Southern New Mexico

Greetings from sunny New Mexico!  Actually, we had a day of rain at White Sands, our third of the trip.  It helped us to slow down and spend some family time in the RV.  The boys are convinced that they do not recognize any difference between a house and the RV.  Makes all this togetherness go more smoothly!

On the way to southern New Mexico, we made a quick stop at Smokey the Bear Historic Site.  This is near where firemen found a little bear cub alone and burned in a forest fire.  He became the symbol of fire prevention.  It has been such a successful campaign over the years that now rangers have to convince us that it is good to have controlled burns.

We also made a trek to the UFO museum in Roswell…well, we were in the neighborhood!
Carlsbad Caverns was a real treat.  We took the self-guided tour of the Big Room and were amazed at the size and variety of cave formations.  The highlight, though, was the evening bat flight.  We gathered in the amphitheater at dusk and after a short ranger talk, watched as about 300,000 bats flew into the sunset skies continuously over a 30 minute period.  It was breathtaking!  We weren't allowed to take any pictures so you will need to trust us and take this event in someday.  

Finally, we made our way to Alamogordo and took in a tour of the Eagle Ranch Pistachio Farm.  This family business began as a second career for an air force officer and his wife over 40 years ago.  It was interesting to learn that pistachios need a very specific climate to grow in and are only grown in southern NM, California and a small portion of Arizona.  This morning we awoke to blue skies and headed to White Sands National Monument.  What a blast!  The hills are excellent (and fast!) for sledding.  We had to move on before the full moon but can only imagine how gorgeous that would have been.