Weekly recap: Las Cruces/Carlsbad/Roswell (NM)

We arrived very late Tuesday to our campground, a state park outside Las Cruces that has several campground spots as well as vault toilets. Unfortunately, we did not realize that the park closes at sunset. The gate was padlocked! The exit side was open, but had tire spikes. We didn't want to wait until morning so we used weights from our "home" gym to keep the spikes down and drove in. The campground is composed of several "loops" and we had some difficulty finding our spot. After driving one loop, we turned down another which ended up being extremely narrow. Far too narrow for us to make the turn: the camper wouldn't even fit across the turn on it's own. Shawn ended up backing the trailer up in the dark, about 150 ft., so that we could escape. Our "drive in" spot that Bryn booked ended up being a back in. We accomplished this in the dark, got set up, and passed out. Our bed had never felt so comfy!

We awoke Wednesday to view our camping spot in daylight. What a great spot! Super quiet and private, very affordable (about $18 per night), level, with a stone structure covering a picnic table right next to the concrete pad for our camper. There are also walking paths and desert scenery all around. We worked all day then headed to a Planet Fitness to lift and shower. We picked up some Rudy's BBQ for dinner and drove to a brewery in Truth or Consequences. Bryn saw a sign for this town and knew we had to visit, just for an evening. We ate our BBQ, played GloomHaven, and drank some very good beer at T or C Brewery before heading to Walmart for some groceries. It was a very fun night!

Rudy's BBQ

Weirdest name for a town ever

Our campground was an hour from White Sands National Park, which we visited Thursday after work. By the time we arrived at the park we had more than enough time to drive through the dunes, sled down the sand, and watch the sun set over the mountains. The sledding was quite fun but messy. The sand is fine and really gets everywhere. The sunset was beautiful and it was lovely to see warm orange and pink colors over the bright white sand dunes. We thoroughly enjoyed our time at White Sands, but we know it's unlikely we'll go back. The park is fairly remote. It's certainly worth a visit on a trip like this, but we wouldn't devote a separate trip to see it.

Our campground had a very generous check out time of 2pm, so we got up early and worked until about 1:30 before breaking camp. We had to dump our tanks before leaving, which took some time but was an easy process. Our drive took us into Texas as we drove to Carlsbad. We set up at a Walmart around 6:45 and unhitched. It was Friday night, so we grabbed some food to go from El Charro (GREAT spot!) and headed to Milton's Brewery, a small craft brewery in downtown Carlsbad. This spot's main taproom is pretty small, but they have an adjacent room with a lot more seating. There are board games and the beer is solid. We had a great time relaxing and eating our tacos.

Saturday morning we woke up fairly early to get to the Carlsbad Caverns Visitor Center by 8:15am. The park requires visitors to reserve a timed entry slot so we booked the first one at 8:30. Driving into the park, we encountered a large herd of Barbary Sheep eating and lounging in the morning sun. It was a special moment. When we checked in at the visitor center, we were given the choice to hike down into the cavern or take the elevator. We chose to hike down, which was absolutely the right choice. It is a fairly easy 45 minute walk into the cavern. It is all downhill and paved, so it's not strenuous. The only hitch is that a lot of it is in very dim lighting. The descent offers impactful visuals of how deep you are going underground (755 ft.) and views of very interesting calcite formations as well as a huge rock that fell from the ceiling over 500k years ago.

Reaching the bottom, the trail opens up into the Big Room, an impressive and imposing cavern that is 8.2 acres large. It looms before you in the dark, illuminated by lights installed by the parks service. The paved walkway continues around this room, weaving through stalagmites and over pools of dripping cave water. Overall, we spent 2 hours hiking to and exploring the cavern before taking the elevator up to the surface. It was an unforgettable experience that solidified Carlsbad Cavern as one of our top parks. Truly it is a breathtaking natural phenomenon and we are surprised more people don't visit each year. We will certainly be hyping it up to everyone who asks!

We saw during our walk that they offer a ranger-led tour of the Lower Cave, which involves going down a ladder into another, deeper section of the cavern. We will definitely be doing this the next time we go to Carlsbad.

After we refilled our water bottles at the Carlsbad visitor center, we headed to Guadalupe Mountains National Park, about 35 minutes away. We ate sandwiches in the parking lot and got a park map before heading to the trailhead. We then hiked up to Devil's Hall. At just over 2 miles one way, about halfway in it switches to a scramble through a wash. This is a fun, technical hike. The "hallway" (slot canyon) is striking and rewarding. We finished in just over 2 hours. It was a super enjoyable hike that we highly recommend. There are no spectacular mountain views, but the physicality of the hike is what we liked the most. The Devil's Hallway is a beautiful and unusual formation.

Devil's Hall

After our hike we drove back to the camper to hitch back up, we headed a short ways north to another Walmart in Roswell to boondock for a second night. After a quick shower at Planet Fitness, we set up at the Walmart. We spent the evening in walking distance, first having dinner at RibCrib across the street (through we actually ordered shrimp and a brisket burrito instead of ribs). It was very good. We headed to the Chili's in the Walmart parking lot for dessert and drinks.

Sunday morning we went to the International UFO Museum & Research Center. This museum is kind of small but has a ton to read, mostly accounts of the 1947 Roswell incident (and obviously with a bit of a slant on what really happened then). We spent about an hour and a half working our way around the museum, which is definitely worth the stop at only $7. Then, we walked to the nearby UFO Spacewalk, which is a black light experience (with various alien paraphernalia from different shows and movies). This is kind of silly and really short (it only took us 3-4 minutes), but also only cost $5. Worth the fun!

Roswell Mural

The beginning of the UFO Spacewalk

After our pair of alien themed adventures, we went to the nearby La Sierra Mesquite Smoked Barbecue for lunch. This time we did get the ribs, and they were excellent. These were possibly the best cooked ribs we've ever had. The rub on it wasn't as outstanding but still good, and the brisket was fine. But if you're in Roswell absolutely stop by for some of their ribs.

After lunch we went back to the Walmart to hitch up and drive to Moriarty (about 45-60 minutes outside of both Albuquerque and Santa Fe) for our next week's stay in a campground again. This was the worst fuel mileage of our entire trip due to a continuous, slow uphill drive and very aggressive headwinds. We initially were very confident that we would make it on one tank but had to stop along the way. Once we arrived at the campsite (which refreshingly offered online check-in!), we dumped our tanks. This site does not have sewer hookups but we only stayed one week. Percy was happy to have the slideout out again.