From Silver City, KOA to Carlsbad, KOA

 Friday, February 6, 2015
We drove from Silver City to Carlsbad, a six and a half hour drive.  We traveled on Highway #180 to  Interstate 10 at Deming. Then, we drove west to Las Cruces to Route #70 through White Sands Missile Range to the town of Alamogordo, a military town.   Near the White Sands National Monument, our lane became a  Homeland Security checkpoint. On Route 82, we climbed steeply in elevation through the Lincoln National Forest. Then we descended into the desert at Artesia. We drove south on Route 285 to our campground, near Carlsbad.

                                               Memories of Zion National Park, Utah!

                                                                            Darn!

                                           We last spotted elk signs in Montana!

We left the barking dogs at Silver City KOA for the smell of the oil wells near Carlsbad KOA. On the plus side, we are experiencing a rich variety of birdsong. Our first morning, Jonathan woke to what he thought was the sound of rain.  The rain seemed very localized, only occurring on one section of the roof. Then the rain moved, and he realized the "rain" was caused by birds hopping on our roof!