Carlsbad KOA & Carlsbad Caverns National Park

We pulled into Carlsbad KOA at dusk. I quickly set up the camper as the kids took Ruby to the dog park. With just the 3 of us, we were able to take down our homemade bunk beds which makes it possible to set up our dinette with less fuss. It was 8:30 at night when I got to start making some dinner! Thank goodness for simple meals like mac n' cheese with broccoli!

 The next day was HOT! The kids moods are all over the place, so we decided on a day of not much activity! It was nice to swim and catch up on some road schooling!

The desert reeked havoc on my skin. So in Colorado I bought some lotion (Eucerin) and started slathering it on my body a couple of times a day. In Carlsbad I somehow fried myself after just 40 minutes at the pool. That evening when I went to put on my lotion I realized a warning on the bottle saying to avoid sun exposure as the lotion increases your risk of sunburn for up to 7 days! If you hear news reports of a giant lobster walking around NM, it’s just me!!

 For lunch I heated up the leftover mac and cheese and added ground beef and grated zucchini and carrots. The kids loved it :)

 There are dozens of bunnies everywhere in this campground! They drive Ruby mad!

 On Thursday we headed to Carlsbad Caverns (about an hour from the KOA). It was amazing how different they were from Lehman Caves! It was like comparing Mall of America to a convenience store! We were grateful that we had seen Lehman caves first and had gone on the guided tour there to learn all about how the limestone caves are formed and about all of the different cave structures. We spotted all of the structures, except the super rare shields. But, we did find Lion's Tale (6th picture) which we hadn't seen before. All of the structures were much more grand! The Avenue of the giants and cave pools were awesome. Our pictures don't really do the cave justice. We jammed through the 1.6 mile loop of the Great Room and the kids were able to complete their Junior Ranger booklets. We were in a rush because the kennels there were a flop. When we first arrived we checked Ruby in. The attendant told me that I would have to lift Ruby into the top row of kennels because the bottom ones were all full. Lifting a 65 pound fidgeting dog is not easy. When I got her up there I asked the attendant if the crates were secured to the wall. She said they weren't! I said well, that won't work, as soon as she moves she is going to knock the entire stack of crates over. She acted like I was being difficult! We ended up putting Ruby back in the camper and really rushed our visit. While it's great to have Ruby with us, it definitely adds a whole other layer of logistics to everything!

 Taking the Junior Ranger Oath :)

Albuquerque, NM

On Monday we ventured back into Albuquerque for Carl's flight home. We checked into a La Quinta by the airport and quickly headed into Old Town to explore before Carl had to leave. We ate a crummy lunch at a Mexican restaurant that our Uber driver recommended and then took a great bicycle tour of Old Town. Unfortunately, it's been so long since I have sat down to blog (having too much fun), so I don't remember a lot of the great historical details from our guide. Thankfully, Ryan loves to write detailed journal entries while I drive! I will add his journal as soon as I can.

We were all sad to say goodbye to Carl as he was leaving! Good thing he will fly to meet us in New Orleans in just 10 days :) After he caught an Uber we went to Explora Children's Museum. It was great fun, and exactly what we all needed to keep our minds off of Daddy's departure. 

We ALL love the beds on our hotel nights! 

On Tuesday we took Ruby to a dog park for some exercise and then headed to the BioPark. The kids LOVED the zoo! Unfortunately, we skipped the train ride and aquarium because we were worried about Ruby in the heat of the camper, and we needed to start our long drive to Carlsbad. 

A New Mexico Detour

We arrived in Albuquerque on Saturday after an uneventful drive. Our plan was to stay at the KOA here because several websites had declared it to be the best campground/RV park somewhat close to the activities we wanted to do. We drove through a sketchy neighborhood to get there and found the KOA to be a parking lot surrounded in barbed wire! It was obvious that most of the visitors weren't just visiting... Since we needed a few things we ran into a nearby Walmart. When you are questioning a city, DON'T go to the local Walmart. It won't help your opinion of the place! So, we changed plans and headed south. After a few wrong turns in literally the middle of nowhere, we found San Lorenzo Canyon. It was a beautiful place to spend two nights!

The Easter Bunny even found us deep out in BLM land :) We spent the day Sunday lounging around, reading, cooking good food, and playing lots of games. We decided that we would choose a game after each meal and the two winners would get out of dishes duty. We have discovered a new game that we love, Scrambled States of America. The kids beat us at it and Carl and I ended up doing lunch dishes. It was the relaxing, fun day that all of us needed.