Carlsbad Caverns

Wow, Carlsbad Cavern are huge.  We arrived in time for lunch and to book a 1:00 tour to the King’s Palace and then one of the walking tours.  Two tours back to back is not a wise thing to do.  But we enjoyed both of them.  Not very many people there this time of the year which made it easy to book the King’s Palace tour on short notice. Gary was hoping for more color in the cave, but most of the columns, stalactites, and stalagmites were white.  The lighting in the cave was set up by a Hollywood person and I don’t think he did a very good job. 

Ruidoso River Museum

Ruidoso River Museum is a very small museum, but it is loaded with lots of information about the Lincoln County Wars, Billy the Kid, and Pat Garrett.  Cost for the museum is only $5, but it is worth the money.  Take time to read all the information.  We will be watching Young Guns tonight.  The museum has all kinds of things.  We enjoyed the jewelry exhibits, the Titanic relics, items that belonged to Elvis, LIberace,  Princess Di, Jacqueline Kennedy, and many more actors.

gun Pat Garrett used when he shot Billy the Kid

Princess Di

Hubbard Museum of the American West

The Hubbard Museum of the American West is located in Ruidoso, NM.  Cost for the museum is $5 per person.  It is a small museum but has plenty of things to see. 

knife that used to belong to Billy the Kid

gun owned by Billy the Kid

Three Rivers Petroglyphs

While traveling from Saint David, Az to Alamogordo, NM, I received a call from my mom telling me that we should go see the Petroglyphs located near Alamogordo.  She stated that they were the best she had ever experienced.  Today, we took her advice and went to Three Rivers.  All I can say is WOW.  Lots of petroglyphs to see, over 21,000 they say.  Sure worth the visit.  If you plan to go, make sure you wear great walking shoes for the rugged 1/2 mile trail.  Make sure to go around both sides.

White Sands Missile Museum

The museum is located at mile marker 170 off of 70 between Las Cruces and Alamogordo, NM.  It is located on the missile testing ground so we had to go through security to enter the museum.  The best part of the museum were the missiles located outside.  There is a V2 video which is very interesting.  We toured the items inside the museum also.

the hound dog   named after Elvis of course

White Sands National Monument

White Sands National Monument is located 13 miles from Alamogordo, Nm.  We arrived around 9:00 and were able to catch the first showing of the movie discussing the park.  Great movie.  We drove the 8 mile loop twice, had to see it from both sides.  Due to the time of the year, there were only about 4 other cars in the park when we were there.

Some of the dunes move about 35 feet per year, so the park is in a state of constant change.

Skunk sumac spreads it roots deep so that it is not affected by the drifting sand.

the dunes are made up of tiny grains of gypsum that glimmer in the sunlight

New Mexico Museum of Space History

 

The New Mexico Museum of Space History is located in Alamogordo, New Mexico.  The museum offers a history of space pioneers and the many developments that made space travel possible.  We were able to view “space food” that was on different space missions.  There is also an IMAX located next to the museum that has various shows having to do with airplanes and even the Hubble.  Very enjoyable visit.

This was the type of capsule the first space monkey, Ham, used.

model of first Russian into space

moon rock

US space food