Category: New Mexico

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Arizona New Mexico Utah WanderLog

Road Trip Time! New Mexico & Arizona + a Weekend in Moab

Leaving Lubbock, TX we only had about a week to make it all the way to Sandy, UT for my sister’s wedding on March 17th. We knew that sticking around Texas would make that trip a sprint, but the kids were up for it and we were able to set a fast pace that wasn’t too incredibly insane. We had also wanted to see this part of New Mexico and Arizona for a few years, and driving somewhere new is always exciting!

Travel Dates: March 8-13, 2017

Our first stop was the Very Large Array after an incredibly long drive across almost the entire state of New Mexico.

My initial reaction to the VLA was, “That’s all the telescopes there are?” In the movie Contact,  there are over a hundred of the radio telescopes, when in reality there are 27. Amazing what visual effects could do even back then.  We arrived around 3pm and spent some time exploring the  Karl G. Jansky Visitor Center. They have an extremely good movie with an overview of how the telescopes work, the history, and various projects that have been conducted using the VLA. Its also narrated by Jodi Foster (chuckle). After the video we bundled up and headed out into the wind for the walking tour.

“I’ve wanted to see the Very Large Array since we started traveling, and today was the day. This multi-receiver antenna stimulates one huge radio telescope out of 27 ‘small’ dishes. I say ‘small’, because they are 90 feet high and weigh 230 tons.” -@telegramsam

“The 27 dishes of the VLA are arranged in a Y shape. The individual signals are combined with serious computing power. The VLA has appeared in multiple movies including Contact, but the array might appear different in person than you expect.
The array itself has 4 different configurations, which they switch between every few months by moving the dishes closer or further apart. Right now, the array is in the ‘D’ configuration, with the dishes spanning only a .62 mile diameter circle. The ‘A’ configuration is the largest, spreading the dishes across a 22 mile diameter circle! Each configuration allows detection of different cosmic materials.

Also, in the movie Contact the array was expanded digitally to include 131 dishes for visual effect.” -@telegramsam

Cara’s ears got a little cold so she stole my favorite Aventura Clothing hat. She looked so darn cute I was tempted to buy another one just for her!

“Our long drive across New Mexico yesterday took us right past the Very Large Array. @telegramsam has literally been waiting three years to see this and was like a kid in a candy shop. I was surprised there were not more of the radio telescopes. Have you ever seen the movie Contact? Turns out you can take 27 dishes and turn them into 181 or so with digital manipulation magic. We also found out there is a small visitor center and a walking tour. We spent about an hour learning how astronomers and scientists move the dishes around in different configurations and use radio waves to take pictures in space. Science is so cool.” -@currentlywandering

We spent Monday night nearby at the Datil Well Campground.  We were sure there would be no Verizon service, but surprisingly it was quite good! at 7,400 feet elevation it was definitely chilly (with spots of snow still!) but we took our time in the morning to get going. I got in a trail run, Sam got work done, and was even able to fly the drone a bit.

Once we got moving around lunchtime we drove through Pie Town, New Mexico. With a name like that we absolutely HAD to stop for pie and met some fabulous people at The Gatherin’ Place. We bought two small pies: boysenberry and a ginger pie. I think we should have bought at least 6 more as they were so good!

By late Tuesday afternoon we arrived near the entrance to Petrified Forest National Park. The Crystal Forest Gift Shop has free overnight RV Parking (I think you can stay for 4 days) so we grabbed a spot in the empty lot. The kids and I drove in to the Rainbow Forest Visitor Center/Museum to  grab our Jr. Ranger Books while Sam got in an hour of work. We played in the Visitor Center, watched the video, and then walked the Great Logs nature path outside before heading back for dinner.

Wednesday morning we hitched up the Airstream for a drive through the National Park. We stopped at various overlooks, did a short hike or two, toured the Painted Desert Inn, and finished with passing off our books and lunch at the Painted Desert Visitor Center. Glad we could check this one off our list, but Petrified Forest was definitely not our favorite park.

Driving north we stopped at the Hubbell Historic Trading post in the late afternoon. Once again the kids and I worked on Jr. Ranger books while Sam got some paid work done in the Airstream. The kids had a blast dressing up and pretending to be traders, and we all loved watching the volunteer work the loom. It was a short stop, but a nice way to break up a long drive! We finally landed at Canyon de Chelly National Monument and grabbed a spot in the campground.

“Today felt like an actual road trip. We drove through national parks, stopped at a bunch of places and saw tons of things. We covered miles at a much faster rate than normal as we head North for family stuff. It was really fun to have a change of pace, even if that pace is faster than normal.” -@telegramsam

“Legit road trip today as we towed the Airstream through Petrified Forest National Park & stopped by Hubbell Historic Trading Post on our way to the campground at Canyon de Chelly National Monument. Lots of car dancing, audio books, music, viewpoints, Jr. Ranger Books, and some short hikes. We figure road tripping is something we should legitimately do at least once a year. 😂 “- @currentlywandering

“We moved fast this week, leaving Lubbock on Monday and arriving in Moab on Friday. We drove every day with visits to cool places along the way. We visited the VLA, ate Pie Town pies, explored Petrified Forest, creaked the boards at the Hubbell Trading Post, and hiked this beautiful view at Canyon de Chelly. We moved fast to stage for a wedding in the family next week in Northern Utah.” -@telegramsam

Thursday morning we got going early to hike the one public trail down into Canyon de Chelly. It was fairly steep, but gorgeous with White House Ruins at the bottom of the canyon. We also drove down to the Spider Rock overlook which was an easy walk from the car. The Canyon is in the Navajo Nation, so any further exploration of the canyon has to be done with a native guide and we just didn’t have time for that.

Thursday afternoon we made it to Blanding, UT where we had planned to camp at a National Forest campground north of town. Turns out it was still closed. Until May. Oops. We ended up moochdocking at a friend’s house instead which turned out fabulous as the kids got plenty of play time in! These friends are practically family, and it was great to catch up with them even if only for a night.

Friday morning we left around lunchtime and drove the two short hours up to Moab and the Moab Valley RV Resort where we had reservations. The kids immediately wanted to swim in the heated pool (naturally) and it felt good to finally be settled for a few days! Friday night, Steve & Tess from @themorewexplore came over and the four of us went a bike/dinner double date. We love having an 11 year old who can babysit, and honestly, they get made if we come home too early! After riding, we ended up at the Moab Brewery and stayed until they closed around 10pm. Steve & Tess are an awesome, outdoor adventure, Airstream couple and we totally hit it off right away. We are planning a canoe trip with them for the end of April and can’t wait!

“What’s the first thing we do after arriving in Moab? 🚲 Okay, okay, in my defense I took the kids to the RV park pool first and THEN we hooked up with @themoreweexplore for a double bike/dinner date. This whole hanging out with adventure Airstream friends is pretty awesome.” -@currentlywandering

“One thing I love about Moab is there is so much variety! We normally dry camp or boondock, but this time we splurged a bit and stayed at Moab Valley RV Park and Resort. We aren’t normally impressed by RV parks but we loved staying here. Giant chess & checker sets, pool & hot tub, full hookups (such a nice treat!), across the street from the bike path, and 10 minutes from Arches National Park. Plus, they have the cutest cabins you can rent which was perfect for my brother’s family in town from Minnesota.” -@currentlywandering

We swam, mountain biked, and then Sunday afternoon my brother and his family arrived from Minnesota. They were also out for the wedding but wanted to get some sight seeing in while they were in Utah. We had so much fun playing with cousins! Monday morning we packed up our two families (Sam stayed behind to work as he needed to take time off later in the week) and drove into Arches National Park for some exploring. My sister-in-law had never hiked Delicate Arch so that was our first destination. The park was not TOO crowded since it was still early, and we had a great time hiking up the hill to the arch.

“We spent a beautiful day exploring Arches National Park with my brother & his family today. The kids loved hanging out with their cousins and it was great to catch up with family! The hike to Delicate Arch is not my favorite (not super pretty and too many people) but this view is one of my favorites!” -@currentlywandering

We ate lunch down at the Devil’s Garden picnic area, and then took the short hike to Sand Dune Arch where the kids had fun running up and down the dune. By that time we were pretty done, so my kids and I drove out to pass of our Jr. Ranger Books (earning them for the 2nd time!) and to get home for dinner. We topped off the day with some after dinner swimming and then all the kids collapsed into bed!

Tuesday morning we packed up our bags, dropped the Airstream off for the week and drove just the truck up to Sandy to stay with family for the wedding!

Categories
National Parks New Mexico

Backpacking & Sledding in White Sands National Monument, New Mexico

"White Sands National Monument is one of those other-worldly places. Located in southern New Mexico this park is truly one of a kind. We visited three years ago on our initial trip from Virginia to Utah and the kids have been begging to go back. When we decided to stay west this winter they unanimously voted White Sands as the one place they wanted to visit for sure.

Travel Dates: February 17-18, 2017

Ages of Kids: 11, 9, 6

Where to Stay: There is no campground for trailers in White Sands National Monument. However, Lake Holloman is a free option about 5 minutes from the entrance, or Oliver Lee Memorial State Park is about 30 minutes away.

Where to Get Sleds: The Albertson’s in Alamagordo sells sleds (usually) but you can also get them from the Gift Shop through the courtyard and past the Visitor Center desk. At the time new disks were $16 and used were $10. They will also buy them back once you are done ($7 new and $3 used I believe).

We arrived Airstream in tow and parked in the Visitor Center lot where they have ample room for bigger vehicles. We went inside, grabbed our Junior Ranger books and headed to watch the video about the park. Unfortunately about this time a school group came through so we didn’t explore the exhibits further. After about 15 or 20 minutes of working distractedly on their books, the kids looked up at me and said, “Mom? Can we just go sledding?”

I realized we weren’t going to get anything else done before we hit the slopes as it were, so we bought used sleds from the Gift Shop for $10 each, some wax, and loaded up for the drive into the park.

I love that the parking lots are HUGE and we can just drive our entire Airstream into the park. The best dunes are located near the end of the one way, teardrop shaped loop. We parked near the Alkali Flat Trailhead where there were multiple large dunes to choose from.

We also met up with both @liddleadventures and @thefamilycan so it was a full day of friends and sun! We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day.

With cloudless blue skies, and warm temperatures, our visit this time was totally different. We basked in the sun wearing shorts and short sleeves, and even had to apply sunscreen in order to not be burnt. It felt like the perfect beach day and we were up and down the dunes for hours.

At one point in a conversation with another family, we were musing about the back country camping in the park. There is a loop for tenters and we joked about pulling out our tents and just staying the night.

And then we totally did.

Sam drove back to the Visitor Center to grab a permit (first come, first served) and I double checked to make sure we had enough food to pack in for dinner and then breakfast the next morning. Around 3pm our friends both took off for their next destinations and we set about packing up our overnight gear and prepping food.

Once we were ready, we drove to the backpacker trail head, parked the trailer and set of into the sunset for our short one mile hike to campsite #2. Cara insisted on bringing a sled and pulled it behind her as we followed the orange markers out over the dunes.

We got to camp and hurriedly set up our tents before it got dark. In hindsight, we could have timed things to arrive just a little bit sooner, but honestly the kids were having so much fun sledding with their friends that I’m not sure we would change anything.

Have you ever had a random idea to turn a one day visit into a backcountry overnight trip? Me eithe…. Yeah. That happened. In our travels, we have learned to say Yes when adventure calls. That is how we ended up hiking into the otherworldly scene displayed here. We found our campsite amidst the dunes just before nightfall. Staying overnight allowed us to experience not only the late evening and early morning unavailable to daytime visitors, but also a brilliantly bright full moon. -@telegramsam

Hooray for a spontaneous backpacking trip! While sledding yesterday in White Sands National Park we decided to grab a back country permit and stay the night. With a full moon, plenty of stars, and a gorgeous sunrise we definitely made the right decision! -@currentlywandering

Camping on the dunes is prohibited so all of the camp sites are nestled in valleys between dunes. We settled into our little spot, made dinner, and the kids managed a final sled before bed.

One of the perks of staying the night was the ability to see both sunset and sunrise in the park. Sunset over the gypsum sand was pure magic. Depending on the time of year, the park can close before sunset actually occurs which I think is totally sad. The rangers drive through the park at closing announcing over a loudspeaker that everyone needs to leave. I’m grateful we were able to just stand and enjoy it.

At first we were excited there was a full moon and then we realized that its really hard to sleep when its so bright outside! Sam, Rachel, and I went for a walk at 10pm with no headlamp (and no shoes honestly) to try and bring on some sleep. I didn’t even try to capture any star photos as the moon would have just washed them out.

“The moon was full last night, and as it shone upon the brilliant white sand around us, it lit up the night in a way I have never seen before. It was bright enough to allow a late night wander without any light at all. It was so bright that we had moon shadows. It was so bright that we had trouble falling asleep. It was indeed otherworldly.” -@telegramsam

We had plans to be 5 hours south of White Sands by Saturday night, so were were up and out of camp early the following morning. We had a quick breakfast of Cliff Bars, fruit strips, and hot chocolate before making our way back to the trailer. Halfway there we realized the Visitor Center didn’t open until 9am (we needed to turn in our Jr. Ranger books) so we slowed down a bit and got some more sledding in.

Backpacking trips that involve sand dunes and sledding are much more fun. -@currentlywandering

I love that we could revisit one of our favorite places and the experience was so different than last time. White Sands is definitely a unique visit and camping in the back country made the visit even more special.

Categories
National Parks Nevada New Mexico Oregon Utah Virginia

From Virginia’s Luray Caverns to Oregon’s Lava River Cave, and 4 caves in between

We might have a cave obsession. Check out the ones we've visited East coast to West coast!

As we were waiting for our tour to start in the Lehman Caves, Sam and I started discussing how many caves we had actually been to in the last year. We started counting and realized this was our fourth is just the last year! Not only that, the locations of these caves ranged from Virginia to New Mexico and even into Nevada.

The best part is that each cave is unique and we learn something new with each cave we visit. Stalactites (they hold tight to the ceiling), stalagmites (they are mighty to the earth), columns, cave bacon, drapery, flowstone all became words that were familiar and part of our vocabulary.

Our kids can now easily identify these formations and love to refer to the joining of a stalagmite and stalactite as a “stalag-marriage”. Technically its called a column, but their version is much more fun.

Here’s a rundown on the caves we’ve visited to date and what we thought about them:

Luray Caverns, Virginia

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This cave is privately owned in Virginia, and the first cave in our series. Being privately held, Luray doesn’t have exactly the same rules for the preservation of the cave. They do a great job, but the different rules allow for the existence of The Stalactite Organ. This very interesting instrument is created by locating cave features that sound a particular note when struck. Small actuators (hammers) gently strike the cave feature when the associated key is pressed, and the notes sound throughout the cave. During our tour, we stood quietly in front of the organ while a few musical pieces were played on the organ. This musical experience made Luray Caverns a unique experience.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico

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We wrote a blog post about this already, but in short, when people ask our kids what their favorite place is Carlsbad is usually in the top 3. We LOVED it. A couple of points to reiterate:

  • Walk down the natural entrance and take the elevator back up. The walk down is awesome.
  • Get the audio tour wand for your kids. And one for you in case they don’t want to share (which ours didn’t).
  • Be prepared for a scrub down if you’ve visited any other caves in the last 6 months as they are trying to avoid the spread of White Nose Syndrome (for the bats!).
  • The bats aren’t there in the winter. 🙁 Sad, I know. They are in Mexico somewhere.
  • There is a spot to eat snacks down near the (closed – just in the off season?) snack shop.

Carlsbad Caverns are not the biggest caves in the USA, but they ARE the most decorated caves. The cave features were plentiful and easy to appreciate.

Timpanogos Caves National Monument, Utah

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Since this cave is located only about 25 minutes from our Lehi House I can’t believe we had never gone before! Once we got into the Jr. Ranger Spirit, we determined this was a must-do during our brief stay in the area while selling our house. Cave tours fill up pretty fast on weekends, but a month before your scheduled date you can call or buy tickets on their website which we did.

Unlike any of the other caves we have visited, this was not located near the visitor center and required a 1 mile hike practically straight up the mountain. It was steep, but paved. You sign up for a time to meet at the visitor center and then your cave tour starts 1.5 hours later. I was thinking, “wow! That’s a really long time to hike only 1 mile” and yet, we made it to the top with only about 10 minutes to spare. The kids really did take quite a while to hike, but we had had friends, grandparents, and my sister hiking with us so it made the journey fun.

Timpanogos is known for its helictite formations as there is a room completely full of them! These are fun because as my kids stated once, they look like “Medusa’s hair” all curly, squiggly, and coming straight out of the wall due to water pressure.

Lehman Caves, Great Basin National Park, Nevada

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Lehman Caves is located within Great Basin National Park and run by the National Park Service. We loved our tour guide and she gave some great information about the formations as well as the history. She was also super patient with our kids who HAD to be at the front of the group and pepper her with questions and “did you know?” statements.

I always think its fun when you can see the natural entrance, or where the original discoverers entered the cave for the first time. This is a medium-sized cave with a couple of larger caverns as well as some tighter tunnel like passageways. We learned about shield formations is this cave as it was the first one we’d been to that had any. This cave is not strenuous in the slightest, so they don’t allow water, backpacks, or anything at all in the caves during the tours.

Oregon Caves National Monument

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Oregon Caves fall a bit in the middle ground of our cave experiences. It’s smaller and less decorated than Carlsbad, but a longer journey than Lehman and Timpanogos Caves. There is both a height and stair agility requirement to enter the caves, and Cara barely passed the height and rocked the stair test.

In one of the rooms of the caves, they used to tap on the formations to play music. They don’t do that anymore, but our guide did play some stalactite music recorded in Luray Caverns. It was kind of neat to have been in Luray Caverns and heard the music played in person. The Oregon caves are cold caves, and we were glad to have brought our coats, gloves, and hats.

A lodge is present at the caves as well, and a diner style restaurant that serves delicious milkshakes and burgers. While working on the kids Junior Ranger workbooks that the stream that flows from the cave flows right through the dining room of the lodge and out the other side. The workbook also guided us to find some significant historical facts about the early access to the caves.

Bend Lava Tubes, Oregon

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The Lava tubes are different from our other caves, in that it isn’t strictly a cave that grows formations. The cave is an empty lava tube that is gradually filling in with sand. (We’ve already done a Wandering Update video on this. Check it out!)

The entrance is large, and though the cave varies in size along it’s length, it never constricts to the level that the other caves did. Walking the middle section of the tube was a little like walking in an abandoned subway tunnel complete with massive domed sections. This is definitely a place to bring a bright flashlight: Our super, crazy, bright flashlight barely lit the top of the larger sections. Both lanterns and flashlights are available for rent at the cave entrance.

There’s some things we’ve learned along the way. Our kids love it when we don’t have a guide, but those caves are usually less decorated and exciting for the adults. Audio tours are better than live tour guides in their opinions. Also – how the caves are lit plays a huge roll in how we see them. Looking over our pictures, my favorites are from Luray Cavers where the lighting was excellently done.

We defnitely have more caves on our list to visit! Lava Beds, Lassen Volcanic National Monument, and some in Idaho just for starters. While not crazy spelunkers, we do enjoy ourselves a good jaunt underground!

Categories
Featured Destination National Parks New Mexico

White Sands National Monument, New Mexico

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Layer upon layer of gypsum sand scattered across miles of sweeping dunes. With promises of sledding and fun we excitedly geared up for an afternoon of exploring.

When we visited: January 23, 2014

Ages of kids: 8, 6, 3

Tips: Plastic bottomed boogie boards work really well as sleds.

“Mom? Is that snow?” One of the kids called from the back seat. “It sure looks like it!”

And it did. There was a even a plow.

The kids had begged and begged all winter to go someplace with snow. This was their first year away from Utah’s snowy, wintery, weather and I think they were feeling the lack of powdery goodness. However, with a promise of  “sanding” at White Sands National Monument, I think we kept them more or less at bay.

When we arrived mid-morning, it was cold enough outside that we bundled up. Coats, scarves, hats, and even gloves were employed to combat the New Mexico chill. Once the kids stepped out onto the crisp, white, sand however, all thoughts of shoes were forgotten. The ranger had even told us to make sure we took our shoes off to feel how delicate, fine, and soft the sand felt compared to the beach. Having just come from Florida a few months earlier we definitely wanted to make that comparison. The shoes never made it back on.

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Cara was content to sit and play with her sand toys, not really interested in the activities of her older siblings. Somehow Rachel became determined that Cara needed the experience of coasting down the white dunes, and gently prodded, coached, and enticed her on to the front of her boogie board turned sled. And then halfway down, Andrew had to jump on the back as well.

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After a few minutes of play, I retreated to the Airstream to make grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch while watching the kids out the kitchen window and listening to their screams of delight through the cracked door.

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Although we did one short hike, earned a Jr. Ranger Badge, and even met up with the coolest British traveling family, sanding was definitely the highlight of our visit.

Categories
Featured Destination National Parks New Mexico

Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico

I’ve wanted to visit Carlsbad Caverns National Park for months, so when we dashed through Southern New Mexico on our way to Disneyland it was definitely on the short list. It didn’t disappoint.

When We Visited: January 2014

Ages of Kids: 8, 6, 3

Where We Stayed: Brantley Lake State Park. About a 30 minute drive.

Best Tip: Get the kids audio tour wand. It was SO worth it. We probably should have gotten 2 instead of making them share, but we were being cheap. We learned a lot about the discovery of the cave, the exploration, the formations, and other interesting facts. Hunting down the numbers and then punching them into the wand easily kept our kids entertained.

2nd Best Tip: Walk down and ride the elevator out.

When we went to get our tickets, the ranger asked if we had visited any other caves within the last 6 months. We did a quick calculation in our heads and realized that we had been to the Luray Caverns in VA last October, and yes, that was less than 6 months ago. In order to keep the bat population healthy, and prevent White-nose syndrome you can’t take any equipment, clothing, or gear from cave to cave without washing it in HOT water first. Uhhhh…. So, we switched out our backpack, assumed we had all washed our jackets, and sat down on the floor to get started on our Jr. Ranger Badges while the ranger whisked away our shoes to give them a scrub. 30 minutes later we finally were able to head down to the caves.

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Carlsbad has an elevator system that will whisk you down to the main chambers, but we opted for the longer, walk-in entry. It was beautiful! Carlsbad is one of the most decorated caves. It is beautiful! We learned all about stalagmites, stalactites, columns, straws, popcorn, and other fun facts. The only problem I had is that our kids generally like to talk above a whisper and because everything echoes we had to keep telling them to be quiet. Total downer for everyone as I hate constantly getting after them, but I didn’t want to ruin the experience for all the other tourists down there.

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There are many ranger led tours you can get tickets for, but all the kids have to be at least 4 years old. Since Cara didn’t qualify, we opted for  the self-guided tour instead. Coupled with the audio tour wands, it was the perfect experience. Our kids did great walking down and and around the two largest caverns, but by the end they were pretty worn out!

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After our cave tour, we rode the elevator back out and then grabbed our lunch from the car and enjoyed the view and our late lunch. The view from outside the caves was also pretty nice, but fairly windy on the day we went. We also visited outside of bat season, so we’ll have to return to see the bats in action.

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