Arkansas Flood

We came back to Arkansas to spend a couple weeks helping my parents clean up after the flood. We haven't seen them yet because the road to Georgetown is still flooded as you can see in the pictures. Hopefully they will get to come up tomorrow in a boat. As soon as we see them I will publish pictures of their house that mom has taken over the last few days.

Monahans Sand Hills State Park, TX

We arrived at Monahans Sand Hills State Park yesterday afternoon and took a couple of evening pictures. Today we took a walk around the place and then played a bit on the dunes. The sand here is not quite as white as it was at White Sands but it is pretty. We were warned by the lady at the front desk to watch for Javelina's (these are not pigs), Feral Hogs and rattlesnakes but fortunately we saw none of these. Here are a few pictures of the park to include an oil well that is here. I had never seen one up close.

Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument & Gila National Forest, NM

The trip today was an all day affair. First we drove 190 miles to see the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument in southwest New Mexico. We hiked to the cliffs and then hiked on into the Gila National Forest for a distance of 5.5 miles. The trail map didn't show the 2 river/stream crossings that we would have to make through the water prior to completing the trail. Next we took the scenic drive from there back toward El Paso, TX. Highway 152 between the cliff dwellings and Interstate-25 is a drive through the mountains with absolutely beautiful scenery. This drive is a must for anyone visiting the area. That route took us to an elevation of 8185 feet and from this height we could see for miles & miles.

Oliver Lee State Park & Lincoln National Forest, NM

Our adventure today started at the Oliver Lee Memorial State Park, in southern New Mexico. From there we hiked the Dog Canyon trail into the bordering Lincoln National Forest. We saw 4 trees during our 6 mile hike and apparently we couldn't see the forest for the rocks. White Sands, NM is visible in the distance of one of the scenery pictures. The pedometer reading by the time we finished our day was 15,626 steps.

Leasburg Dam and Fort Selden, NM

We drove up to the Leasburg Dam State Park, NM and walked a trail which took us around the park and down to the Rio Grande River. The dam was a small waterfall you will see in the pictures. We saw a muskrat swimming along the edge of the water by the banks. On the way back to the car we stopped by the Fort Selden State Monument which was an old fort back in the late 1800's. We hiked over 10,000 steps according to my trusty pedometer. (That's about 5 miles).

Down Day

We walked 5 miles around the RV park today and did some grocery shopping. Watched a good movie and drank coffee outside while watching tv. It's been a relaxing day.

The Zoo El Paso, TX

One of these animals doesn't belong in the zoo. Can you tell which one? The weather was a little cool but it was sunny and beautiful. We got to see a sea lion show. It was a small zoo but we had a very nice time.

White Sands National Monument, NM (Revisited)

We hiked about 5 miles through the sand dunes. We had most of them to ourselves. The hike took two hours and twenty minutes. When we got back to the car we pulled out our sled and went sledding down the dunes.

Hueco Tanks State Park

The ranger told us that people come from all over the world to rock climb at this park. According to him this is the number one place to climb in the world. They only allow 70 people at a time to climb. We drove around the park and took some pictures of the place including a few climbers in the process of climbing a rock wall. We've incuded these pictures so you can see how huge these rocks were. Very impressive.

Wyler Aerial Tramway, El Paso, TX

We drove over to Wyler Aerial Tramway. It's a tram that takes you up to the top of the Franklin Mountains for a view of three states and two nations. In one of the pictures here, in the far distance, you can see the sand dunes in Mexico on the other side of the mountains.

White Sands, NM

We drove up to White Sands today in hopes of doing some hiking and dune sledding. Unfortunately the winds were just too strong and instead of seeing beautiful dunes, we saw a sand storm. Meldon was brave enough to get out in it long enough for me to take a couple of pictures. As you can probably tell, I was taking them from in the car. :-) We will have to revisit White Sands on a less windy day this week.

Fort Bliss El Paso, TX

Today we drove over to Fort Bliss and got a great spot at a military RV Park. Meldon is becoming an expert at getting our internet satellite dish up and running. Full hook ups and laundry, physical fitness facilities, not to mention being very close to a Walmart and base facilities. After spending the last few days in the mountains, these small things are a big deal! There are a few parks around here. Looks like we might stay here for a while.