Beginning Travels in New Mexico

2011 April  24

Beginning Travels in New Mexico 

If you read my last post, you know that I was awestruck by Carlsbad Caverns National Park. That was basically, our first stop in New Mexico, as we traveled route 176 from Texas into New Mexico. We stayed at White's City RV Resort just seven miles from CCNP. We would've stayed longer in that area, and revisited CCNP, except that the RV park in White's City was closing for a few days for repaving. I'm sure that if we are in that area again, we will be checking out more of Carlsbad Caverns.

From Carlsbad, we drove north on US 285 into Roswell, NM. One of the people we met on our travels in Florida had suggested Carlsbad and also, Roswell. Since Carlsbad was such a spot on recommendation, we decided to give Roswell a shot. 

We stayed in a lovely, small, family run RV park called, Trailer Village. It was pleasant, the owners were very nice and we met some lovely folks there. Since I don't put a lot of stock in the whole "Alien" thing, we didn't do the UFO Museum, or any of those things. Our stay there was mostly about planning our NM route and recharging ourselves. I would recommend Trailer Village, though, if you're going to be in the Roswell area. It was relatively cheap, at $27.00 per night with our Good Sam discount. If you pay in cash, or by check, it is even cheaper. The bathroom were clean, WiFi was free, and there is a convenience store less than half a mile away.

The openness of New Mexico, with Mountains in the distance

Leaving Roswell, we were undecided as to whether to continue north or to head west. We opted to take a scenic route, southwest toward Tularosa. It was beautiful! So we then continued in our southwest trajectory toward Las Cruces, again along a scenic route, which took us through White Sands National Monument.  Again, beautiful! But in such a different way. Initially on our scenic byway we were astounded by the mountains off in the distance and the changing colors of the sand and rocks. As we approached Tularosa, we could see the edge of White Sands shimmering off in the distance, in the early afternoon sun. It remind us both of salt flats. So, when we came to the entrance to White Sands National Monument, we pulled into the parking lot. There was no admission fee since we visited during National Parks Week, but the usual fee is $3. The Visitors Center had a short film about the area, which was very informative. There was also the opportunity to drive a 16 mile loop through this amazing dune field. In addition, WSNM also offers full moon camping and Ranger led tours.

Loved this quote at the White Sands National Monument

World's Largest Pistachio Statue

We also stopped at Alamogordo to visit a pistachio farm and winery. There are several to close from in the Alamogordo area. Our choice was the one with the largest pistachio statue. The pistachio wine was good, though a bit sweet. However, the pistachios were delicious. We tried the plain, garlic and ranch. They were all very good.

All in all, New Mexico was proving to be very interesting and we still had plenty of time to explore more of the state before our adventure moves on to Arizona in early May.

Next up, New Mexico's State Parks.