Western Road Trip
After we got back to San Diego on October 14th, we hit the ground running to get Tasi ready to head south. The next three weeks were filled with non-stop boat projects and arrangements to leave San Diego for an extended time. We also sold Shelly’s car and stocked up on provisions for cruising. Once these preparations were complete, we headed off on an extended road trip to visit family and friends.
We loaded up my truck and left San Diego on Saturday, November 5th. Our first stop was Las Cruces, New Mexico where we visited Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument. This national monument, established in 2014, is a rugged mountain range in southern New Mexico where we enjoyed some great hiking.
The next day we headed to White Sands National Park in New Mexico. It is remarkable for great wave-like dunes of gypsum creating the worlds largest gypsum dune field. We enjoyed several hikes including the Alkali Flat Trail which was a 5 mile loop through the dunes with epic scenery.
After leaving White Sands NP, we drove to Carlsbad, New Mexico where we stayed three nights. The first full day, we spent exploring Carlsbad Caverns. This is the most well known cavern within an enormous cave system. The Carlsbad Cavern is >30 miles long and has been developed to facilitate easy access. We did the Natural Entrance trail to the Big Room trail which brought us along nearly 3 miles of underground trails. It was an unworldly experience with crazy rock formations, stalactites and stalagmites.
The next day we drove to Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas where we did a 9 mile hike to the top of the highest peak in Texas. Guadalupe Peak rises to 8751 feet and for a short time we were officially the highest people in Texas. There is a pretty cool statue at the top commemorating the early Air-mail pilots who navigated these treacherous routes through the mountains in the pioneering days of aviation.
Leaving Carlsbad, we drove to San Antonio, Texas where we enjoyed a fantastic visit with our close friends Erin, Ramon, and Winston at Chez Cestero. It was such a great visit and we were able to celebrate Shelly’s 50th in style. We miss you guys.
After a great visit, we next headed south to Big Bend National Park along the Rio Grande border with Mexico. We had been told that this is one of the most under-rated parks and it did not disappoint. It is a huge park with terrain varying from desert to river to mountains. We spent three days in the park hiking along the Rio Grande River, in the Chisos Mountains where we encountered a bear on the Window Trail, and in the desert where we drove miles along a 4×4 road to reach the Ernst Tinaja trail and its dry river-bed hike. The park is extremely isolated and we stayed in a really cool Airbnb in Terlingua. This is a funky little town with a main attraction of the old Ghost Town. Within this section of town the old theater has been converted to a delicious restaurant with great food and drink. Well known musicians are known to show up to play on the old stage. We really enjoyed Terlingua and the night sky was absolutely incredible.
Leaving Big Bend, we headed to Austin, TX for my cousin Jason and Kimmie’s wedding. It was good to see family and it was a great event with the most unique wedding favors we’ve ever seen. Congratulations guys!
The next leg was a long drive from Austin, TX to Albert Lea, MN with a night stopover in Wichita, Kansas. It was great to see family and friends, enjoy Thanksgiving together, and play bingo at the Conger Bar. We will miss our family and friends.
After Thanksgiving, we left Minnesota headed for South Dakota where we explored Badlands National Park. The next day we explored Mount Rushmore in a snow storm and headed on to Billings, Montana where we stayed with our friends Courtney, Alfredo, Gael, Avra, and Max. It was a blast to see you guys and see how you’re thriving in Montana.
Leaving Billings, we drove through Bozeman and West Yellowstone in a snow storm and spent the night in Salt Lake City, UT. The next day we woke up early, drove through Las Vegas and got back to San Diego on the night of November 30th. In total we travelled over 6,000 miles through 15 states, visited 7 national parks, celebrated 2 birthdays and a wedding. It was a great trip but now time to prepare Tasi to depart the U.S.
