Caves, E.T., and Sand Dunes in Southern New Mexico

The second day of our Texas / New Mexico road trip was jam-packed with sight seeing, and was our longest driving day. We woke up early on Saturday morning (which was easy, thanks to the time change) and drove to Carlsbad Caverns National Park for our 8:30am time slot. We took the natural entrance path, which is a 1.25 mile path that winds down into the cave, descending 750 feet. We highly recommend taking this route instead of the elevator down, as there are some really fascinating views as you enter and descend into the cave. We also recommend doing the first time slot if you can - it was not crowded yet that early in the morning, so it was a quiet and appropriately eerie walk. At several points we couldn't see any people in either direction. Arriving at the main level of the cave, there's a loop trail that circles the "big room," which is about 4,000 feet long, 635 feet wide, and 255 feet deep. "Big" is an accurate name! The cavern is full of interesting formations, many of which are still active. We've been to a lot of caves, and this is one of the more impressive ones. After finishing the trail, we took the elevator up. It was very busy in the visitor's center by the time we were exiting, with long lines of people waiting for the elevator down.

Rainy morning in the desert.

David heading down the natural entrance.

It's a long way down!

Looking back up shortly after entering the cave.

The path just keeps winding down deeper into the earth.

David with some formations.

The "lion's tail" formation.

Some of the formations are huge, and hard to capture in a photo.

A shelf of formations indicating an old water level.

It's a giraffe! 

Paul looooooves caves.

Leaving the caverns, it was a little less than a two hour drive to Roswell. Alien theming hits you right in the face when you arrive - there are alien billboards, statues, and even the streetlights have little alien eyes. I guess they know how to make that tourist money! We started at the visitor's center and walked to the Roswell Spacewalk. What is the spacewalk? Well, the website describes it this way:

"Step into the temporal vortex field of the Paisley-Horvak TVG9000. See into Roswell's past. when the future was beginning; then watch the future unfold, becoming a spectacular panorama of outer space viewed from the deck of an alien starship."

So, yeah, we don't know what it is either. 😅  Essentially it was a black light walk through photo op with aliens. Kind of short, but kitschy and fun. Our next stop was the International UFO museum just down the street. This was a large and updated "museum." Essentially, it's a tourist trap that has some museum-like exhibits explaining the history and cultural significance of aliens and UFOs. Mostly it was pretty well done, but it's really kitschy. 

Lunch was at La Escondida Cafe on the way out of Roswell. This place was just ok, but had cute old-school diner vibes with lots of random folks enjoying a late lunch.

Downtown Roswell needs a road diet, but there are a couple of cute blocks.

Does Paul believe though?

Happy Valentine's Month from Roswell!

Even the street lights are aliens!

Alien ATM.

David and E.T. phoning home.

Step into the temporal vortex field of the Paisley-Horvak TVG9000!

Can you even with this place?

Just hanging out with some friends at the UFO museum.

You know it's a museum because it's full of facts!

We liked the fashion accessories best.

We don't even know what this was about...but it lasted 3 minutes.

Lunch at Escondida Cafe was just ok...

From Roswell we drove west on Hwy 380/70 to Alamogordo. It's about a 2 hour drive up and over the mountains, passing through the Lincoln National Forest and the Mescalero Reservation. This time of year, the mountains near the town of Ruidoso are snowy and very lovely. Ruidoso has some skiing areas and was a tourist trap type city on top of the mountain...there was even a race track. Who knew?

Shortly before reaching Alamogordo, we stopped at McGinn's Pistachioland, which has billboards all over New Mexico. It's a delightfully tacky tourist trap with the world's largest pistachio. Of course Paul got some pistachio ice cream!

Ice cream and the world's largest pistachio.

Very "New Mexico" looking!

A field of pistachio trees.

By now it was late afternoon, and the weather was great, so instead of going straight to our hotel we decided to go to White Sands National Park for sunset, since it was open until 7pm. It was a great decision - we were treated to a dazzling sunset across the sands and behind the mountains. It was pretty crowded, probably a lot of locals who came specifically for the sunset on this lovely Saturday.

Welcome to White Sands National Park!

Paul's digging the views.

They don't call it "white sands" for nothing!

The view toward the mountains we drove through earlier in the day.

Sunlight on the dunes.

David at sunset. Majestic!

Shadows on the sand.

Our accidental rental car.

Sunset money shot!

Sand all around.

David enjoying twilight.

We dumped all of the sand out of our shoes and ended the day at our hotel in Alamogordo. Due to a late lunch we didn't make a specific dinner plan...and instead just got some takeout from Chili's (gross) which was the only thing in walking distance to our hotel. We didn't end up spending much time in Alamogordo, but there's a small space museum and some information sites/tourist traps focusing on the nearby missile range and the city's contribution to space exploration. Unfortunately, these were all closed while we were in town due to it being Saturday night and Sunday morning. Maybe next time!

Two national parks in one day is an accomplishment! Looking forward to wrapping up our last couple days exploring southern New Mexico and El Paso.

Guadalupe Mountains National Park - Hike to the Highest Point in Texas

Over the President's Day holiday we decided to take a long weekend and visit a few National Parks in Texas and New Mexico. We flew from Atlanta to El Paso on a Thursday evening. We took off on time, but we had to take a long route over the Gulf of Mexico to avoid storms, so we didn't land until after 11pm. By this time, the rental car company didn't have the "Toyota Prius or similar" that we had booked, and instead gave us a Ford Mustang. Not exactly the gas mileage we prefer, but hey, I guess it looks cool? 😆 We stayed in a hotel next to the airport so we could set off early for our first national park.

Friday morning we drove 1 hour 45 minutes east to the Pine Springs area of Guadalupe Mountains National Park. This part of Texas is quite desolate. We were mostly driving through Hudspeth County, which despite being huge (4,572 square miles) only has 3,202 people. There's a 111 mile stretch with no services! The scenery picked up as we got closer to the national park, with views of salt flats and mountains. 

Guadalupe Mountains is one of the least visited National Parks, coming in 49th place out of 62 parks, with around 180,000 visitors each year. We parked and set off on the Guadalupe Peak Trail at 10:40am. It's an 8.4 mile round trip trail that rises 2,952 feet, finishing at the tallest point in Texas at 8,751 feet above sea level. It was a sunny day with a brilliant blue sky, but it was quite cold, and dipped below freezing as we climbed, with shaded sections of the trail still covered with snow and ice. The way up was pretty challenging, especially for Paul. Climbing almost 3,000 feet when you're starting at a high altitude and there are icy portions on the trail is not easy! We made it to the top and sat and had a snack while enjoying the sweeping views. The way down was much easier and took less than half as much time as going up. The whole thing was about five hours round trip.

Welcome to Guadalupe Mountains National Park on a chilly but brilliantly sunny day!

Not really our style, but... uhh... it's shiny?

Sunny and desert-like on the way up.

David part way up the trail.

A snowy portion - the top third or so had snowy and icy parts.

A view of the cute little peak next door, with Texas spreading out in the background.

Panorama from the top!

David at the top of Guadalupe Mountain.

Proof we were here! The monument was placed here by the USPS...why?

After getting back to the car, we briefly stopped in to the visitor's center since it was open for another 30 minutes, then drove the 50 minutes to Carlsbad, New Mexico. We were very hungry from the hike, so we went straight to dinner at Carniceria San Juan De Los Lagos, a Mexican grocery store and restaurant. The space was atmospheric, and the food was hit or miss - the pozole and house salsa were phenomenal, while the tacos and nachos were lackluster. We also picked up a couple of yummy pan dulces from their bakery for dessert and breakfast. One national Park down, two to go!

Watermelon agua fresca!

The pozole was *chef's kiss* 

North Georgia Day Trip - Yonah Mountain & Cleveland

Last weekend we decided to take a day trip up to north Georgia, to enjoy the sunny winter weather. While the north Georgia mountains of course can't compare to the views out west, it's still a fantastic amenity to have the beautiful tree-covered Appalachians accessible to us as a day trip or weekend trip from Atlanta. We try to get up there at least a few times a year for hiking and cabin trips.

On Saturday morning we left around 8AM for the 90 minute drive to Yonah Mountain in the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest, just north of Cleveland Georgia. The Yonah Mountain trail is about a 4 mile round trip trail that gains 1,453 feet of elevation as you climb up to the top.

David has climbed the mountain before, with his soccer teammates during a cabin weekend about 8 summers ago. We'd heard it's still a very popular trail in the winter, and that proved to be correct - the parking lot was already almost full by the time we arrived around 9:40AM. It took about an hour to get to the top. It's a lot of elevation gain, but the trail is well maintained and overall it's not too difficult. Although it was a bit crowded since it was a lovely Saturday, the views from the top were amazing, with brilliant blue skies. Definitely a top hike in Georgia!

David relaxing at the top of Yonah Mountain.

There's a steep cliff face that people use as a lookout and for rock climbing.

This is the actual "summit" of the mountain. It's a little uphill from the cliff (and not as exciting).

Amazing views on a sunny winter day.

A climber on the granite face of Yonah Mountain.

After the hike, the rest of our day was filled with little bits of Americana as we visited a few attractions in the area. First up was Babyland General Hospital, the headquarters for Cabbage Patch Kids. Yes, it's as weird as it sounds. It's essentially a huge gift shop, but with bizarre displays including a giant tree where Cabbage Patch Kids are "birthed." All of the employees wear nursing scrubs. It's definitely worth a visit if you're into odd roadside attractions. 

We made a quick stop at Tantrum Brewing Company, just down the street, and got a mixed 6 pack of beer to bring home. From there we went to downtown Cleveland, which is only a few miles away from Yonah Mountain. It has a decent downtown, with some historic buildings and a few shops and restaurants. We put our name in for a table at Clyde's, and while we were waiting we crossed the street to check out the old 1860 courthouse, which is now the White County Historical Museum. It's a small little museum, but it's always great to see local historic societies preserving the history of small town America. Lunch at Clyde's was good southern food. Our favorite was the jalapeno grit fritters. 

We can already tell this is going to be an experience.

There are giant cabbage baby heads all over the grounds.

The birthing tree.

The cabbage patch Christmas room.

Inside Tantrum brewing.

The old White County courthouse.

An exhibit with a historic loom.

Check out those grit fritters, and giant mason jar drinks!

Clyde's is a cute little restaurant in an old building in downtown Cleveland.

Fried chicken, collards, and mac n cheese.

That wrapped up our excursion to north Georgia. Although on the way back to Atlanta of course we stopped at Jusgo Market, which was packed because the Lunar New Year was approaching. We'll be back to the mountains again soon.

Wrapping Up Valencia - Adios España!

Our final full day of our Spain trip was spent exploring some of the newer sights in Valencia - a couple of modernist markets and the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (city of arts and sciences). We started with mercat central, a 1920s art nouveau market just down the street from our hotel. From there we began a leisurely stroll through the Turia park, first stopping by Mercat de Colom (Mercado de Colón), a modernist market from 1916. A unique site along the way was a giant Gulliver playground. It consists of a huge fiberglass statue of Gulliver tied to the ground. Kids can climb all over and around him in a series of pathways and slides.

Mercat central is an impressive market.

The soaring interior of mercat central.

A giant tree in a square.

Mercat de Colom's exterior.

The cool modernist interior.

A leafy street in one of the modernist neighborhoods of Valencia.

Colonnades in the Turia gardens/park.

Gulliver has fallen!

Our main sight for the day was the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències, or City of Arts and Sciences. This is an expansive campus of museums, event venues, and public spaces designed by the famous Valencian architect Santiago Calatrava. It was built from 1996-2009, and is considered one of the "12 treasures of Spain." It's a cool area of futuristic architecture, although it can feel a little dystopian and sterile since it's disconnected from the city fabric. 

Like a spaceship landed on Valencia.

The buildings have amazing soaring interiors.

Calatrava is big on clean repitition.

David in L'Umbracle.

The area has a lot of huge reflecting pools.

View from the adjacent rose garden.

After leaving the City of Arts and Sciences, we had a quick drink at a snack kiosk in the park, then we decided to take the subway back, since we hadn't yet used it. We walked to the Amistat station and rode to the central train station. After a quick stop in a store and our hotel, we went for our lunch reservations at Rincon 33, which is known for their paella. The paella was good, but overall we're not huge seafood people so the dish is probably mostly wasted on us. Next time, we would try a less seafoody variety perhaps (we love rice dishes in general). After lunch we grabbed a bit more ice cream...because why not?

Nice bicycle infrastructure in the neighborhood we walked through.

Ummm... Ok.

The exterior of the train station.

Squid ink paella!

I mean you could go a meal without patatas bravas...but why would you?

One last ice cream before we leave Europe.

After a siesta at hotel, we went out for the evening, enjoying our final night on the streets of Valencia. We walked around and did a little last minute shopping, and joined a crowd watching the end of the Brazil vs. Croatia world cup game outside a pub. We got empanadas to go from a place called Yaya's, and went back to our hotel to pack and get ready for our very early morning.

A big crowd gathered to watch the game on a little TV.

Empanadas are all over Valencia. These were delicious!

Saturday morning we woke up extremely early to catch a 4AM taxi to the airport, in time for our 6AM flight. The airport experience was really quick and easy, so we could have slept in a bit more, but always better not to take the chance of missing your flight! The plane from Valencia to Paris was quite small, so we thought we might have to check our bags. I asked the gate agent if my bag would fit in the overhead compartment, and her response was "more or less." 😅  It did end up fitting and luckily we could take our bags as carry-on all the way to Atlanta.

Overall, this was a great and relaxing trip to Spain for David's birthday, mirroring the trip we took for his birthday to Italy the previous year. We've been to Spain a few times and really enjoy the food, sites and culture this country has to offer.