We are in San Antonio, Texas!

Mile 1674

Sorry, we had some battery issues and weren't able to get an internet connection until now. It is Friday afternoon and we are in San Antonio, Texas. Our friend Wayne was kind enough to let us rest up, get a couple of showers and recharge our batteries (literally!) at his house here. We haven't had a chance to recharge anything since we've been on the road. So the laptop, digital camera, cell phones and DVD player were all running quite low on power. Our only regret was that Wayne wasn't around at the time. He left a key for us to let ourselves in, but we never got to see him. A lot has happened since leaving Las Cruces, so here's the latest:


After our last post at Milagro Coffee on Thursday morning, we headed straight for White Sands National Monument in southwest New Mexico. Doesn't look like much from the outside, but once you drive in... wow! What an amazing place! We had tons of fun racing up and down the dunes of finely ground, pure white sand! It looks like snow! It was very empty too. You could pick your own spot, park the car and not see anyone else around at all. White Sands is the world's largest surface deposit of gypsum, the mineral from which plaster of Paris is made. Most desert sands are composed of quartz and are much more coarse than the fine, powdery consistency of White Sands. Also, unlike other desert sands, they are cool to the touch, due to the high rate of evaporation of surface moisture and also to the fact that the sands reflect, rather than absorb, the sun's rays. Didn't think you'd be getting a science lesson here, did you? If you ever get the chance, White Sands is very much worth the detour off of Interstate 10.


Roswell, not so much. But to be fair, we didn't spend very much time there at all. Roswell, New Mexico is famous for being the site of an alleged UFO incident in 1947. We got there at about 2:30pm and we were running short on time, so we barely had enough time to snap a quick photo. We went to the UFO Museum and Research Center to take a photo from the outside. After being invited (twice!) to come into the dog-friendly museum, we scored a free stuffed alien to play with from the gift shop lady. Unfortunately, we just didn't have any time to spend there. How ironic that the one place that insisted that dogs were welcome, and we just didn't have the time to stay.

After we made our quick exit from Roswell, we had to hurry because Carlsbad Caverns National Park closes their cave entrance at 5pm. The Carlsbad Caverns are one of the largest networks of underground chambers in the world. We made it just in time at mile 1066 twenty minutes before they stopped letting people into the cave. Of course, no dogs are allowed so we had to stop by the kennel at the visitor center, but we made it in time. And we were so glad we made it! What an amazing, amazing place! We had enough time to hike the "Big Room" at a leisurely pace. The Big Room route, just one of the many tours you take in the caverns, is a one-mile, self-guided underground walk around the perimeter of the largest room in the cave. It takes about an hour to complete. The Big Room, which begins at about 750 feet below the surface, is large enough to hold more than six football fields. The sheer size is mind boggling. It's hard to believe the caverns are natural formations because they look like something you would see on a ride at Disneyland. After the cavern hike we stuck around for a nightly event at the cave entrance. Every night at dusk, what seems like millions of bats exit the cave to feed for the evening. The swarm of bats can go on for over two hours!


Both White Sands and Carlsbad Caverns are must sees if you ever get the chance. They are both relatively close to each other. And while you can't bring your dog into the caverns themselves, you can at least bring your dog along to both places. The dunes provide endless opportunities for "crazy runs" up and down the slopes.


We crossed the border into Texas and the Central time zone at mile 1236 at 8:58pm/9:58pm. Thursday night, we crashed in Ft. Stockton, TX. All of Friday morning was spent driving across the western half of Texas to San Antonio. It takes a looooooooong time to drive across Texas! When we finally got there, we grabbed a quick lunch on the Riverwalk and stopped to visit the Alamo. Much smaller that you might think it would be. After that we took the quick trip south over to Wayne's house.