Here's Our New Ride! | Page 11 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

Here's Our New Ride!

Day 14:

This was another big driving day. We left Albuquerque at 10:49am (on a side note, we planned this vacation to be as relaxing as possible, and tried to get as late starts as possible, there was no getting up at 6:00am to get on the road. The earliest I think we got up was 7:30 for one day.), and headed south to Carlsbad. Of course, on our way down we had to stop at...

The International UFO Museum and Research Center in Roswell:

DSC_8928.jpg


Oh yeah baby, we made sure to stop! It was appropriately awesome. They only charge $5.00 to get in, and it is worth every penny. It is beyond description, it simply has to be experienced. The gift shop is worth the price of admission alone.

DSC_8926.jpg


Here are some interior shots of the museum quality displays on hand:
DSCN2665.jpg


DSCN2709.jpg


DSCN2660.jpg


Oooh, a life size diorama:
DSCN2690.jpg


Always time for an artist's depiction:
DSCN2716.jpg


And how about some fan art:
DSCN2696.jpg


Roswell was a great little town, where everything was alien themed - they really seemed to be having fun with it.

We really got a kick out of the street lamps:
DSC_8942.jpg


DSC_8939.jpg


DSC_8945.jpg


DSC_8934.jpg


It didn't matter what the business was, they were able to tie in the aliens in one way or another. It was awesome.

Then we stopped at the coolest McDonald's ever:

DSCN2751.jpg


DSCN2766.jpg


It had an awesome playplace and it was just neat inside. We all ended up crawling through the hamster maze, and all I can say is that I am too damn old to do that stuff :D It was fun though.

We made it to Carlsbad at 6:25pm. It was an easy drive and it was nice getting in early. One fuel-up with 22.8mpg with the odometer reading 13642.3.
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





Day 15:

Today's destination is Carlsbad Caverns. We took the natural entrance so that we could get the full experience. For those unfamiliar, you can go in and get out of the cavern by either the natural entrance or an elevator.

DSC_9027.jpg


DSC_9031.jpg


Going down into a big hole in the ground is an interesting experience:

DSC_9094.jpg


DSC_9099.jpg


Descending further into the abyss:
DSC_9108.jpg


Bid farewell to the sky:
DSC_9102.jpg

And welcome the stench of bat guano!! Yeow!!

DSC_9129.jpg


Taking shots in low-light situations is always a challenge with a hand-held camera, but I tried to do my best so please pardon the blurries :)

DSC_9146.jpg


DSC_9170.jpg


DSC_9184.jpg


DSC_9278.jpg


DSC_9335.jpg


This was a curious accident of adjusting the zoom while the shutter was still open:
DSC_9336.jpg


DSC_9389.jpg


DSC_9403.jpg


DSC_9444.jpg


Here you go, 750 feet down! As you can see, we decided to take the elevator up:
DSC_9525.jpg


The thing that really strikes you is just how amazingly enormous the caverns are. We have visited the Natural Bridge Caverns outside San Antonio a number of times and took the chance to compare the two cavern systems. For being two big holes in the ground, they actually differ quite a bit. Carlsbad is simply huge, far larger in scale than the Natural Bridge. It also has some interesting geological characteristics that the Natural Bridge does not. Natural Bridge caverns in our opinion are more beautiful, with more delicate structures, and being more compact in size, everything is a bit closer and easier to appreciate. Both are definitely worth visiting as they offer unique experiences.

After grabbing a bite to eat here:

DSC_8986.jpg


We headed to Sitting Bull Falls next. The drive in was interesting - long, on a narrow and winding road, with obstructions:

We saw this sign couple of times:
DSC_9537.jpg


And then we saw this:
DSC_9548.jpg


DSC_9697.jpg

Looks like the sign was right :D

The canyon leading to the falls was pretty spectacular:
DSC_9586.jpg


DSC_9589.jpg


DSC_9599.jpg


As were the falls themselves:
DSC_9631.jpg


DSC_9650.jpg


The drive back to the hotel was uneventful, only encountering a few more cows, lol.

No fuel-up for today! Yay :)
 






that first picture is great. reminds me of how much fun it is to buy a new car!

Enjoy!
 






Once again nice job Vince! I am enjoying this.

I am heading to New Mexico first week of December but flying there from Long Island. Heading to Bosque del Apache to take some bird pics, which is near Roswell. One place that is also nice near Roswell. maybe 150 miles or so, is White Sands which is near where they tested the first A bomb. To avoid leaking the secret of the American atomic bomb project, local residents were not warned or evacuated in advance of, or following, the test. I guess it sounded like a good idea at the time. :eek:. White Sands is an awesome place for photos. I will be there also that week.

I know you are well past that now though so enjoy your trip!
 






I keep forgetting to post this picture, so here it is...finally!

DSC_8500.jpg


We had the Ghost packed to the gills! Funny thing is, I had never seen the use for those elastic cargo nets. Well now I do :)
 






When I worked for Cessna, they sent all the prototypes down to Roswell for extensive testing. When they came back, they all had that alien head sticker just aft of the cabin door- one for each trip that jet made down there.

And my current company, Lockheed, has done some testing at White Sands.

Carlsbad looks pretty neat. Just outside of Co Springs is a place called Cave of the Winds. I thought it was pretty neat. It was my first time in a cave like that. The building where you buy tickets is built right on the edge of the cliff- that had me puckering up pretty good as we stood in line on the balcony......
 






Vince,

As usual, awesome pictures. It's amazing how there is so much to see here at home in the U.S. Traveling abroad is fun, but it's so much fun doing road trips around the country.

You need to do more road trips so you can keep us all entertained with your trip report and excellent photos....lol
 






Vince,

As usual, awesome pictures. It's amazing how there is so much to see here at home in the U.S. Traveling abroad is fun, but it's so much fun doing road trips around the country.

You need to do more road trips so you can keep us all entertained with your trip report and excellent photos....lol

Thanks! :D I'm not sure we would have the energy to do this too often. Between the planning, the paying, and the doing - it was an exhausting (super-mega-fun, though) process. But you are right, there is so much here in the 48 that we haven't seen. Toss in Alaska and Hawaii and you have a lifetime's worth of adventures. We have a lot of awesome memories from this and our three other road trips. And fret not, any time the Explorer is pressed into vacation duty, you will see it here :)
 






When I worked for Cessna, they sent all the prototypes down to Roswell for extensive testing. When they came back, they all had that alien head sticker just aft of the cabin door- one for each trip that jet made down there.

And my current company, Lockheed, has done some testing at White Sands.

Carlsbad looks pretty neat. Just outside of Co Springs is a place called Cave of the Winds. I thought it was pretty neat. It was my first time in a cave like that. The building where you buy tickets is built right on the edge of the cliff- that had me puckering up pretty good as we stood in line on the balcony......

We tried to add the Cave of the Winds to our itinerary, but unfortunately, we ran short of time and wouldn't have been able to devote enough time to enjoy it. Seems like it would have been a neat addition to the trip though.
 






Day 16:

Time to pack up and head out of Carlsbad. We hopped into the car a little after 10:00am and made our way out of town.

Along the way we kept seeing these:
DSC_9747_zpsaefe304e.jpg

We kept asking ourselves 'should we be worried?' lol

Saw a couple of these too:
DSC_9749_zps8c5ebbde.jpg

Fortunately for us, we didn't see any runaway trucks!

Another handy little informational sign:
DSC_9751_zpsf5048bbf.jpg


Cloudcroft was a neat little town, in an artsy/touristy kind of way. There must have been some sort of festival because the place was PACKED!!

It was a lovely drive through the mountains, and we got some more tunnel action to Christopher's delight:
DSC_9763_zpsadf6d8db.jpg


DSC_9779_zps8bc7b0f8.jpg


DSC_9784_zpsa996f134.jpg


And what is this...what do I see in the distance?
DSC_9781_zpsf5048222.jpg


Could it be....could it really be some:
DSC_9830_zps4213b1d1.jpg

White sand?

Oh yes!
DSC_9822_zps0fe18c6c.jpg

gdecamp, you didn't think we really were going to leave it out, did you? :D

The sand was the strangest thing. It was fine like beach sand, but it stuck together. You could walk on it (albeit carefully), and not disturb it. Of course that started a game, in the lines of Kungfu. Walk across the rice paper...

DSC_9834_zpsdfbfc6ab.jpg


DSC_9836_zpsad058af1.jpg


The end of the road so to speak (the paved one that is :))
DSC_9860_zpse7247321.jpg


DSC_9899_zps1ea5cc98.jpg


Time to frolic in the sand:
DSC_9957_zpsd98b9842.jpg


DSC_9895_zps20901be4.jpg


DSC_9951_zps6ebd44b9.jpg

Christopher was having an absolute ball running all over, and then trying to pick up a wad of sand and have it stay together.

One of the curious things about the sand, and what makes it stick together, is the extremely high water table. We climbed half way up a decent sized dune, and after digging down only 2 or 3 inches, we came across damp sand.

More vanity shots, hehe:
DSC_9900_zps6a05a8cd.jpg


DSC_9973_zpsc9e80b13.jpg


After playing in the sand, we headed off to visit the White Sands Missile Range Missile Park:
DSC_9810_zps426cbf69.jpg


DSC_9980_zps6c3b9bb8.jpg


We liked the following informational sign:
DSC_0096_zps2bbf7df9.jpg


We did make it to the missile park, which was pretty cool. Standing next to Pershing and Pershing II missiles was a strange feeling. To know that these things were cold war relics, and powerful enough to devastate whatever was in their path. Pretty awe inspiring.

DSCN3175.jpg


DSCN3186.jpg


DSCN3220.jpg


DSCN3243.jpg


DSCN3290.jpg


DSCN3257.jpg


All but one or two of the items on display was accompanied by an informational panel giving a brief history and historical significance. It really fed my inner nerd :)

Like gdecamp mentioned, White Sands Missile Range was home to the first a-bomb test. The Trinity Site is open to the public twice a year, on the first Saturday in April and October according to my research. That would be a pretty neat place to visit. Yet another "We need to stop there next time" situation... UPDATE: October 6th is when it will be open this year (check THIS SITE for details).

After trudging around the park and snapping a ton of photos (which are all on Stephen's camera, so they will be posted later), we headed to Alamogordo for some dinner and rest.

One fuel-up at 23.34mpg and an odometer reading of 14086.3 miles.
 






I'll have to mess with those pics in the white sands. I must've tweaked the white balance and metering the wrong way. The pics look dim... guess I'll just have to bust out the Photo Elements to fix 'em.
 






Day 17:

Today we will be driving from Alamogordo to San Angelo, Tx via El Paso. At this point the vacation was pretty much over. We left Alamogordo at 10:32am to get to El Paso in time for my three traveling companions to make their flight back to Houston. We made it with plenty of time.

On the way we came across MORE warning signs:
DSC_0111_zps7eea7975.jpg


DSC_0112_zps4c51ebe2.jpg

Eek, no hitchhikers for us!

We finally made our way into Texas:
notag_zpsdb55b8dc.jpg

I was on driving duty and almost missed the sign. Everyone in the car was pointing and yapping at me, so I conducted one of my patented Vince moves. A quick check of traffic and a rather liberal application of braking, in conjunction with a little swerve action, put the car in the perfect position for photos :D

Here is our view as we approach El Paso:
DSC_0151_zpsd44fc29f.jpg


And getting ready to drop of my posse:
DSC_0186_zps516f8562.jpg


After I dropped of the crew, I headed out to San Angelo where I stayed overnight. It was a beautiful drive getting there. I am used to seeing I-10 east of San Antonio, and it is nothing to write home about. Coming out of El Paso and working my way west, the scenery livened up quite a bit and it was a lovely drive.

As I made my way northeast to San Angelo, I passed the town of Big Lake. Something in my mind got me to thinking, where had I heard that name before? Then it hit me. Big Lake the city is home to Big Lake the lake. Big Lake is one of the only two natural lakes in Texas (the other being Caddo Lake, which isn't completely natural anymore due to a damn being added to it). Unfortunately, the natural springs that feed Big Lake have been tapped to provide water for everything but the lake. As a result, the lake is dry, only filling when rainfall is heavy enough.

The biggest component of my scenery along the way consisted of the pump-jack. Those things are EVERY where. I guess that's what happens when cruising through the Permian Basin.

I made it into San Angelo at 7:03pm. I settled into my hotel and then went to have a crappy steak at Outback (the shrimp were good though).

Two fuel-ups to report with 22.11mpg and 21.8mpg and an odometer reading of 14563.2 miles so far.

Check back tomorrow for the final installment and all of the stats of our trip :)
 






I'll have to mess with those pics in the white sands. I must've tweaked the white balance and metering the wrong way. The pics look dim... guess I'll just have to bust out the Photo Elements to fix 'em.
That's strange Vince. The last picture with the Gray Ghost against the dunes as a backdrop looks okay. Did you adjust anything before or after that one? I like the pic with the end of the road. If I posted that here, I am 100% certain I could say that was snow and get away with it. :thumbsup:

Peter
 






W
On the way down:
DSC_7818.jpg

Check out the skid marks and the guard rail damage. Looks like someone was having a fun day ;)

Looks like a fun road! I would have a blast. I wonder how the new Sports are going to handle that?.. :eek::burnout:



DSC_8393.jpg

Yep, 224 of those buggers.

Going down, watch that first step - it's a looloo. (human snowball):D
 






Looking at all the pics, That looks like a cool trip. It'd be neat to see all that.
 






That's strange Vince. The last picture with the Gray Ghost against the dunes as a backdrop looks okay. Did you adjust anything before or after that one? I like the pic with the end of the road. If I posted that here, I am 100% certain I could say that was snow and get away with it. :thumbsup:

Peter

A couple of them look fine, but to my eye, the whites are more gray/blue on a majority of the others. They just don't have the pop that some of the other pics have. I'm wondering if a polarizing filter would help with that? I'm still learning about all of this stuff!
 






A couple of them look fine, but to my eye, the whites are more gray/blue on a majority of the others. They just don't have the pop that some of the other pics have. I'm wondering if a polarizing filter would help with that? I'm still learning about all of this stuff!

Things like snow, sand, or white sand like that will throw off the exposure meter in your camera. You usually have to practice around going a few stops down or up to get the right exposure. Those pictures don't look bad at all, but they can be easily fixed in photoshop. Did you happen to shoot with raw or just jpeg?
 






W
On the way down:

Check out the skid marks and the guard rail damage. Looks like someone was having a fun day ;)

Looks like a fun road! I would have a blast. I wonder how the new Sports are going to handle that?.. :eek::burnout:


Yep, 224 of those buggers.

Going down, watch that first step - it's a looloo. (human snowball):D

I wouldn't even want to think about taking those turns too fast. Those guardrails are only so strong! :) One of them was bent on the end and it looked like someone may have made it over the edge. Eek! There is just no room for error, going off the road is only the first problem. The next is the sheer drop a foot past the road.

Yeah, those steps were fun. They were of course shaking a little, and vibrating from the water. It was an acrophobes nightmare.

The trip was awesome. We put a couple of months planning into it, and it went off without a hitch. An extra 2 or 3 days would have allowed us to see not only all of the big stuff at Yellowstone like we did, but a lot of the smaller stuff that is just as amazing. We also could have made it to Belle Fourche and added the Cave of the Winds. But hey, gotta leave some things for the next trip :)
 






Things like snow, sand, or white sand like that will throw off the exposure meter in your camera. You usually have to practice around going a few stops down or up to get the right exposure. Those pictures don't look bad at all, but they can be easily fixed in photoshop. Did you happen to shoot with raw or just jpeg?

I suspected that the metering might be goofy. I couldn't tell that they were turning out like that because it was so darned bright outside. My camera tends to overexpose with default settings, so I have the exposure compensation tweaked a bit. Since we don't have white sand or snow around here, I'll have to find some place to practice.

I shoot jpeg. I have toyed with shooting RAW, but haven't taken the time to learn how to manipulate them most effectively. Maybe I'll finally get around to taking the next step and start shooting in the RAW :)
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.











Back
Top