Setting up my tent in New Mexico
I have spent the last couple of days driving through the deserts of southwestern USA. I spent Tuesday and Wednesday night sleeping in NM, the first night at a campground, the second at a hotel. (I had intended on camping out on Wednesday as well, and went to this nice state park. It was so windy though, that I was finding it nearly impossible to keep my tent under control while trying to stake it down so it wouldn't fly away. Once I figured out a way to hold it and also stake it, I started to hammer down a stake. Or tried to at least. I was not at all capable of hammering a metal stake into the hot, dry, hard NM desert ground. I was already grumpy, sand was getting everywhere, and I just gave up. Priceline had a good deal for a decent sounding hotel that was only about $15 more than the campsite would have been (luckily I hadn't paid yet) so I just said "eff it" and spent the night relaxing in an actually very comfortable little hotel.)
Waiting for the Bat Flight in the amphitheater
So yes, anyways, Tuesday I camped out in Carlsbad, NM. I went to watch the bat flight in nearby Carlsbad Caverns, then enjoyed some local Tex-Mex, before settling down for the night. Wednesday morning, I went back to Carlsbad Caverns to check out inside the caverns. I could have spent all day there, but decided to just go on one self-guided tour through the Big Room, a giant cavern underground, that was about a mile and a half distance, but took about an hour to walk. Caves are so cool, and if it wasn't for the small places you would have to go through to explore some caves, I could totally see myself being a spelunker. As a hobby at least.
Carlsbad Caverns
Leaving Carlsbad Caverns, I expected to drive through New Mexico, but my route actually took me back down into Texas, and I traveled the panhandle of that state instead. I'm sure it would have looked much the same in New Mexico. I was a little thrown off though by how close to the actual Mexico I was. I was tired (this is a theme these days), and a little high strung, so I started freaking out thinking about going through a Border Patrol checkpoint. I had nothing to worry about, but just the thought of being questioned, or having my car searched, was a little too much for my fragile little brain to handle just then. All that happened though was the officer asked me if I was a citizen, and then wished me a good day. Drove on through. Freak out not needed. I've gone through two more border patrols since then; the first I was just waved on through, the second the officer just chatted with me a little about being from New Hampshire.
As I already said, thanks to the hard desert ground, I slept in a hotel for my second night in New Mexico, which was actually really nice for the price given. The people were really nice, and besides an encounter with one old cowboy who kept asking me if I liked hockey and that he wanted me to stay and talk to him about hockey, it was pretty uneventful. Got a decent night's sleep even.
Leaving there the next morning, the plan was to drive straight across Arizona on the interstate. Due to an unfortunate chain of events, Tucson, AZ will not be receiving a visit from me anytime soon.
The Thing?
I had only one stop planned until I got to my hotel in Yuma, AZ (I've given up on camping in the desert right now.) My guidebooks both suggested I go to The Thing?, a tourist attraction off of I-10. Through some online research, I already knew what the Thing? was, but I still wanted to go to the site. The museum tour is only a $1 after all. It was an interesting museum for sure, but I'm not really sure how true any of the signs are. There was an old Matchlock gun made in 1964, with a sign claiming that that it is one of the rarest pieces on earth and the only one in the world. I highly doubt that. If that was true, I would expect it to be in a museum that costs a bit more, with a bit more security than a plexiglass case. And not located in basically a trailer park. And if The Thing? itself is really what it claims to be, I would expect the same thing. But whatever, it was a fun little tour for just a dollar.
As I drove quickly across the desert, I decided to travel just a few miles into California before turning back to Yuma to see one final tourist attraction for the day. Apparently, Felicity, California is the Official Center of the World based on a children's book called COE the Good Dragon at the Center of the World. The author of the book created a pyramid, named the town around it after his wife, and then ran for mayor. In 1985, a law set the center of the pyramid as The Official Center of the World. Unfortunately though, it was closed by the time I got there. I arrived at 5:01, it closed at 5:00. Except, due to the complete emptiness of the place, I suspect it has not yet opened for the season yet.
After snapping a few pictures, I headed back to Yuma where I watched the Bruins win the first game of round 2, and then fell asleep pretty early. Seeing shows like Conan that usually come on later at night on at 9 pm mentally makes me think it's much later than it really is. But an early night of sleep was much needed, even though it wasn't the best night's sleep.