Home » 2014 (Page 4)

Yearly Archives: 2014

White Sands National Monument

Posted on by | Leave a comment
White Sands National Monument, New Mexico

White Sands National Monument, New Mexico

Truth be told, White Sands was one of the places I was most looking forward to visiting when we came up with this crazy idea to travel so extensively with a two-year old.  Although we were not able to camp in the monument, our visit did not disappoint.  I was so looking forward to camping on the white sand, but the monument only has limited back country camping.  We were a little puzzled as to why we were not able to camp there.  Once we arrived, it all made much more sense.  I guess the Federal Government prefers that family campers don’t set up camp in the middle of an active missile range.  I knew that the monument was near a missile range, but I did not realize that it was smack dab in the middle of the missile range.  In fact, the monument and the main highway leading to it had been closed earlier in the week when testing activities were being conducted.  My understanding is that this can be a weekly occurrence.

Lucky for us, the only activity we were caught in the middle of was yet another immigration checkpoint, well inside the borders of our country.  We were waved through once we told them we were on our way to White Sands, but we couldn’t help but think of all the folks doing exactly what we were doing who would have to stop and answer many more questions simply because of the color of their skin.

Our first stop at White Sands was the visitor’s center.  Van ran in with his passport in hand, eager to collect yet another stamp.  I picked up his junior ranger’s packet and off we went, ready to explore the park for the day.

Van working on his junior ranger packet

Van working on his junior ranger packet

We all had a great time running around the surprisingly cool sand.  Unlike the Great Sand Dunes in Colorado, this sand is made of gypsum and is very cool to the touch.  Bare feet for the win!

The best part of the day was watching Van examine all the crystalline-like sand structures and spotting tracks of various small critters.

Our long and fun day at White Sands was capped off with our very last night of tent camping on the trip.  We drove to nearby Alamogordo and slept at a local campground, but given the low evening temperatures (it had been dipping into the 20s), we decided to finish out our stay in New Mexico at rustic cabins, local motels, and two lovely nights at the home of friends in Albuquerque.  Though it was sad to pack up our tent and realize that it would be staying in the car for the foreseeable future (and has since been replaced), sleeping in the relative warmth of an uninsulated cabin was heaven.

What Do Truth or Consequences, a Veterans’ Home, and a Classic Car Show Have in Common?

Posted on by | Leave a comment

You may think that because my posting hiatus began while I was posting about our time in New Mexico that I was not a huge fan of the state.  That couldn’t be further from the truth.  We loved so many things about New Mexico, chiefly the food, the people, and the gorgeous landscapes.

After leaving Silver City,we took a circuitous route to Las Cruces so that we could check out the interestingly named, Truth or Consequences.  For those not familiar with the history of how the town received its unique moniker, the town of Hot Springs renamed itself in response to a marketing ploy by the game show, Truth or Consequences.  Given its location, I was expecting a sleepy little town.  Instead of just a quick trip through the decidedly awake town, we stayed for the day and took part in the local (and very popular) car show at the local VA home.  My vote went to a sublime cherry red pickup from days long ago (surprise, surprise), while Van was very attracted to the many, many Mustangs.

We eventually pried ourselves away from the festivities and headed south to one of the nicest places we stayed on this trip, a Days Inn in Las Cruces.  As we pulled up to the hotel, Van started pointing and saying “Idaho, Idaho.”  We went back through our memory banks and realized that we had only stayed at one Days Inn on this trip before Las Cruces.  And it was, in fact, in Idaho.  Twin Falls, to be exact.  What a memory this kid has!

We spent one full day in Las Cruces soaking up all the culture we could at the excellent New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum.  If you’re ever down in Las Cruces, it’s a must see.  Highlights included a private demonstration of separating milk from cream, watching the process of making a nail from start to finish, a history of New Mexico license plates, and a stunning photography exhibit on Pie Town.  The two most interesting facts I learned that day?  That the state actually had to add USA to its license plate at one point because too many people in the rest of the US didn’t realize that New Mexico is actually part of the US.  Write this down as reason number 56,323 that travel is important.  And secondly, that nails were so valuable before mass production that some settlers would burn down their houses before moving so that they could take the nails with them.  After seeing the process of making just one nail, I have a much greater appreciation for the many modern conveniences that allow most Americans (ourselves and just about everyone we know included) to lead such luxurious lives.

Las Cruces Farm and Ranch Museum

New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum,   Las Cruces

We Have a New Home!

Posted on by | 1 Comment

No, not the kind you’re thinking of.  If only…  What we do have is a brand spanking new tent!  You may remember when I wrote Our Home is in the Mail that I shipped it back to the manufacturer under a warranty claim.  While I did not receive a good answer as to what was going on with our tent, they did agree to replace it for us.  Except for the problems we had toward the end of our trip, I  really love this tent, so I am so happy to be able to continue to use this tent for future expeditions.  Now we just need to get started planning our first camping trip of the season.  And by camping trip, I mean camping outdoors, not camping indoors, which is what we’re currently doing.  For those of you who are wondering, camping outdoors is vastly superior to camping indoors, but at least you don’t have to worry about the sub-freezing temperatures.

Visit Our National Parks for Free – and Camp KOA for Free

Posted on by | 2 Comments

There are many things we enjoyed on our trip over this past year.  Second only to visiting with friends and family was spending so many glorious uninterrupted hours, days, weeks in our national parks.  If you live near a national park (and most of you do), I encourage you all to go and explore our heritage and history at these fantastic institutions.  For added incentive, National Park Week is coming up from April 19th to 27th.  In celebration, parks are offering FREE admission on April 19th and 20th.  While not all parks charge admission, if a park you’ve been thinking of visiting does, this is the perfect time to check it out.  Also, April 26th is National Junior Ranger Day.  We’ll definitely have to do something with Van to celebrate.  Maybe we’ll bust out all eight of his junior ranger badges (he just earned his eighth at the Springfield, MA Armory).

Junior Ranger Van

Junior Ranger Van

In celebration of all things outdoors and free, KOA is offering a free night of camping on Saturday, May 10th if you stay on Friday, May 9th.  Funds raised during that weekend will support KOA Care Camps, which allow children with cancer and their siblings to attend special summer camps around the country.  Win, Win!

Even if you’re not up for a visit to a national park or camping, I hope you are all enjoying some time in the fresh air and sun.  Nothing heals better than an afternoon frolic through the woods.

Our Home is in the Mail

Posted on by | 1 Comment
Our Campsite in Porteau Cove Provincial Park, BC

Losi 3 Person Tent by Nemo Equipment

This has been our home for much of our wanderings across this great land.  We began to notice something funky with the tent in late fall.  It started to seem as if the tent material had shrunk.  All of a sudden, we were noticing that the poles fit tighter and that the floor wouldn’t lay flat all the way to the edges.  Shortly after we noticed that, the zippers on both the tent and the fly started to separate from time to time.  It would usually zip up just fine, but then it would start to come apart in the middle anywhere from five minutes to several hours after we had zipped everything up.  It only happened periodically at first, but then the frequency increased as time wore on.  Since it was too cold for bugs, we just dealt with it and promised to look into once we were no longer reliant on it for shelter.

And so, I packed up our collapsible home this week and made a trip to the post office with Van.  I’m happy that this is the first warranty claim of the trip (though we did return Alan’s Big Agnes ground pad earlier in the trip to replace it with a much improved Therm-a-rest), but disappointed it’s on the most expensive piece of camping equipment we own.  I’ll keep you posted as we find out what Nemo Equipment will do to replace or repair the tent.  In the mean time, I’ll be dreaming of our first camping trip of the new year once the snow melts and the tent is back in our possession.