28 April

We left Chiricahu National Monument and head into New Mexico via the I10. I have really learnt how to drive “Ernie” now using the cruise control over these long fast Interstate roads. The speed limit is 75 mph but “Ernie feels great at 60 mph. As the “I” roads are all two lanes each way the trucks and cars fly past with no problems. Just over the border we stopped at a rest area which had a tourist information and free internet. As we had had some issues with internet at Tombstone, we decided to publish a blog and check emails etc. The food store had everything but bread so we ended up having crackers and cheese for lunch. As this was just a repositioning day we planned to stop at a town called Deming a drive of about 180 miles. After a quick shop at the local Wal Mart we found our camp about 10 miles out of the town. The warm welcome was worth the extra drive. Unfortunately the free internet is still not working. A good job we used the one at the visitors centre. The camp is in the desert with the I10, ½ mile over the fence making an interesting backdrop.

29 April

They charge for electricity separately here so after a chat with the staff and an extra charge of 52 cents! We headed back onto the I10 to a city called Las Cruces where we fuelled up and Val posted a card to Mum. We camped at the Leasburg Dam State Park just out of the city. This was on the banks of the Rio Grande which turned out to be dry! In the evening things went to custard when we decided to go for a bike ride to an old fort just down the road. On the way home I suddenly had that “flat tyre feeling”. Not just the front but also the back. Val’s bike had suffered the same fate. There were 100s of thorns in each tyre. We walked the bikes back to our camp. The camp host said they were Goats Head Cactus thorns. They might as well have been carpet tacks they were so long and sharp. We spent and hour picking them out!!

30 April

Our plan today was to get to the White Sands National Monument and spend some time there. On the way we passed the USA missile testing range. White Sands is a huge area of pure white gypsum sand hills. It is also where they tested the first nuclear bomb in 1945. After the usual informative video we headed along the 8 mile loop road into the sand hills. It was a bit like being in a ski field the sand was so white. We parked and went for a short walk before back to “Ernie” and lunch. We had hired a sand disc to slide down the dunes.

It was lots of fun but the slog back up limited the number of rides. On the way back to the visitors centre, we did a great nature walk with stopping points describing the wild life and plants. Boy it was hot! 94F (33C) We enjoyed an ice-cream before heading to Alamogordo where we had great success finding a Wal Mart for tyres etc and a McDonalds where our internet worked perfectly. A short drive brought us to Oliver Lee State Park where we will spend a couple of days. We are up in the foothills overlooking the White Sands valley.

1 May

It was another hot night. We set off up a steep trail towards the Dog Canyon. After about ¾ mile of steep up hill the track levelled off and eventually opened up into the Canyon. We walked for about 2 miles to get a good view into the canyon. A great walk. After lunch back at “Ernie,” I tackled the task of changing 4!!!! bike tyres. Eventually I got quite quick at it and could now be a mechanic on the Tour De France.

It was hot today around 90F.

2 May

What a change in the night. Firstly the temperature has dropped to around 65F. There must also have been a strong wind in the night. Despite Val getting up and closing the vents, every thing was covered in red dust. We drove to the camp at El Paso. At one stage we were in a convoy of military vehicles which came out of a missile testing site. I matched their speed but after a few miles and some light flashing I realized they wanted me to pass them all. About 20 humvees. El Paso is much bigger than we thought. (650,000). we crossed into Texas and the last 5 miles to our camp, thru the spaghetti junction at 60mph was a bit scary! El Paso is on the border of the USA and Mexico. The city was made famous by the song, El Paso, sung by Marty Robins in 1961. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bwoGbpYXRw

As we had internet (Val has fixed the problem) we spent some time planning. Our registration plates have arrived in Florida and we had to select a camp we will be at to get them forwarded to us. A venue for Memorial Weekend also had to be chosen. (big holiday here). We went out to a Mexican Restaurant for dinner. It was great. I had enchiladas and Val had Tortillas. Both were delicious and the atmosphere was excellent with a lovely Mexican singer entertaining us.

3 May

The day started out with a false start. We negotiated the roads out of El Paso and onto the road to Guadalupe Mts National Park. About 20 miles out on the road it seemed increasingly isolated. As we had intended to gas up on the road we started to worry. Would there be any petrol stations on this road? We had to stop at a Border Patrol Station. This was our second we had stopped at and they are essentially checking that we do not have any illegals trying to sneek from Mexico into the US. I asked the officer if there were any gas stations on the road. He told us the nearest gas was 100 miles up the road! We had no alternative but to hook a “U” and return to the outskirts of El Paso, about a 30 mile round trip. The Guadalupe National Park was at the top of a pass at 5850ft. We checked in and will spend a few days here walking the many trails. It is quite cool here.

4 May

It was cool in the night and we had to put on an extra blanket. After watching many groups setting of to climb Mt Guadalupe (the highest Mt in Texas), we packed our lunch and set off for a nice relaxing walk along the foot hills. We have done a few desert hikes now but each one is quite different. This walk had more trees and desert flowers

as there is more water here. We passed the old original ranch and headed up to a spring high in a canyon which was an oasis of maple, oak and juniper where we ate lunch. Back at “Ernie” went to the visitors centre to enquire about the uncovering of the Mescal Roasting Pit which will happen tomorrow.

5 May

An early start as they were uncovering the Mescal Roasting Pit and 0900. It was a ceremony involving the local Apache tripe. We gather around the pit (hangi) while an older lady blessed the 8 young girls

who had gathered the mescal. This involved marking the girls with pollen and then she delivered a very moving speech reminding them of their ancestry, their responsibility to provide, and always tell the truth. The pit was then uncovered (it had been down for 4 days) and each girl (with help from their family recovered the cooked mescal which is a cactus. We were all offered a piece. It was sweet and chewy and tasted a bit like hot pineapple. Back to “Ernie” to pack our lunch and set off for a 5 mile walk to the Devils Hall. We followed up a canyon to unusual rock formations ending at a flight of natural rock steps leading to a long slot like corridor. All very well named.