Visited March 12 - 17, 2021
By Marty
From Dallas/Fort Worth we drove 484 miles west to Carlsbad, NM. Hitting the road at 7:00 a.m. we pulled into the Carlsbad KOA after a nine hour day. 484 miles is our third longest drive of over 100 travel days since August, 2019. We typically drive 100 - 250 miles per day in part because the Beast is more taxing to drive than a regular vehicle. With 60' of motorhome and tow car and a width that takes up most of the lane one must be vigilant at all times (not that one should be unvigilant when driving other vehicles.) While I do enjoy cruising down the highway in the Beast there is more work, most of it the mental variety, involved.
Our motorhome, while a beauty, is actually not really the "Beast" that we make him out to be. The Allegro Red is the "entry level" diesel pusher in the Tiffin line. There are three levels above ours! While we are very happy with our Beast (it's a great value) the loaded Allegro Red weight is "only" 32,000 lbs. The Phaeton weight is 38,000 lbs, the Allegro Bus 41,000 lbs, and the Zephyr 51,000 lbs. With the heavier coaches comes a beefier suspension and smoother ride. Those bigger fellas don't get pushed around by the wind or passing semi trucks the way I do.
Crossing into New Mexico on Friday we entered the Central Time zone and gained an hour. It made the drive shorter and got us there in time for happy hour!
We were pleased to have that extra hour but we only got to enjoy it for a day.... On Sunday daylight savings time kicked in and cruelly stole back our extra hour!
A warm greeting awaited us at the Carlsbad KOA! How did they know where we were from?
Let me tell you about the wind...
On Friday, driving across west Texas, I fought a bit of a head wind and watched my MPG drop slightly over the course of the day. But this was nothing compared to the wind on Saturday and Sunday. Both days were cloudless but you almost wouldn't know it due to the dust filling the air. The sustained winds both days were 35-40 mph with gusts of 50 mph on Saturday and 60 mph on Sunday.
The videos below give you a good idea of what we were dealing with:
The winds were so fierce that we pulled in the slides for most of the weekend. The short video above shows you the slide "toppers" that protect the top of the slides from tree debris and rain. When it's really windy the toppers whip up and down (by design to prevent damage) which can make quite a racket inside. Aside from the racket I worry about the fabric and coil mechanism wearing out and tearing or breaking on me prematurely.
Our world on Saturday and Sunday. It felt like being in a submarine (albeit a tall one with windows.) This is also travel mode. Just wide enough to get to the bathroom and the fridge!
Saturday. I didn't check the air quality index, but it couldn't have been good!
Monday morning
There are signs on the freeways in parts of New Mexico and Arizona telling you how to respond if engulfed by a dust storm. While driving through Carlsbad on the way to Carlsbad Caverns on Sunday we got a small taste of the seriousness of those warnings.
Gee, why the frowny face Marty?
I'll tell you why: We visited Carlsbad for the sole purpose of visiting Carlsbad Caverns NP. The park is about an hour south of our KOA. Due to Covid the park allows only 1,000 visitors per day but does not sell tickets online. We arrived at 9:45 a.m. on Sunday to find that all tickets for the day had been sold. I was completely surprised by that. The ranger told us that people were lined up at 8:00 a.m. when the park opened. I also learned that Spring Break for the ENTIRE state of Texas (population 29 million) is this week. Apparently 1,000 of those Texans made it to Carlsbad Caverns on this particular morning before we did.
The picture above is representative of the many people milling about the visitor center and gift shop on Sunday morning. Because all 1,000 showed up by 8 or 9 am. but most had to wait for timed entry (entry times were from 8:00 am. through noon we were told) many of them chose to kill time by hanging out inside the building (where the wind wasn't blowing at 40-60 mph). In addition to the 1,000 lucky ticket holders how many hundreds of other naive people like Janell and me who drove to the park and were in and around the building? Thus the NPS "Covid safe" limit of 1,000 people in the Cavern resulted in several hundred people mingling in close proximity inside the building. What's wrong with that plan?
We have visited many attractions during Covid where advance ticket purchase was required and entry limited to specific time slots. I approached a ranger to express my dismay at their lack of such a system. He said that a reservation system was coming soon, in about four days in fact. I checked the NPS site while writing this and there is in fact a reservation system in place now. Better late than never!
We were leaving Carlsbad the next day, so no opportunity to visit the Caverns this time. Perhaps we'll catch it another time.
Hmmm.. What would be the perfect name for the Carlsbad High School mascot? Let me think, let me think....
Go Cavemen!
Pretty big and snazzy stadium for a town of just 29,000 people.
Janell and I play games in the evening sometimes. Not as much now that we are bloggers....
Last week I played this Cribbage hand which totals 20 points. The maximum score in a cribbage hand is 29 points. That's my highest score ever so I saved it for posterity!
We passed through Roswell on our way to Alamogordo. No unusual sightings. Just this sign.
Beep beep!
Can you find the roadrunner in this picture? We almost didn't see him as we walked by from 10' away.
Our Alamogordo destination was chosen in order to visit White Sands National Park, 20 miles away. Heading down the grade from Ruidoso, NM toward Alamogordo you can see the white sands at the base of the distant mountains.
Looks like the tubing hill at a ski resort. Did I mention that it was Spring Break for Texans?
Fortunately White Sands NP is quite large with plenty of areas to park and explore. If you are willing to walk five minutes from the road you can easily get away from the crowds as the following photos will demonstrate.
Alkali Flat trail is a five mile loop hike. I wondered how there could be a "trail" in the sand dunes. These red posts are spaced so that one is always in view as you follow them to work your way around the dunes.
Pretty teeny, but there are are two posts and two people visible in the distance on the right side of the photo. I told you it wasn't crowded.
Janell warned me that we didn't have enough water...
We had to empty our shoes from time to time.
Sandalanche!
The effect is somewhat diminished on the video but a gentle push of the foot at the top of a dune causes a layer of sand to flow down. The dune angle was around 60 degrees.
We are rule followers. They didn't have to threaten to blow us up. We would have stayed out anyway!
White Sands Missile Range is just visible in the distance.
The weather was very pleasant. It was in the high 50's when we started and low 70's when we finished. It was nice to have some shade for lunch though!
That wind was fierce!
ReplyDeleteI've never seen photos of White Sands National park. How beautiful! Thanks for sharing!