Tag: New Mexico

2019 Road Trip: Day 9

White Sands National Monument

Day 9 was a mix of a driving day and sight seeing day. By this point in my trip, I had planned much shorter drive days so I could enjoy my trip! I left Carlsbad around 10 in the morning, and headed North on 285 to Artesia, NM then headed West on 82 towards White Sands National Monument. This was a gorgeous drive through some small towns and I even drove through Lincoln National Forest, which was beautiful and I was honestly just excited to see trees.

Around 2:00, I finally arrived to White Sands National Monument. This was SUCH a poor decision on my part, because it was HOT, y’all. I went to the visitor’s center and then drove through the park. I got out a few times to take some photographs, but after about two hours, I was out of water and ready to get to my Airbnb for the night.

I do want to suggest to go either early in the morning or late in the afternoon. I wanted to rent a sled, but it was SO HOT, I couldn’t justify the $10 cost to rent one. Also, have you ever climbed up a giant sand dune in the middle of summer…talk about difficult!

After I left White Sands National Monument, I headed to my Airbnb in the historic Mesilla district, which is right outside of Las Cruces. I booked an adorable casita for the night, and WOW was it an amazing place to stay! I was able to cook dinner in an actual kitchen, do my laundry, and watch Netflix while chilling on a leather couch!

I would really like to revisit Mesilla, NM one day. It is a very charming historic district with a lot of sights to see. I spent the afternoon doing chores and reorganizing my car, so I did not get to walk around and see the town. I would highly suggest visiting this town if you are the area!

Until next time, peace.

2019 Road Trip: Days 7 & 8

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

I am going to be honest, I was not expecting too much from CCNP. Growing up less than two hours from Mammoth Cave, I thought, “You’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all!” WRONG! Carlsbad Caverns was awesome!

On Day 7, as I stated in my previous post, I was going to explore Guadalupe Mountains, but there were bad storms in the forecast. I already had purchased a tour for Day 8, so I decided to do the self guided tour at CCNP. The self guided tour is free with your National Parks pass and took me about an hour to two hours to walk the entire path. I took the Natural Entrance into the caverns and the elevators back up. However, you can take the elevator both up and down is you do not want to walk 750ft down.

On Day 8, I woke up early and headed to start the Ranger led tour I had purchased. I decided to go on the Lower Cave Tour, and I am SO glad that I did! The tour lasted around three hours total and the Rangers were extremely knowledgable about the cave. For this cave, everyone is required to wear sturdy ankle boots (must bring your own), and a helmet with a headlamp and gloves (provided) the entire time.

To start the tour, you must use a knotted rope and walk backwards down 15 ft of smooth flowstone. After this, there are three sets of ladders that take you an additional 50 ft down. I did not have a problem with the rope or the ladders, but some of the other people on the tour did freak out a little bit because of the way the ladders were angled.

  • Descent down flowstone with rope
  • Bottom two ladders and one of the rangers

Once off the ladders, the tour begins! I am not going to go into detail of the tour, because it is something you all just need to get out and experience! I do highly recommend this tour if you are planning a visit to Carlsbad Caverns. There were no sections that required crawling, but there was an optional route you can take where you get to crawl, and of course we all did!!! A man on the tour also spoke highly of the Left Hand Tunnel Tour, which is another ranger led tour where everyone uses lanterns instead of head lamps.

I do not think you could wrong with any tour at Carlsbad Caverns! Just make sure you arrive early for the tours and wear the appropriate footwear, or they will NOT let you participate in the tour.

Until next time, peace!