It had been just over a month since the last trip and I was ready to go somewhere again. It was August 15, 2019 when I decided to do the first ever family trip out of Philmont. The plan was for my family to fly from Boston to Albuquerque where I would pick them up and drive down to Carlsbad. Originally I was going to do a solo 2 day drive to Carlsbad, but 1,350 miles in 2 days alone while seeing a ton of stuff seemed impossible so I reconsidered. Here is what I chose instead:
Thursday
The first step was the typical 220 mile drive from Philmont to Albuquerque. I had driven this at least 25 times already (data collected from Google Maps) and was sort of an expert at it. After a few hours I arrived at the airport and collected my Mom and Philip. For lunch we joined Brenda and Nana at El Vado. It is a mini street market area that has different food shops. I had a burger from Bosque Burger, Philip probably had a burger too, and Mom got some Salvadorian food. From there we headed to the Sandia Peak tramway.
I had been here before with Ethan and Mark on a hair cut trip, but I couldn’t think of any other quick trips to do . It took 15 minutes to travel to the top of the 10,600 ft mountain. The views from the top were magnificent and I think even Philip had a good time. We walked around for a bit on top and soaked in all the views. After, we took the tram back down and met up with Brenda, Paul, and Nana for a nice dinner at the Slate Street Cafe. After dinner, Philip, Mom, and I headed east towards Clines Corners on Route 66. Back in the day it was a hoppin place, but now it is sort of empty. Clines Corners does have good fudge though. (Good fudge makes it a worthy stop). It was about a 246 mile (2 hour 40 minute) drive through nothing to our hotel in Artesia, New Mexico. It was cheaper to get a hotel here rather than in Carlsbad. For dinner we went to a great Spanish restaurant called La Fonda.
Friday
Thursday was the relaxed portion of the trip whereas Friday was the hardcore planned out day. I used to obsess about being at every place exactly on time. (Sort of the same now, but I’m a bit more relaxed I think) We left Artesia at 7:30am, drove 63 miles, and got to Carlsbad Caverns National park at 9 am. I usually want to get to places right when they open so we can spend the max amount of time seeing things.
I would just like to mention that Carlsbad above ground looks very much like the rest of southern New Mexico: barren of life. The first thing we did underground was check out the main atrium. (I’m not a caver so excuse my lack of cave knowledge). I had gotten us tickets to the Left Hand Tunnel Tour at 9:30am. On this tour you have big candle lanterns like they would’ve had when first exploring the cave. We also had headlamps because we now live in the modern era.
This tour is in an undeveloped part of the cave so there were no sidewalks or railings. That meant that wearing nice shoes is a mistake because you might slip and fall. At some point near the turn around point in the deepest part of the cave (that we went to…it was massive so the tour didn’t go all the way) the guide had us blow out our candles to get that surreal pitch black silent darkness. It was a bit overwhelming to suddenly lose my sight and I can’t imagine being down there a hundred years ago and having my candle blow out. Woah that would be terrifying.
Next on the itinerary was the Kings Palace tour where we got to see a bunch of really cool caverns. We also went to the deepest part of the cave open to the public at 830ft. It was about 110F outside according to my car, so the cool air in the cave was great.
Right after the Kings Palace tour we headed out through the Big Room which has a huuuuge exit tunnel. Good spot for a picture. Next the family was pouting about lunch so we ate at the deserted restaurant next to Carlsbad. It was probably so quiet because of the heat in late August. Wasting no time we then headed to the Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Texas.
It was a short 45 minutes away and basically on the TX/NM border. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to hike it, but I told myself that at some point I’d return to get the job done. This is the highest peak in Texas at 8,751ft. After a bunch of pictures we continued on our way south.
It was a cool 144 miles through West Texas. The drive brought us through these rolling farmlands and had a ton signs that said either “Turn around when flooding don’t drown” or “Road subject to flooding” every mile or so. With a rainstorm on the way you can believe I was putting the pedal to the floor. There was no way a flood would ruin my trip. We finally hit the rain just before the mountain pass to McDonald Observatory and I kid you not it was one of the fiercest storms I’ve ever driven to. Finally at 8pm we arrived unscathed.
The plan was to do an observatory tour / lecture and then look through the telescope to see planets and stars. However there was just one problem: clouds. We walked around for hoping the clouds would go away, but eventually came to the understanding they were there to stay and decided to leave. The last stop of the day was our hotel in Alpine, Texas at 11pm.
Saturday
With no time to waste we left Alpine at 6am and headed to El Paso. (Although I suspect we actually left a bit later because some people can’t resist not having the hotel breakfast.) First stop was the scenic overlook where we got to see the US/Mexican border in all it’s glory. It was also about a thousand degrees so I don’t think we stayed there long. (Highest car temperature to date at 118F on that hill). Next we headed to the main event of the day: Chamizal National Memorial. Basically this is where the US/Mexican border was settled after a 100 year argument. It’s hard to actually see the crossing from here because of all the security and fencing.
After lunch at Wendy’s we drove north back to New Mexico to see White Sands National Monument. I had been before, but the family hadn’t and to make things more interesting we bought a snow sled and some wax to try to sled down the dunes. Well, it didn’t really work because the dunes weren’t that steep, but it was still fun! (At the end of the year I had no idea what to do with the sled so I left it at Philmont).
Next on the list was possibly the biggest waste of time on the whole trip. We went to Spaceport America. It is a rocket launching site home of Virgin Galactic among other well-known rocket companies. Looking online I was under the impression we could just show up and do a short self guided tour. WRONG! When we got there the security guard was like “What the heck are these people doing lol” and proceeded to tell us we needed an advanced reservation to see anything. Grrrr We turned around and headed back to I-25. Turns out you need to basically be a celebrity or a millionaire to tour the site.
Anyways, the original plan was to see the Very Large Array (VLA), but since we were kind of behind someone suggested Fort Craig National Historic Site and even though it’s technically not an official passport stamp location I chose to go anyways. It is located about 15 miles off the highway on a somewhat rough dirt road. We got there at 4:55pm and it closed at 5pm, but sadly the Park Ranger closed early and I couldn’t get the stamp. Needless to say I was furious and since then my brother won’t let up on the tale on how Ft. Craig is the most boring destination of all time.
With not much else to see and the day vastly fading away we hopped back into the car and went the rest of the way back to Albuquerque. In the original plan I had wanted to drive immediately back to Philmont that night, but I was talked out of it by family who was worried it was too risky. So I went back on Sunday afternoon instead.
Overall it was a fantastic trip and I hope to return to Carlsbad some day to see some of the caves I missed.
Trip Stats
- Estimated Total Miles: 1,483mi
- Actual Total Miles: 1,631mi
- Favorite sunscreen: SPF100
- BB8 pictures: none
Thank you! See you next time!
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