Rolling into the Southwest

We've had a busy week!
When we left New Orleans, we drove to Galveston, TX  and stayed in a resort park at Jamaica Beach right across from the Gulf of Mexico.  I was able to get Bill into the salt water, which wasn't much colder than the air.  Delicious.

When we left there, we drove along the gulf and checked into Choke Canyon State Park in Calliham, TX.  We had a very secluded site with views of a lake.  Very tame deer came out to feed at dusk and in the morning, rabbits were munching on the grass. 

We had one very long travel day and stopped for the night at a rest stop populated with tractor trailer rigs.  There was an impressive thunderstorm while we were there.

The next morning Peggy and John went their own way and we went ours to Carlsbad Caverns.  What a treat!!  The caves where enormous, and not at all what we expected.

Click here to check it out!

The next day we drove to Roswell, NM and visited the International UFO Museum and Research Center which was definitely on my BUCKET LIST. Very informational and exciting for a UFO/alien buff like me.

We drove west after that to Valley of Fires Recreational Area. 

"Valley of Fires recreation area is located immediately adjacent to the Malpais Lava Flow. Approximately 5,000 years ago, Little Black Peak erupted and flowed 44 miles into the Tularosa Basin, filling the basin with molten rock. The resulting lava flow is four to six miles wide, 160 feet thick and covers 125 square miles. The lava flow is considered to be one of the youngest lava flows in the continental United States.

From a distance, Valley of Fires appears as barren rock but when you walk through the nature trail there are many varieties of flowers, cactus, trees and bushes typical of the Chihuahuan desert. Animals include bats, roadrunners, quail, cottontails, mule deer, barberry sheep, and lizards. It's also a virtual birdwatcher's paradise with great horned owls, burrowing owls, turkey vultures, hawks, gnat catchers, cactus wrens, sparrows and golden eagles."

This place was surreal.  We camped on a small island of untouched lad, smack in the middle of a lava field.

  Click this picture for a slide show.

We joined Peggy and John at Elephant Butte RV Resort in Elephant Butte, NM.

Our next adventure will be Albuquerque!