Hear we go again! Life with Mike!: Our travels to Carlsbad, New Mexico and beyond!

We arrived at Carlsbad and spent the first night in a tent site, it was a very nice site. It was in what they call a tent village. Nice level and grassy sites with water and electric split into four sites with a partial cover over the sites with post fencing between each site.
It was still a little to chilly to tent at night although the day temps were in the 80's and 90's, so the second night we got a cabin there.
The campground itself was the cleanest and most up to date campground that we stayed at on our whole trip. I based all the other KOA's compared to this one. The restrooms and shower area's were all tiled, it was like being in a nice hotel. I would definitely stay there again. They also cooked meals there if you wanted and they would deliver to your site. We were there to early to enjoy the pool, that was true of all the KOA's we went to, to early in the season.

Entering New Mexico!

Entrance to Carlsbad, KOA.

Front of KOA store, check-in.

Another view of front.

Our cabin we stayed at the second night!

The caverns were very dark inside, as you walked through all the formations looked kind of gray. It took me a while to realize it, but when you used the flash all the colors showed up, dah! As you can see from the video they are quite colorful when they are exposed to light. The walk down into the caverns becomes very steep but manageable. Our toes hurt when we got done from the walk down from the pressure of our feet hitting the end of our shoes from the steepness of the decline. It was one of the biggest caves I have ever been in. Some of the rooms were huge and very tall. At the end of the tour before going back up, (we took the elevator back up to the top) they had a snack bar and gift shop along with rest rooms inside the cave, just to give you an idea how big some of the rooms were. I did not think to take pics of the snack-gift shop area, but I did get the one of the entrance to the restrooms, thought it funny to see them in there. I wonder if they were there when the cave was first discovered, lol! I would have enjoyed the walk back up, but my wife never would have made it!

After we went to Carlsbad Caverns we also went to the Living Desert and Zoo in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Below is a video of the trip to that. It was as enjoyable as the caverns. It is a state run Park that has nice ground settings with some wildlife. Of course we were there in the heat of the day, so the animals were not very active, but could be seen. I think it was only $5.00 per person to get in and to me it was worth it. It is a relaxing self guided walk through tour that takes about 1 hour or so.

Our next stop was White Sands National Monument. It was really nice, I enjoyed walking the dunes and watching the kids play and sled down the dunes. There were picnic tables set up in the parking areas that were covered to block out the sun along with charcoal grills. People brought chairs and umbrella's there also. It was like being at the beach without the water. I love the sun and heat, and the sands were nice and white, hence the name. Of course on the way in you pass the White Sands Military base. Here is a video of the White Sand National Park.

These are some Miscellaneous pics from New Mexico as we made our way around to all our stops.

Road coming into Carlsbad Caverns.

Somewhere along the way.

Aliens, aliens, must be in Roswell, it is, it is!

In Roswell, New Mexico.

Self explanitory!

The Largest Pistachio Sculpture

The giant pistachio nut is 30 ft. high, it is located on Hwy 54 between Alamogordo and Tularosa, in New Mexico. The sculpture was built by Bar M Construction. It contains 5 yards of concrete and is covered by around 35 gallons of paint. It is anchored by thick concrete 4-ft in diameter and 9 feet down.