Day 295 – Big Bend to Alpine
On Sunday it was time to head back to civilization, but first we still had more of Big Bend National Park to see. We drove from the campgrounds south on the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive to see the Rio Grande where it forms the border with Mexico. We did a short hike into Santa Elena Canyon, where the river cuts through sheer rock walls over a thousand feet high. Then it was time to head back out of the park, taking a different route than we came in so we could make a quick stop in Terlingua. Then it was pretty much a straight shot north to our campground in Alpine.
Day 295 – Alpine
Monday was a full day in the campground to work and rest up from the busy weekend.
Day 295 – Alpine to Pecos
After another morning of work, we packed up the van and headed into Alpine for lunch, then drove by our friend Mel’s old house and sent pics to her. Then we hit the road, driving through Marfa before heading north on a very pretty drive through the Far West Texas mountains, until getting to Pecos (probably the saddest town we’ve seen on the entire trip).
Day 295 – Pecos to Carlsbad
Work from the hotel to start the day, then we stopped for a delicious BBQ lunch at Pody’s. Then it was time to continue the long drive out of Texas, finally crossing the border (although we would be heading back into Texas the next day) into New Mexico to spend the night in White’s City.
Day 295 – Carlsbad
Michael took the day off work because we had two different national parks to visit. First, we drove 30 miles south back into Texas to visit Guadalupe Mountains National Park. We didn’t have time for the long climb up to Guadalupe Peak, so we chose a shorter hike to the Devil’s Hall. Then it was time to head north back into New Mexico (for good this time) and to Carlsbad Caverns National Park. We hiked down into the caverns on the Natural Entrance trail, then did the hike around the Big Room. That was as much hiking as we could do without a guided tour, but itf we had more time, we probably would have done one of those, too. The caverns were really mind-blowing, a completely alien landscape in huge underground rooms.
Once we were out of the caves, the day was getting late, so we continued north into Carlsbad to get groceries and then on to the Carlsbad KOA for the night.
Day 300 – Carlsbad to Alamagordo
Friday morning started with work from the campground, then it was time to head west. We drove through the Sacramento Mountains up to Cloudcroft, and then started the descent through Mexican Canyon before getting stopped on the highway. We learned there was a fire that had blocked the highway for hours, but luckily there was an alternate route down the mountain and into La Luz, where we could reconnect with the highway and continue on into Alamogordo for the night.
Day 301 – Alamagordo
Saturday started with a lazy day at the hotel. We didn’t have much to do, but we did take a couple of hours in the afternoon to get out of the hotel to visit the New Mexico Museum of Space History.
