I think one of our new favorite places to wake up is in Oliver Lee state Park. We thought the sunset the night before had been gorgeous – the San Andres Mountains forming the picture perfect blue silhouette against the orange sky. After a short bike ride around camp and a quick hike up into Dog Canyon, Henry was determined to make a fire. The rest of us were too busy setting up our camp and making dinner, so he walked to the camp host, used his own five dollars to buy a bundle of fire wood, hauled it back to our fire pit, set it up and got it going. We were glad he did, because the temps dropped fast while we enjoyed that sunset, and Henry’s fire kept us warm as we watched the landscape turn into a postcard of New Mexico.

The next morning it was even colder when we woke up before sunrise. After watching the sun light up first the mountains across the valley, then advance in a stark line towards us, and finally slice through Dog Canyon and stream over the mountains behind us, we packed up and headed to White Sands National Park. One of the most spectacular sunrises we’ve seen!

It was a short drive to another world. At least that’s what it seemed like when we pulled into White Sands. At the entrance we purchased two used disc sleds and the obligatory orange cube of sled wax and got copious tips about the best sledding area in the gypsum dunes (Alakalai Flats), how to and how not to wax our sleds, and how we should follow old sled tracks for peak performance. We also learned that the dunes are not sand but instead gypsum, a mineral made of calcium and sulfates. The basin containing the dunes used to be covered by a sea containing these minerals. When the area dried and the sea evaporated, the minerals were left behind and over a long, long time broke down into tiny grains and formed into the dunes. We also learned that gypsum is used for a LOT of different things. So many things it’s kind of amazing there are still dunes left. Gypsum is used in toothpaste! Here’s a short list of some other uses: fake snow in movies, plaster in casts, additives in foods like ice cream and tofu, for brewing beer, creating drywall, binding tennis court clay, in sidewalk chalk, as hardener in cement. It goes on and on!

The pavement ended not far past the entrance, and we bumped along between towering snow white dunes for 8 miles until we reached the flats. We hopped out of the RV with our sleds and wax and sun screened up for the first time since last summer. We climbed our first dune, waxed our sleds like the nice lady said, and tried a few runs. It was slow at first (especially for Dad, who mostly just sank), but after a few attempts we learned that face first was the way to go. We tried a few dunes, one of which the boys nicknamed Rattlesnake Ridge. Some of us are scared of snakes. Luckily, we didn’t see any snakes, but wandering around we found evidence of several different sorts of creatures: maybe lizard prints, beetle nests, and snake trails.

Who knows how long we walked around those dunes, because it was tough to get any sense of perspective. The dunes cover over 275 square miles and are framed by the San Andres and Sacramento Mountains. After probably a couple hours we realized we were parched and ready for shade and our next adventure. We boarded the Funseeker (still needing a first name, we think) and made our way toward Gila National Forest and our next camp, Gila Hot Springs.

And by bad, we mean absolutely mind-blowing. After a hellacious – and that is not hyperbole, it looked like we were driving through hell with gusting winds and dust storms and oil fields – drive from Temple to Carlsbad NM, we found our modest but comfy campground. The boys washed off the residue of the dust storms of west Texas in the unheated indoor pool. The winds never let up, and we struggled on our bikes alongside a highway to Guadalupe Brewing Company where we enjoyed pints and pizza on their porch. 

The next morning the winds had died down, and we made our way up to the Carlsbad Caverns visitors center. It was our first trip up into mountains in the RV, and we pulled off into a scenic area on our way up where we explored some natural cliff shelters. 

Once at the visitors center we were treated with a wide vista. We got our tickets (thanks Sam for the 4th grader national parks passes!) and made our way to the Natural Entrance. This is a natural opening into the cavern, and we descended the steep path with a view of the hold we were about to enter. This path took us 750 feet (75 stories) under ground, and it wasn’t long before the sunlight disappeared and we were whispering in the darkness and clutching the metal railing. 

For two and a half miles we wound our way through a fantastical world that we couldn’t have imagined existed under the desert and mountains. Each  twist and turn revealed yet another marvel, more amazing than the one before. We were told to keep our voices down, but it wasn’t easy to keep from crying out to each other, “do you see this!?” Vast domed ceilings crowded with needle-like stalactites, the glistening white mound of a “baby” stalagmite already two stories tall, the Iceberg Rock which weighed 200,000 tons and fell from the ceiling thousands of years ago – it was overwhelming, and we were only halfway through our hike. 

Once we’d descended the Natural Entrance trail we entered the Big Room. The view here opened up, and the comparisons we’d heard all paled – the Grand Canyon with a roof on it, an underground natural Grand Central Station – it’s over 8 acres of more mind-bending features like the Bottomless Pit, gardens of stone lilly pads, faerie gardens, as well as towering shapes and dangling formations Chihuly could have crafted. 

The drive through west Texas was more than worth that experience. We left the caverns and made our way successfully over Guadalupe Pass, our first real climb and descent in the RV. Tonight we camp at the foot of the Sacramento Mountains at Oliver Lee State Park. Tomorrow on to more adventures in the White Sands National Park desert!

I can’t believe we’re already in Texas! We’ve been trying to keep track of what day of our adventure it is – is it day 7? The odometer on our yet to be named RV is over 1000 miles. We’ve cruised through 10 states – New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, (back to Ohio), Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas.

Our first few nights of camping we were still getting used to life in the RV – figuring out where things go, how to convert our beds from dining room tables, what those noises were. The temps were lower than low, so we couldn’t hook up water. That meant brushing teeth, doing dishes, and… other things with gallon bottles of water. Helpful for revealing just how much water we use (about 7 in 4 days). Oh, we used a little windshield washer fluid for some of those things.

Some of our highest highlights so far: our visits with friends and family in Ohio (and big thanks from Dad to Aunt Patsy for the coffee maker!), the National Musuem of the US Airforce, our first dinner at a restaurant in a year at Ye Olde Trail Tavern in Yellow Springs, Sam’s spill in the lake in Hot Springs, and, of course, picking up Mom at the Memphis Airport.

Right now we’re camping on the shore of Belton Lake near Temple, TX. We’re breaking out the shorts for the warmest weather we’ve had so far. We’re all excited to have a good visit with our family here. Tomorrow we head on to Carlsbad to explore the Caverns!

We have so many pictures and videos that we can’t wait to share. We’ll post some of the photo highlights but still haven’t had time to get to any of the videos yet.