All American Inn Alamogordo

... Junior Ranger packet.

We ate a Golden Corral. At 7pm, we went on a sunset stroll with Ranger Mike. He had me answer some of the questions, because he knew that I would get the answers right. We saw footprints from animals. Some I could identify, but some I couldn't.

We drove home with the top down and it started to rain. Mamaw didn't want to put the top up!

... all night by the traffic on the road and last night Gigs saw one of the neighbours being arrested on the way to breakfast!

PPS You may also notice that Gigs has had a hair cut! He decided it was cheaper to buy the clippers, that pay for the barbers each time, so this is Zoes effort at a haircut, not bad for a first attempt!

Surprise Mogollon Petroglyphs... I stumbled upon these in an area called Three Rivers in Eastern New Mexico. The red petroglyphs were in Gila National Park near the cliff dwellings.

More on my trip website

... and to stand in front of one of the satellites, and then to realize there are dozens of them.

I almost wish that they had more information or a guided tour or something there. But there is just a small inside informational area, and then a walking tour out to one of the satellites. Needless to say this was a great stop off on the way to El Paso.

... the bar in Cloudcroft (the signifying singular). It was actually quite a cool hotel bar that was a piece out of history. The owner of the hotel was a mafia memorabilia collector, so the bar was actually from a Capone house, and the back was from an old Chicago speakeasy. After a long day of hanging out with unworthy hiking guides and a cool couple of locals I was ready to call it a night. Especially since I had another drive of insanity the next day.

... a unique ecosystems and wildlife have developed here. The other cool thing is that the park is surrounded by the White Sands Missile Test Range! This is the birthplace of the American rocket. Since I will be going to the Kennedy Space Center when I get to Florida, I decided to pass on the missile museums that are everywhere around here. Anyway, enjoy the pics, it's on to Carlsbad Caverns next! ~JQ

... that was launched in space. The bottom floor was dedicated to the X prize, $10 million prize for the first successful commercial venture into space. Although Burt Rutan, aerospace designer extrordinaire, won the prize in 2004, they have been holding an annual 2 day expo in New Mexico every October called X Prize Cup to foster future interest in space exploration. Maybe I can get lucky and get sent on business to Las ...

... round sleds to play in the sand. After checking this area out we opted to take the driving tour around the dunes. We made several stops to take pictures, look at people playing and for me to climb a dune. It was a strange and cold sensation to sink into the sand. The view was spectacular, all miles and miles of white sand. It looked like snow. I guess this is the area for family entertainment, like our beaches.

... KOA check in gal and she said if I had turned north off I 10 I could see them for another 50, right 50, miles!!! There are 6,000 of them.. She claimed all power went to LA.. Don't know.. That night the temp dropped from 95 to about 50 when the sun set.. I have this Florida style sleeping bag.. I wore sweats, my rain gear and covered the bag with two big towels I had brought. I was cold all night!! Never again!!! Before ...