We left Texas and headed into New Mexico, where we stayed in Carlsbad. We visited the Living Desert Zoo & Gardens State Park where there were a lot more animals than we expected. It was really sad to see them locked up in small cages. We think most of them were injured, but it still was not a good environment for them. The next day we hiked the Carlsbad Caverns which are totally different than the one in Sonora. The caverns are huge! It took us two and a half hours to walk through them. It was really neat to see all the different rock formations and learn the history of how they were formed. We made a stop at another Elks lodge, where we met a really nice couple. We hit it off with them right away, which makes sense since their names were Kim and Dave. Visiting the Elks lodges has been a good way to learn about the history of the area and the different things to do in each town. We went on a nice long walk along the Pecos River during the day and returned later in the evening to see everything lit up along the river for Christmas. After looking at all the lights and feeling festive, we had to check out two local brewery’s; Milton’s and Guadalupe Mountain. They turned out to be pretty good.

Our next stop in New Mexico was Las Cruces. While in Las Cruces, we went to the Fort Seldon Historic Site. It is an old fort that was built in the late 1800’s out of adobe brick. I’m sure glad we can just go to the local lumber store for our building supplies, haha. It would really stink to make bricks out of mud all day long. The next day we found a great restaurant to get a southwestern breakfast; OMPC The Shed. Then it was time to restock the fridge, so we headed to FARMesilla where you can have a glass of wine or a beer while you shop. We picked up some yummy things there!

We are now headed towards Peoria. We stopped in the town of Wilcox for one night at Fort Wilcox RV Park. We would not recommend it. It is overpriced for what it is. The thing that we have appreciated all along the way are the sunsets. They are incredible! We will be in Peoria near Kim’s brother until after Christmas when we are headed to Las Vegas for New Years! Woo! Hoo!

We had so many people asking us how we got the car on and off the truck that we decided to make an instructional video. Check it out on our vehicles page!