Guadelupe Mountain National Park

Guadelupe Mountain National Park, with the tallest peak in Texas, is located in northwestern Texas, very close to Carlsbad Caverns National Park. It was only created in 1973. A man had purchased most of this property and then donated it to the National Park Service. The camping area is simply a parking lot with spots marked like parking spots. There is no water or electricity. Despite this, it was beautiful and we had the first cooler night in Snoopy. During the night it blew hard, shaking Snoopy and keeping Bob awake worrying about whether it would blow away or turn over. We met our neighbors, who were a retired National Parks maintenance supervisor and his wife who has volunteered at Carlsbad Caverns for 20 + years. They knew someone in Corvallis who I actually knew - small world.

The next morning we woke up and walked part way up Guadelupe Mountain. The top photo is not Guadelupe Mountain, but El Capitan which is nearby. The second photo shows Guadelupe Mountain. The cacti were in bloom and the color of the sky was amazing.












The bottom photos are of a madrone tree and the bark of a tree.




We then continue on to Carlsbad Caverns National Park. When we got there we decided to open Snoopy to house Darwin instead of placing him in the kennel. I tried to help out and unlocked the roof. The wind was so strong that it flipped up the top, ripping the bungie cords, and landing on top of the car, breaking the end of the luggage rack. We couldn't get the lid/top closed again, but finally with the help of two park employees and a rope managed to close the lid. Darwin had to go into the kennel after all.

Carlsbad Caverns is spectacular. I hadn't been there for over 45 years and Bob had never been. Instead of guided tours, there are now two self-guided tours. You can rent wands into which you punch the number that is listed on a sign to get more information. The advantage is that you're not in a mob of people and can spend as much time as you want. The cave wasn't crowded. The cave is now lighted by a theatrical lighting designer and is very effective. It isn't really bright and focuses on unusual formations. I had forgotten how decorated the cave is. After about three hours, we left, heading towards Mountainair, NM, near Albuquerque.

The drive was realtively boring and when we arrived in Mountainair it was dark and cold and windy. It turned out that all the motel rooms and all the RV spaces in town were occupied by workers on a wind farm project about 20 miles away. We were desperate and the woman took pity on us and said that if we just needed an electric hook up, we could park in front of the office. We did so and in the process of trying to put Snoopy up discovered that I had damaged it more than we thought. It is bent and the four hinges inside don't close easily any more. By the time we got Snoopy set up we were cold and tired. The site was right next to the BNSF mainline and freight trains went past all night. However, we were glad we were warm.