Stagecoach Inn Carlsbad

... br> Then back to Carlsbad to find a place to stay. Nice local motel. Very reasonable rate. I forgot to mention I didn't take too many pictures in the caverns. My batteries died. I had charged them last night so I don't know if they or the charger messed up. Anyway, after finding a place to stay I found a Walmart (You know they are everywhere.) and purchased a new charger and batteries. I hate ...

... peak we just climbed. At this point, what we thought was going to be a rather short trek up one mountain, has turned into a climb up 3 mountains with yet a fourth, taller mountain to go. In addition, the weather has started to cool down at this altitude and the sun is only an hour or two from setting. Beyond these points, we realize that we have left time sensitive medication back at camp because we neglected to factor in the ...

... me, but they've done a nice job on the place. We'll be back to peruse the town in more depth in the future. <br> - Merged onto I-10 in the middle of the Texas Hill Country to find that, GASP, the speed limit is WHAT? 80 MPH!!! Legally! We hit it. It was a pretty cool feeling to be flying through the middle of nowhere. <br>- Admired the scenery. Most of western Texas is gorgeous. It's covered in hills and steppes and ...

... Maybe I'll do that next. Or work in the gift shop. Did I mention that they are committed to serving local, organic foods and that Caverns have a 0% carbon footprint? Good work. Ah... the smell of chicken cookin' up on the radiator is so divine! Got this recipe from the gal in the motel room next to me. More caving tomorrow, then off ********** early on Wednesday when I skip out on paying the bill for this hell-hole of a motel. Later...

... was over we decided to call it a night, watch a little Basketball and fall asleep. The movie was defiantly lacking but we watched the whole thing anyways...a pee break was needed so we crept outside the tent to make our way to the closet rest area in site, we quickly noticed that it was frighteningly cold outside. One thing we never thought about was how the desert gets really hot in the day and really REALLY cold at night...we tip toed back and managed to get ...

... it is still $6 for either option, I always do things the hard way, but in this case I did not have that option...dammit. The park services did a good job making this spectacular wonder accessible to all while preserving the natural formations. Prior to riding the elevator, a park ranger briefed the rules; do not touch the formations (to stay people's curiosity a specimen was available to touch at the doors), stay on the ...

... a point of skipping the Interstate in Texas. There's no way I would come close to driving at that speed pulling the trailer. The trailer isn't stable when I get over 70. Once I'm off the Interstate and heading towards New Mexico I have a thought. I'm driving the final hour through Texas and I haven't seen any indications of the land based Oil Industry. Houston is the USA's Oil Capital. I had seen the offshore drilling rigs, but no pump jacks ...

... west Texas - about 100 miles from El Paso. One is treated to stunning views of arid, mountainous, and vastly uninhabited land in every direction as far as the eye can see. (Also did the McCittrick Canyon Trail - very pretty 5 mile hike along a creek bed w/Fall colors). Below are some pictures and a video clip from the trail &amp; peak of Guadalupe Mountain.

... seen and we walked back to the house with mule manure in our flip flops. Thanks, Bob! Pooja was already asleep when we arrived because she had to wake up early, but we stayed up a few hours with the cuz. Actually, during our two day stay at their house, we never were able to see Pooja. I'm hoping Cousin Beth and I will have better luck on our way back through Albuquerque in July. That's all for now. More to come later. ~Cathy

... across the border into Ciudad Juarez, which was quite interesting. The main reason to go there was to check out prices, and hopefully buy, some of my medications that were supposed to be sooooo much cheaper in Mexico. Well, they weren't as much of a bargain as I had hoped, but I did buy one of the most expensive ones that costs $150 in the U.S. but only $57 in Juarez, so that made it worthwhile. We left El Paso Monday afternoon, and took a sort of side trip into New ...