Trip Out West 2010 (Week 2)

It is now the 29th of April and we have been on the road for 17 days. The morning we left Big Bend NP we squeezed in one quick hike to the Hot Springs on the edge of the Rio Grande. We then loaded up and headed for the "ghost town" of Terlinqua on our way to Ft.Davis NHS. We camped at Davis Mountains SP and drove the Davis Mountains Skyline Drive. We also toured Ft. Davis NHS. The next morning we headed for Pecos, TX. The town, the Wal-Mart and the Flying J gas station were all a bust and we were glad to leave that town! We spent that night and the next two in Brantley Lake SP in NM. Man was it ever WINDY! The next day we toured Carlsbad Caverns NP. We did some self guided tours and one with a guide and they were all awesome. The second day there we drove back to TX and did some hiking in the Guadalupe Mountains NP. Along the Smith Springs trail there were 3 natural springs that were just beautiful and the mountains were awesome. From there we headed up over some magnificent mountains (complete with a little snow on the ground) to Holloman AFB where we spent two nights and caught up on some laundry. We drove through White Sands Nat'l Monument the night we arrived and then got up the next morning and hiked a couple of the trails. It would be hard to explain how "other world" like it was. That evening we took a sunset stroll on the dunes and it was very nice. The next morning (the 27th and Carol's birhtday!) we moved to Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque, NM. We drove to Olde Town Albuguergue and shopped and had a wonderful Mexican dinner and then strolled through the town. On the 28th we drove a scenic byway called the Turquoise Trail along with a couple of little side trips. One of those side trips to the top of Sandia Peak (where the views were inspiring in spite of the cold and wind) led us by a quirky little place called Tinkertown. I cannot begin to describe it so Google it and you will understand. We are now headed to the Great Sand Dunes NP in Colorado with a few stops on the way and we will update this again soon.

See the map below to follow our adventures.
Zoom in and click on an icon to see where we have been

Pictures of Week 2 are at this link
http://community.webshots.com/user/rvburroughs5