Fall Break 2022: White Sands National Park

 Our final stop for our Fall Break Trip was the White Sands National Park.  It truly has been so much fun to visit National Parks and see this gorgeous country.

In the morning we decided to find the Las Cruces Farmers Market.  It was small but we had a great time, met a lovely violinist from Ukraine, bought some chilies, shopped for gifts, walked the town.

We then got ourselves over to the White Sands just as the clouds and rain started to roll in.  We were really hoping that the weather would hold off, but be cloudy enough to be cool out on the sand.

We were so fortunate because the weather was amazing. Not too hot, and not too cold.  The views were spectacular and even though it is is just miles and miles of white sand, it is breathtaking.

We could see the rain dumping all around us.  It was absolutely breathtaking.

So other than walk on the sand, what is there to do in the park?......

SAND SLEDDING!

And handstanding......

And making sand angels....

And spotting very sneaky wildlife (literally white lizards that have completely adapted to their environment.)

We had a wonderful afternoon (complete with family photos-more of those later).  This park was exquisite and a place that could have been explored even more. The skys were just incredible and we were so fortunate that it never rained on us.

There are just so many cool places on this earth that are so worth seeing in person.  Pictures are grand, but pictures are a small thing compared to the personal experience.

Such a great way to end our Fall Break Trip.

Fall Break 2022: Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Okay, I truly had no idea how utterly incredible Carlsbad Caverns National Park was.  I planned for us to spend a morning here at most and was blown away at how little I wanted to leave.  Which was the concensus for all of us.

Carlsbad is a labyrinth underground cave system discovered by a cowboy by the name of Jim White.  This young man quite literally stumbled upon a gaping hole back in the 1800s and decided.....with only a lantern, some barbed wire, and sticks.......to descend down into the hole and explore it.

Here's the kicker....it wasn't just a big hole in the ground.  No, No. It was MILES of undergound passageways and caverns.  We took the natural entrance into the cave which meanders down 800 feet in about 1.25 miles.  YES, it took us walking 1.25 miles down into the earth to reach the "Main Room" which is a big enough cavern for 6 football fields to fit in it.  

There are not enough pictures, words, or descriptions to accurately show the expansiveness and communicate and awe of this place.

Once we reached the Main Cave we explored much of it before finding the underground gift shop (not kidding).  

We mailed Memaw a postcard from 750 feet below the surface of the earth.  It was a pretty cool experience and so fun for the girls. 

Bob had to get back to the house for a work call, but all of us agreed that we needed to return the next day and attempt to get in on the much coveted King's Palace Tour.  We all could not wait!

While Bob was on his call, we explored the Pecos River and an amazing park.

We played hide and seek, tag, and all manner of games on the playground.  When it was time to head home we had to work hard to disconnect the kids.  After all, they had met friends....there were teams.  We had a great time.

One of the things that we could absolutely not wait to do was to watch the Bat Flight.  This is a huge thing here.  There are hundreds of thousands of bats that live in a cavern of the cave aptly called the "Bat Cave" (no we couldn't go in there).  Every night around sunset they mass exit for over an hour.  Literally clouds of bats swirl up out of the cave for us to watch.  We went back after Bob's call to watch them.  SO COOL.  These pictures aren't mine as they do not allow any photography during the bat flight, but this gives you some idea based on park photos of the exit.  I mean it is incredible.  We watched these bats pour out like this for 45 minutes and when we left.....they were still coming.

We went home and slept fast. In order to have a chance at the King's Palace Tour, we had to be front of the line when the visitor center opened the next day.  The King's Palace Tour is the only tour offered currently and is booked out more than a month in advance.  We discovered that the Park saves 12 spots to reserve day of but only to first come first served.

We all showed up 45 minutes before it opened to find ourselves 3rd in line.  Whew.

We took the elevator down to the caverns this time and Bob and I set our sights on doing the climb out later.  We all hung out in the Main Cavern waiting for our tour to begin.

We did Yoga and selfies because.....you know...why not?

The King's Palace Tour takes you into one of the most epic branches of the cavern system.  The stalagmites and stalagtites and all other cave structures are beyond incredible.

Again, it is so difficult to show it in pictures. Knowing how this system was discovered makes it even more mesmerizing.  Now everything is lit and you can have perspective on size. Without lights, this place would be so black there would be no hope of finding your place in it.  I don't grasp how a man with a kerosene lantern explored it.  Bold.  Beyond Bold.

See that "ladder"?  Um.......that is what the first explorers used to descend into dark caverns.....with lanterns.

Absolutely no words.

Bob and I sent Grandma, Grandpa and the girls up the elevator while we geared up to tackle the 800 foot ascent up and out of the cave.  We started and did not stop.  It was a PERFECT challenge for us and so fun to be 2 of only a couple other people brave enough to make the climb.  We arrived on top and said goodbye to the Caverns and the Bats.

We went through the Guadaloupe Mountains on our near 4 hour trip back to Las Cruces.  It was a beautiful drive.  

We stopped for a bathroom break in a pull out on the road to find ourselves right next to this incredible train trustle with quite a spectacular little history.  It used to cart sick children up to the little town of Cloudcroft to convalesce in the fresh air.

We arrived at our Air BNB for the night to find that it had a HOT TUB!  Mom win!

 The temperature was just perfect for it and Grandma and the girls didn't hesitate!

We were so excited to rest and get to the White Sands the next day!