April 1 - Thursday (April Fools Day)
At last a new state and a new time zone to boot! We drove from Balmorhea up through Pecos and into Carlsbad, New Mexico. We are now on Mountain Time. We relaxed in the morning and got off to a late start and made several stops along the way - a stop at Flying J for diesel and propane fill ups, stocking the pantry at a Wal-mart Super Center, and finally picking up our mail at the post office. We spent the night at a less than stellar RV park right at the entrance to the park in White City but at least we caught up on the laundry. Sandra failed to play any of her usual practical jokes on Bill this year. She must be slipping.b

April 2 - Friday
We set of for any early morning trip to Carlsbad Caverns since we wanted to move the RV from this location. Doing 3 one night stops in a row is a bit tiring though! On our way on the 7 mile drive to the caverns entrance we almost had an accident. Two deer leapt up over the banking onto the road right in front of our car. Bill adroitly swerved and missed the second deer by bare inches. Whew! It makes us truly appreciate all those who are praying for our safe travels.  

Once we reached the visitor's center Bill put Alex in the backpack and took  Becca on the 45 minute walk down the natural cave entrance to the main attraction of the caverns - the big room. Laura spent time working on her junior ranger book before she and Sandra took the elevator down to the entrance to the great room. The large cavern area is over 750 feet below the surface and is as large as 14 football fields. We all met up where the natural entrance path converges with the trail around the big room.  We enjoyed the large formations and various features (like the 'bottomless pit' which drops down 140 feet).  Afterwards we headed back to the RV for lunch and the girls worked more on their activity books toward the junior ranger badges. We returned to the caverns where the girls did some ranger activities to complete their books and receive their certificates. One of Laura's activities was to write a poem in a cinquain format that describes her experiences at Carlsbad. She wrote:

Caves
small, big
growing, dripping, living
are growing every day
Nature

After the caverns, we drove onto the Brantley Lake State Park and found a delightful place to set up camp (as long as the large group of ants under the RV stays outside!). We've seen a few scaled quails and a jackrabbit. The kids love the playground at New Mexico's newest state park campground. That night we experienced a thunderstorm with dramatic lightning over the plains and then heavy rains. We brought the slides in so we wouldn't have to worry about the slide covers tearing or have their flapping keep us awake. 

April 3 - Saturday
On the news the next morning, we learned the Carlsbad had streets flooded and experienced hail. Since we're perched high on a hill, we had no concerns about flash floods at our site itself. We spent the rainy morning relaxing and then headed to Roswell to check out the UFO Museum and Research Center. The free center was founded by two men who were relatively close to the 'event' in 1947. It presented articles and reports from that time. It has another section that covered UFO sightings and hoaxes. Becca doesn't believe the crash was caused by aliens. Laura hasn't stated her view yet. We spent the remainder of the afternoon at the Roswell public library. It had a wonderful and large children's section that even included a fish tank, parakeets, and toys. We had dinner at the Nothin' Fancy Cafe (apparently George W. picked up an order of Ribs and sides for Airforce One back in January which may be as close as we get to the man himself). 

On the way home, we encountered increasingly hard rains. As we turned on the side road that led the 6 miles to our RV, we had to slow down as the driving buckets of rain turned to hail that covered the road. We become increasingly concerned about the water running in streams on the sides of the roadway that occasional covered the roadway. At one point, a broad stream of water covered the road. It was not too deep but was flowing quickly and made us a bit nervous that the car might stall in the middle of it. Laura found the weather rather exciting but Becca was frightened and prayed that the hail would stop and we'd arrive safely back to the RV and thankfully both occurred.

April 4 - Sunday
It rained throughout the night. Given the fact that some streets in the town of Carlsbad were being evacuated due to the continued rise of the Pecos river, we did not head into town to attend church. Bill and Becca took a walk to survey the flooded areas around the campground. Laura and Sandra played Monopoly while Alex watched some videos.  We then decided to head over to Amologordo and try to avoid additional soggy days. We drive over the mountains, through Cloudcraft and actually encounter snow on the ground. It is above freezing so we pause for a brief snowball making session before heading down the road that had been warning large trucks "6% grade for 14 miles, check brakes". The exhaust breaks work great keeping our speed low as we quickly leave the snow behind and move back into desert terrain. We set up camp in town at a former KOA park.

April 5 - Monday
We set off to do a tour of the Billy the Kid Scenic Byway. It takes us through Ruidoso Downs which has massive and graceful horse sculptures across from the visitor's center. We then headed to the town of Lincoln, the focus of the Lincoln County War that propelled William H. Bonney aka Billy the Kid into infamy. From there we drove to Capitain for lunch and a visit to the Smoky Bear Historic Museum and gravesite. We continued on to the Three Rivers Petroglyph area that contains over 20,000 primitive carvings on the rocks. We  headed back toward our RV but then kept going on to White Sands National Monument to take in the Dunes Drive at sunset. The kids absolutely loved romping on the powdery white sands. When Alex got into the car he said "That was so nice!" and then "Mommy, can I go on a dune again?" 

April 6 - Tuesday
In the early afternoon we went back to White Sands National Monument. The girls worked on and completed the Junior Dunes Ranger program. They also had more fun playing on the dunes including sliding down the steep sides in a plastic bucket! That evening we set up camp outside of Las Cruces.

April 7 - Wednesday
We went to the White Sands Missile Range Park and Museum. We had to register our vehicle and have the hood and trunk examined before we could get in since it is on a military base (a little more scrutiny than we had at Pensacola). We saw many examples of rockets that have been tested at White Sands including an example of the bomb casing for Fat Boy which was tested without a casing at the Trinity Site. (We could have gone to the actual ground zero site this past Saturday for their bi-annual public tour but didn't do it out of concern for the kids due to the lingering radiation.)  We then drove to La Mesa, chili growing capital of the world for a tasty lunch at Chope's - a long established hole in the wall. We then made a stop at Stahmann's Pecan Farm. We just happened upon their once a week tour and saw the shelling plant as well as the candy making facility. Our guide also gave us some history and facts about the company.  It is the largest privately owned pecan farm in the world. The Stahmann's established it back in 1932 and have patented equipment for cracking and shelling the pecans. They use a cold process to better preserve the flavor of the pecan. They've been making candy, pies, and cookies since 1982.  The tour concluded with sampling some freshly made candies. Yum!

April 8 - Thursday
In the morning we bought new tires for the tow dolly and then went to a carwash that had a large enough bay to wash the RV.  We then drive to Rockhound State Park near Deming, NM. We set up in a spacious, pull-through site with a view of the playground. We decided that this would be a good location to stay over Easter. The two New Mexico state campgrounds we've stayed at  so far have had lovely facilities - new playground equipment covered by large sun tents, covered picnic tables set in concrete with nearby grills, and large, level, sites.  At this park, you can find and take up to 15 pounds of rocks such as varieties of jasper, silica minerals, quartz crystals, and agates. We hope to find a geode or a 'thunder egg'. We all went to the visitor's center, and then Bill hiked to the top of the mountain while the girls went to the playground and Alex and Sandra tried to nap.  

April 9 - Friday
Sandra tells Becca "go find me a geode".  Based on our conversation with the local rock shop where we bought a lapidary hammer and a book the state park has been "pretty well picked over" and we weren't apt to find any geodes.  We ventured a ways from the trail and Becca found what looked like a geode.  Then she slipped on some loose rock on the hillside and fell into a prickly pear cactus. She looked like she had tangled with a porcupine but was very brave while Dad removed the larger spines.  The smaller ones had to wait until we returned to the RV and got tweezers. Ouch! 

April 10 - Saturday (Laura turns 9)
For her ninth birthday Laura got to choose what to have for lunch and dinner.  She chose two different fast food places, McDonalds for lunch and Sonic for dinner. Becca hid her presents throughout the RV so Laura had to find them before she could open them. We also took Becca's rock to the rock shop and had them slice it in half to see what was inside.  Becca's rock turned out to be a very pretty thunder egg (basically a geode that is solid all the way through as opposed to hollow). Bill purchased the Rockhound's Guide to New Mexico as well as a lapidary hammer. The girls colored Easter eggs. 

April 11 -Sunday (Easter)
The Easter Bunny somehow managed to track our whereabouts and made a visit to the RV.  We went to Church in Deming.  After church we drove back to the RV on roads that were icy from snow, sleet, and hail.  We waited out the bad weather and then moved to City of Rocks State Park after it cleared.  Becca lost a tooth that had been lose for weeks. 

April 12 - Monday
We crossed the continental divide for the first time on our trek when we took a day trip to to Gila Cliffs Dwelling National Monument. Bill brought Laura up to the cliffs in the back pack, while Sandra occasionally carried Alex and Becca trotted right up like a regular mountain goat. In the afternoon, we stopped to do some rock hunting in Gila river.  The drive through the mountains was beautiful. We encountered snow, mule deer, and wild turkeys.  They have re-introduced the Mexican Grey Wolf to the Gila National Forest but the ranger said that he has never seen or heard them and we didn't have any luck spotting them either. It is rather late by the time we've made the loop heading back to our RV so we stop in Silver City for a tasty Mexican dinner at Jalisco's Cafe. 

April 13 - Tuesday
We took our making our way over to Arizona and Lake Lyman state park. The scenery on the drive ranges from deserts to forest from mountains to mesas. In the forest, we spot our first group of elk on the trip. We included a stop in just outside of the town of Luna to rock hunt agates on roadside where road construction cut through the hill. 

April 14 - Wednesday
We went to Petrified Forest National Park and Painted Desert.  It has loads of petrified wood despite years of removal by early pioneers before it became a park and gorgeous desert landscapes of dramatically covered geological layers.  The girls added another Jr. Ranger badge to their collection.  Sandra picked up a Gem Trails of Arizona book so that the family's new rock hounding hobby can continue.

April 15 - Thursday
We stayed in Holbrook at a KOA park for another day just to chill out.  Bill took Alex for a bike ride while the girls did schoolwork and Sandra tidied up the RV.  After lunch we did a little rock hunting for petrified wood, stopped at the local visitors center and then went to Dairy Queen for ice cream.  Holbrook has the old route 66 running through the center of town.  It also has some wild west history.  A shootout with the sheriff gave a local watering hole the name Bucket of Blood Saloon. 

April 16 - Friday
We enjoyed talking to some of the very nice owners of the KOA park before we moved to Homolovi Ruins State Park which was only about 30 miles down the road. Since we arrived so early in the day, we had a wide variety of sites to choose from and selected a pull through with a decent view of Humphreys Peak, the highest mountain in Arizona. 

April 17 - Saturday
We awoke to calm weather and stayed at Homolovi Ruins State Park until the visitor center opened so the girls could get their junior ranger pins.  By the time we pulled out the wind was howling and the desert dust was blowing.  A spring storm was coming and this was the  edge of the front.  Sandra drove to Flagstaff fighting wind (at least 25 mph with gusts of 45+) all along I40  and then faced lesser winds going south on 17 to Cottonwood. We are going to spend 3 days here before heading to the Grand Canyon.  When we bought our RV, the dealer included a regional campground membership in Thousand Trails.  Financially, campground memberships are similar to time share condos in that there is an up front buy in cost and then a small annual maintenance fee.  They don't however, allocate an annual number of days you can use but rather place some limits on the length of stay in any one campground.  We chose the western region so this is the first time we have been able to use our TT membership.  They also have several campgrounds in California that we are planning to stay at. Although the sites aren't large, they tend to have amenities like pools, mini golf, and club houses. After checking in we set up camp and took the kids to the playground and lounge where they played air hockey.  We then drove to nearby Cottonwood, picturesque Sedona, beautiful Oak Creek Canyon, and the unusual town of Jerome. Jerome is a copper mining town precariously perched on the edge of some high cliffs.  Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon had been strongly recommended by people we had talked with at another campground.  We stumbled across Jerome while unsuccessfully (the road was too rough) trying to find a rock hunting site. After driving the narrow, twisting streets, we understand why this route to the campground was not recommended for RVs!

April 18 - Sunday
We had a relaxing day.  We went to the playground, played mini-golf, and walked along the Verde River in the morning.  After lunch we went to an old salt mine to hunt for crystals.  On the way there, all three kids fell asleep. That almost never happens. We also discovered that our digital camera has failed which is very disappointing and we'll have to use our film camera at the Grand Canyon. At least our old camera takes panoramic photos. We also bought some elk jerky from the back of the pick up on the side of the road. It's actualy a brand,  "Bubba's", and is distributed by some company in Texas. The kids loved it. Alex refers to it as 'bacon' and asks "Can you give me some more bacon please!"

April 19 - Monday
We did a bit of rock hounding between Jerome and Prescott and stopped for lunch along the main square in Prescott. While exploring around Prescott, Arizona this afternoon we got a call from Mike Goldberg, a friend from church in Florida. Mike was out here on a business trip  We met in downtown Prescott to talk and get a bite to eat.  It was great to see a familiar face.  We haven't seen anyone we know since the McKethens in Houston.  We dined at the restaurant at St. Michael's hotel which has been at this corner of "Whiskey Row" since they rebuilt that area after a big fire in 1900. Famous people who stayed at the hotel included Zane Gray and Theodore Roosevelt. Prescott is a neat place - lots of history (it was the territorial capital of Arizona at one time) and has a very diverse group of people walking around town. But the best part of all was meeting up with Mike!

April 20 - Tuesday
We moved to the Grand Canyon today.  Becca's comment on her first glimpse "OK, that's big!"  One travel book we read made the campground sound really awful but we wanted to be inside the park.  We ended up getting a nice, shaded site on the end of the road so we only have neighbors on one side.  We made a brief visit to the canyon at Yavapai Point before dinner and drove by the Rim Lodges. 

April 21 - Wednesday
Bill and Becca did a 3 mile hike into the canyon (6 round trip) to see if Becca could handle a trip all the way to the Colorado River at the bottom.  She did very well.  Now we only have to overcome the slight problem that Phantom Ranch has every night booked solid until January 2006.  We saw a medical evacuation helicopter going into the canyon and joked with other hikers that maybe we could get the spot of the person who had the heart attack.  We'll rest our legs for a day, get on the waiting list, and hope for the best.  

April 22 - Thursday
The park starts taking names for the waiting list for Phantom Ranch for the following day at 7:30 am.  Then, you have to show up at 6:00 am the next day and see if anything opened up or not.  Bill and Becca went to the desk at 7:25 am this morning to try and get on the waiting list.  There are very few cabins so we figured our best shot would be to get into the co-ed bunkhouse with 8 other people who hopefully don't snore loudly.  We didn't get on the waiting list.  We got a private cabin for just the 2 of us without even going back tomorrow morning at 6:00 am!! (I hope the guy who had the heart attack is recovering well)
We had a delicious breakfast at El Tovar, the nicest lodge on the rim. We then took the shuttle west down the road to Hermit's Rest. The stops along the way such as Powell's Point have stunning views. After we took the car toward the east and Bill and Becca got a glimpse of the South Kaibab trail that they plan to take tommorrow.

April 23 - Friday
Bill and Becca leave to go down the South Kaibab Trail at 6:00 in the morning. They're headed for Phantom Ranch.  There is no water on that trail and the weather has been cold so the extra water and clothing made for a heavy pack.  They'll take the Bright Angel trail out of the canyon on Sat. which is 2 miles longer but has water along the way so they won't have to carry as much weight in water. Plus it is supposedly less steep for the climb out.

On the way down the South Kaibab Trail we hike through the geological layers that make up the color bands of the Grand Canyon.  We to see some of the California Condors that have been re-introduced to Arizona after being hatched in a captive breeding program to increase their population numbers.  All but the one who was born in the wild in the Grand Canyon have numbers painted on their wings for identification and many carry radio transmitters so the scientists can track them.  With his 9 foot wing span number 7 soared in and perched on a rock right next to the trail.  He looked like he was eyeing Becca for a mid-morning snack.  Ranger Lori at Phantom Ranch said number 7 was a bad condor for getting so close to humans.  We made good time on the trail and arrived at Phantom Ranch around 11:00, too early for checking into our cabin.  We chatted with other hikers in front of the office until our cabin was ready at noon.  Once in our cabin, we ate lunch, went over to the shower house to shower, and took a nap.  Dinner was a delicious beef stew served family style.  We organized our clothes and packs for the Sat. hike out and went to bed early.

Laura completed and received her junior ranger certificate and badge. She also bought the coyote level patch related to her program. Sandra, Laura, and Alex also went to the art exhibit at Kolb studio which featured paintings of scenes from a wide range of national parks. After lunch they did the Desert View drive over to the east entrance and went to the top of the watch tower.

 April 24 - Saturday
The alarm clock went off at 4:35 and we dressed and headed for the dining room for our 5:00 o'clock breakfast. We sat with a different group than at dinner the night before and enjoyed talking with the other hikers.  Being the littlest, Becca got a lot of attention, more than she wanted at times.   We left Phantom Ranch after breakfast and started the 9.3 mile hike out  on the Bright Angel Trail.  At first the trail was relatively flat and followed the Colorado River.  Then it started to get steeper as we headed towards Indian Garden which is about the half way point.  Since it was Saturday, there were many hikers along the trail. We slowly hiked out the remaining miles and were happy to see the rest of the family waiting for us at the end of the trail so we didn't have to wait around for the shuttle bus to return us to the campground.

April 25 - Sunday
We spent most of the day enjoying a round trip train ride from Williams to the Grand Canyon on the restored Grand Canyon Railway. We road in the restored pullman coaches and the girls enjoyed a visit to the cafe care. The trip also included a 'wild west' story line about the mischievous "cataract creek gang" and local sheriff as well as strolling musicians. We also saw some elk and pronghorn. 

April 26 - Monday
We made the long drive from the Grand Canyon to El Centro, CA and covered terrain ranging from the high desert to the Colorado River. We saw and drove across the London Bridge in Lake Havasu City. Yes, the London Bridge, moved there by Robert P. McCulloch as a center piece for the town he developed. We also stopped alongside the Colorado River outside of Parker, AZ to try to catch up with Bill's great aunt but she had already left the RV park for the season. Around four in the afternoon, for the first time on our trip, we saw our outside thermometer hit 100! We were interested in seeing the Saguaro cacti along the roadways before we drove through the Proving Grounds outside of Yuma. We then drove through the fertile agricultural area around the town of Yuma. We drove some more until we reached the Rio Bend RV park were we settled in for the night.

April 27 - Tuesday
The next morning we passed through some of the most desolate area on our trip yet as we drove from El Centro, CA to Jamul, CA. We crossed an area called Devil's canyon on route 8. You know it might be a tough road when there are multiple areas set up for radiator water on the side of the road! We settled in at a Thousand Trail's park, Pio Pico, as a base to visit with  Bill's niece Sara who works in ministry at Indian Hill's Camp and to tour San Diego. The other nearby TT park was burnt last fall during the wild fire's and has not reopened. It's a hot day so we cool off in the pool.

April 28 - Wednesday
Since Sara must spend the day working, we spend the day playing at the San Diego Zoo. The weather is cool and breezy. We enjoy viewing the animals, riding on the 'airfari', and taking the buses and tours, and watching the shows.  We saw giant panda's, including an 8 month old cub (Laura wants to add the zoo's panda cam to her website). We had lunch in view of the elephants. All of enjoyed finding different birds in the wonderful aviaries, including a small one in the children's zoo area with humming birds. It was a lovely day that wore us out!

April 29 - Thursday
We toured the Indian Hills Camp and the kids had a blast on the large playground equipment. They also enjoyed looking for 'gold' where they received a lesson on how to pan. They toured the other facilities like the teepee tents where campers stay (in addition to 'storefront' bunkhouses set up like a wild west town and covered wagons). Late that afternoon, Sandra and the girls go to see 'Ella Enchanted' at the movies. (The girls enjoyed the movie but, like many adaptations, the book is better!)

April 30 - Friday
We relaxed at the park for most of the day in addition to the usual stuff (schoolwork, laundry, sorting our rock finds...). Late in the afternoon we picked up Sara and had dinner at Outback Steakhouse. We then hit the mall, bought some books, new shoes for Laura and indulged in various food treats. Mrs. Fields Cookies and Jamba Juice, anyone?

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