Silver City and Almagordo, New Mexico

While we were driving from Bisbee to Silver City, we crossed the border into New Mexico. This is my first time in New Mexico!

Silver City & Gila National Park

We drove an hour and a half from Silver City to visit Gila National park. Gila National Park is most famous for its ancient cliff dwellings. The cliff dwellings were built around 1276, but abandoned soon after that. There are approximately 40 rooms in the connecting caves. We were able to climb into the dwellings and caves!

Then we went on a three mile hike along a cliff opposite the dwellings, my mom, my dad, and I went a bit farther, to reach the cliff edge. We were able to see the cliff dwellings on the other side of the canyon. 

One of the other things we did in Silver City was walk around downtown; unfortunately, a lot of the shops were closed due to President’s Day. We were able to go in a bookstore though; I bought a 1925 copy of Alice in Wonderland! There was this cute painting on one of the sides of the building we walked by and Sedona and I took a photo with it.

Truth or Consequences

On our way from Silver City to Almagordo we stopped at the town called Truth or Consequences. This small town changed it’s name in 1950 in order to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the game show Truth or Consequences.

The game show originally started out as a radio broadcast, but was later turned into a TV show. The show existed for 38 years before ending in 1988. Here is how the game worked: People would have to try to answer a crazy super hard question in two seconds flat, almost no one was able to do it.  If they were able to answer it, they were asked another question. When the person was not able to answer the question, they had to pay the “consequence” which usually involved doing some crazy or silly stunt. During many of the broadcasts of the show there was a surprise for the contestant, for example reuniting with a long lost relative or an enlisted family member being brought home. 

Almagordo & White Sands National Park

In Almagordo we stayed in an Air B&B, our hosts were so nice, and the house we stayed in was beautifully decorated. They also had gourmet s’mores with recipes for many variations (ie- Mexican chocolate- cinnamon & nutmeg). 

While we were in Almagordo, we drove to White Sands National Park. This is by far one of my favorite National Parks we have visited so far.  The White Sands dessert is 225 square miles and is surround by the Chihuahuan desert. The “sands” are not actual traditional sand, the sand is actually made from Gypsum. 

Water from the nearby mountains carried the dissolved crystals to lake Otero. When the lake started drying up, the crystals began to form again. The strong wind moved the crystals so that they hit upon each other and slowly turned into the sand you see in the White Sands National Park.  

The plants that live in the white sands are able to survive due to the fact that just two feet below the surface is a water table. We hiked through the white sands dessert to the Alkali Flats and back. 

Carlsbad Caverns National Park & Guadalupe National Park

Our next stop was a few hours south in a town named Carlsbad. We toured the Carlsbad Caverns National Park. The caves were absolutely amazing!! We walked several miles down to the “big room cave”. This is another one of my favorite National Parks!

This cave is the 28th largest in the world, and 5th largest in the U.S.! We saw tons of stalagmites, which grow from the ground up, and stalactites, which grow from the ceiling down. There are a a total of 117 caves at Carlsbad.     

After we were done at the caverns we took a quick drive to Guadalupe National Park in Texas. This is also my first time in Texas! While we were there we went on a short hike/walk.