Last weekend Tommy, Doris and I hit two national parks and a national monument in one day--definitely a record for me.
First was White Sands National Monument in southern New Mexico. We got there at 7am when it opened and it was chilly. And Doris was wearing holey shoes. :) That sand is ridiculously fine. And there's loads of it.
After an interesting sacrament meeting in Alamogordo, we said goodbye to the very-eager-to-meet-us missionaries and booked it to Carlsbad Caverns (not pictured--check T&D's blog). We made it just in time, before the natural entrance closed. It was amazing. Ginormous. Surprisingly not creepy. Breathtaking panoramic views of the Texas plains (from the outside). And I can now say I've gone to the bathroom 75 stories below ground. Thank goodness there's an elevator, electric lighting, and handrails nowadays. The Big Room was pretty dang big, big enough to fit a 747 inside. If I had a room that big, I'd use it as a Pirate's Booty warehouse.
This is White's City, New Mexico, aka Ghetto USA, which consists of a few buildings outside Carlsbad. What kind of a grocery store has no food? This one.
TEXAS!
Next stop: Guadalupe Mountains National Park. We got there with just enough time to put up the tent before it got dark. Or rather, T&D put up the tent and I mostly watched. Then we ate our rations of Triscuits, granola bars and Powerade, Doris and I watched Sherlock Holmes, and we went to sleep early.
The campsite had real toilets! Woohoo! Yes, Doris, I took a picture of the notice inside the ladies' bathroom. It's too funny.
The next morning, after a long, warm, and very rocky sleep, we drove a few miles to McKittrick Canyon where we hiked to Pratt's cabin. It wasn't really a hike, but it was nice.
This is the view from the visitor center where the trail began. It got prettier.
Not too bad for Texas, huh?
This cabin was built by Wallace Pratt back in the '30s. When his friend brought him out from Pecos to show him this place, he fell in love. He said it was the prettiest place he'd ever seen (he was from Pecos after all), built the cabin, and stayed. Years later he donated a big chunk of land to the park service. It's surprisingly large and sturdy (the cabin, not the land).
Thanks for bringing me along, T&D. It was fun!
First was White Sands National Monument in southern New Mexico. We got there at 7am when it opened and it was chilly. And Doris was wearing holey shoes. :) That sand is ridiculously fine. And there's loads of it.
After an interesting sacrament meeting in Alamogordo, we said goodbye to the very-eager-to-meet-us missionaries and booked it to Carlsbad Caverns (not pictured--check T&D's blog). We made it just in time, before the natural entrance closed. It was amazing. Ginormous. Surprisingly not creepy. Breathtaking panoramic views of the Texas plains (from the outside). And I can now say I've gone to the bathroom 75 stories below ground. Thank goodness there's an elevator, electric lighting, and handrails nowadays. The Big Room was pretty dang big, big enough to fit a 747 inside. If I had a room that big, I'd use it as a Pirate's Booty warehouse.
This is White's City, New Mexico, aka Ghetto USA, which consists of a few buildings outside Carlsbad. What kind of a grocery store has no food? This one.
TEXAS!
Next stop: Guadalupe Mountains National Park. We got there with just enough time to put up the tent before it got dark. Or rather, T&D put up the tent and I mostly watched. Then we ate our rations of Triscuits, granola bars and Powerade, Doris and I watched Sherlock Holmes, and we went to sleep early.
The campsite had real toilets! Woohoo! Yes, Doris, I took a picture of the notice inside the ladies' bathroom. It's too funny.
The next morning, after a long, warm, and very rocky sleep, we drove a few miles to McKittrick Canyon where we hiked to Pratt's cabin. It wasn't really a hike, but it was nice.
This is the view from the visitor center where the trail began. It got prettier.
Not too bad for Texas, huh?
This cabin was built by Wallace Pratt back in the '30s. When his friend brought him out from Pecos to show him this place, he fell in love. He said it was the prettiest place he'd ever seen (he was from Pecos after all), built the cabin, and stayed. Years later he donated a big chunk of land to the park service. It's surprisingly large and sturdy (the cabin, not the land).
Thanks for bringing me along, T&D. It was fun!
10 comments:
summer you look very nice on top of that sand. i wish i could have seen you over thanksgiving!!! :( :(
Dude...I have totally been to White's City...it really is Ghetto USA! lol :)
thanks for the pics. Run for the hills... that's funny.
White City... aaahh, the memories. That's where we had our most wonderful camping experience ever. If you have forgotten, see here.
Glad you enjoyed your time! And glad you weren't turned out in the torrent like we were.
Sorry. The extra deleted comments were because my computer was having a temporary glitch, and it took my click to mean times 3.
Great post, Summer - thanks for sharing your trip, and for the humor!
BEST. TITLE. EVER! i love Summer!
That post was hilarious Summer. Can we just copy and paste it onto our blog? Yeah . . . we really need to do a post. Sigh. It's been a very busy week.
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