Monday we
headed for a long drive to Benson, Arizona. We passed through a few thunderstorms, even had some hail!

We took a short detour to visit  in southern Tucson. 

Although we arrived during their “open” hours, they had just closed due to lightning. We were unable to see the inside, but enjoyed finding the best angles to photograph the building. The rainstorm had left lots of puddles which gave some great reflections for our photos!

“The mission that survives today was built between 1783 and 1797, which makes it the oldest European structure in Arizona. Labor was provided by the O'odham. An outstanding example of Spanish Colonial architecture in the United States, the Mission San Xavier del Bac hosts some 200,000 visitors each year.”

We arrived at our campground in Benson just ahead of another thunderstorm. We awakened to another sunny morning ready for another drive day on Tuesday as we headed to New Mexico for more Adventures on the Road.

Please continue to pray for safety as we drive, health and strength, and opportunities to encourage the people we meet!

 

Thanks,

Steve and Lori