Staying at Abilene State Park 11/16 for the week

We made it to Abilene State Park on 11/16, Wednesday and will be staying for a week. On the way over there were at least a thousand windmills. We stopped and you could hear the roar from them going around. We are about the only campers in this nice park. There are a lot of deer roaming the campground which give the dogs fits. We have made it to Abilene several times and they have a population of 100,000. Before you get to Abilene you come to a town called Buffalo Gap with a big population of 500. Really a neat little town!

No internet at the state park but we do get all the basic TV stations. We do have to go McDonald's for the internet. Thank you McDonald's!!

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Went to Carlsbad Caverns National Park on Sunday, 11/13/2011. The park wasn't crowded even though the entrance fee was waived because of Veterans Day weekend. You can take 2 tours of the caverns on your own and then can pay for several others. We took the 2 self guided tours and signed up to take the Kings Palace Tour. We decided to take the Natural Entrance Route  which allows you to walk down over 750 feet into the caverns. What a neat hike and worth the effort. They do have an elevator that will take you down into the caverns, but not for us.

The Kings Palace tour is about an hour and a half guided tour with a park ranger. The tour gives you the history of the caverns and explains all the formations. It is well worth it and I really enjoyed it.

I must say this was one of the most fantastic places I have ever been. No wonder it is a National Park. The caverns are mammoth and it is breathtaking to see the different formations. It is a place to see and I will never forget the magnitude of the caverns.

Pictures do not do this place justice!!

going down over 750 feet

Visiting the Carlsbad, NM area 11/12/2011

We drove to Carlsbad, NM. Staying between Carlsbad and Artesia, NM at a the Carlsbad/KOA. What a nice KOA, but 15 miles from either town. Both towns have a big Walmart, but Artesia is the nicer of the 2 towns. There is a big oil refinery in Artesia, along with some nice sculptures. Carlsbad only has a 2 percent unemployment rate, but not much to do besides the caverns!! We are heading to the caverns on Sunday:))

Border Patrol Academy

oil refinery

cotton

In 1947 Roswell was changed for ever!

Roswell is home of the UFO crash in 1947. A lot of controversy surrounds the crash, with many saying a cover up occurred. I don't think we will ever know the truth. There are some neat things in the UFO museum and areas around the town. I only wish I had been able to see my second UFO! 

Visiting the town of Roswell, NM

Took a trip into the town of Roswell.  The town has a lot of history, a German Prisoner of war camp during WWII and the UFO crashing in 1947. There is even a free zoo which was very nice. We are enjoying our stay at Bottomless State Park and have met several nice people.
The prisoner of war camp had 4,800 at one time. You can read more about the prisoner of war camp by looking at the pictures.

a piece of the Berlin Wall

Staying at Bottomless Lake State Park for 4 days

We arrived on 11/8 and will be leaving Saturday, 11/12/2011. Bottomless Lake State Park is a very nice campground with big sites. We have a nice view of the lake and the red rocks from our site. Only thing is they have no wifi so McDonalds here we are:))
We took a nice hike and visited all the lakes going about 2 miles one way. The scenery is very nice and we are enjoying our stay. Went into town on Thursday and got the oil and transmission fluid changed and tires rotated on the truck. She is running just like new and we want to keep her that way. We are going to the UFO museum tommorrow and are waiting for Scotty to Beam me UP!! Looking forward to going to Carlsbad Caverns on Saturday. The bats are gone but the caverns will be COOL!!

our camper bottom left

Stayed in Albuquerque for 2 nights

We went back to the Enchanted Camprground, in Albuquerque where we stayed in April. We wanted to outrun the snow that was heading west. They place we were going to stay had a low of 17 and snow. So the extra drive to Albuquerque was worth it. But it was cold and the casino took some more of the Walters fortune:))  Someone is bad luck?  not sure who it is yet!  We had a nice time and got to relax and eat at the casino cheap. Moving on to Bottomless Lake State Park in Roswell, NM.