Chihuahuan Desert, New Mexico, and Aliens - Nick and Andi

Jan. 11, 2018

Andi:

Yesterday we went into the national park but it was really foggy. We couldn’t see anything so we went home. I made a clay bunny. Then we had dinner and watched Tombstone.

Nick:

Yesterday we did a drive in Chiricahua National Park. We were told it was a really cool drive but it was really foggy so we couldn’t see anything. Then it started raining so we just came home. When we got back we had dinner and watched a movie.

Jan. 12, 2018

Andi:

Yesterday we did a hike. We went through a lot of rock mazes. We saw very skinny, straight, and smooth hoodoos. We were walking in a little divot most of the time at the end. We went home and read until bedtime.

Nick:

Yesterday we did a hike in Chiricahua National Park. It was a 3.3 mile hike. There were a lot of cool rock spires that kind of formed a maze. We had lunch on the hike. When we were done we drove home. Then we had dinner and went to bed.

Jan. 13, 2018

Andi:

Yesterday we drove to our new campsite. Nick and I played on the playground for a while. Then I read in the library. We went on a hike through the riverbed. We hiked over to the dam. Then we had dinner and played dominoes.

Nick:

Yesterday we drove 4 hours to get to our next site. When we got there Andi and I played on the playground for a while. Then we checked out the Visitor Center. It was very small. Next we did a hike down to a river bed and saw a dam. Then we came back, had dinner and played a game.

V2 Rocket

Jan. 14, 2017

Andi:

Yesterday we went to the White Sands Missile Museum. The missiles were huge. I got bored very quick. We left after lunch. We went to White Sand Dunes National Park. We bought sleds to sled down the dunes. The sand was actually gypsum particles. It was very soft at the top of the dunes. Then we went home and had dinner, read, and went to bed.

White Sands Missile Proving Range

Nick:

Yesterday we went to a missile museum in the morning. There were tons of missiles on display but the main one was a V2 missile. A man named von Braun designed it. He was a German scientist and after World War II we had him make missiles for us. Next we went to White Sands National Park. We bought sleds and went sledding down the dunes. It was really fun and you went really fast. We went sledding for 2 hours. Then we came home and had dinner.

relaxing

sledding

White Sands National Park

Jan. 15, 2017

Andi:

Yesterday we drove to a new campsite. Then Nick and I played on the playground till dinner. Then we played Quirkle. We read and went to bed.

Nick:

Yesterday we drove all day. When we got to our site Andi and I played on the playground for a very long time. Then we had dinner and played a game.

Carlsbad Caverns - we didn't get to see
the bats during this time of year

Jan. 16, 2017

Andi:

Yesterday we went to Carlsbad Caverns National Monument. We hiked down about 800 feet to get down to the Big Room. The Big Room is, like its name, a big cave with stalagmites (the ones on the ground), stalactites (the ones on the ceiling), soda straws (skinny, hollow, and very straight baby stalactites), and draperies (thin, long, and delicate stalactites). Then we went to the lunch room hoping to use the elevators to go up but the line was super long. We ended up walking out. We went home, played on the playground, and went to bed.

Nick:

Yesterday we went to Carlsbad Caverns, which is a giant underground cave. We got to hike around in it all day. We saw all sorts of cool formations. There were stalactites which are pointy rock formations that hang from the ceiling. We also saw stalagmites which are the same but they point up from the rock towards the ceiling. There were also columns. These are just what they sound like. They are a column of rock that goes from the floor to the ceiling. There are also things called draperies. They were thin sheets of rock with folds that looked like drapes. The last main formation was popcorn which looked like there was popcorn everywhere but it was rock. There were lots of rooms in the cave. My favorite one was called Big Room. It was very big. It had a ton of cool formations, including all of the ones I mentioned before. When we were done wandering around we walked back up. 800 feet up. It was not fun. Then we drove home and had dinner.

breathtaking sights

Jan. 17, 2017

Andi:

Yesterday we had bagels. Then we went to Carlsbad Caverns National Park. We did the Kings Palace Tour. You couldn’t go in on your own. You needed Keys. The King’s Palace was full of stalagmites, stalactites, soda straws, and draperies. They named it King’s Palace because they thought the stalactites and soda straws looked like chandeliers. The draperies looked like draperies. The stalagmites looked like thrones and the ground was flat. We saw the Queen’s Chamber, the Papoose Room and went back through the King’s Palace. The Queen’s Chamber had draperies down to the floor, stalactites like chandeliers, stalagmites like chairs, and a flat floor. The ranger turned the lights off and lit one lantern. Then he blew the lantern out and it was pitch black. We saw the Papoose Room before we left. The Papoose Room got its name because of a stalagmite. When you shine a flashlight on it the shadow looks like and Indian woman carrying a baby. A papoose is the Indian word for baby. The tour ended there. We had lunch and then went to our next tour. The next tour was called the Left Hand Tunnel. Since there was no lighting, we had to carry lanterns. Nick and I got small lanterns. We walked around and there wasn’t much water dripping. We saw some popcorn. Popcorn is little bubbles of rock that are oddly shaped just like popcorn. At the end we blew our candles out and gave them to a ranger. We walked around the big room and left. We played and went to bed.

Lantern tour through the Left Hand Tunnel

Nick:

Chandelier Room

Yesterday we went to Carlsbad Caverns again. When we got there we did a tour called King’s Palace tour. We got to go to a part of the cave called King’s Palace. There were tons of really cool formations. My favorite formation on that tour were some draperies in a section called Queen’s Chamber. On that tour, the guide turned all the lights off for a little bit. You could not see your hand in front of your face it was so dark. After that tour we did another tour called the Left Hand tour. We had to carry candle lit lanterns on that tour because there were no lights on that part of the cave. It was really fun. In that part of the cave the only formations were popcorn. It was really fun looking at formations by candle light. Near the end of the tour we started seeing more formations like stalactites, stalagmites, and pools of water. The water in those pools was so clear I did not know it was there until the ranger told us. We also blew out our candles on part of that tour. It was still really cool. Then the guide lit our candles and he let us walk back in pairs to see what it was like all alone. Then we thanked the guide and walked around Bit Room one more time. We saw one formation we didn’t see last time. It was a stalagmite that looked like a cave man. We also saw chandelier one more time. Chandelier is a bunch of giant stalagmites that are close to each other and they look like a chandelier. Then we rode the elevator up and started driving home. On the way we did a 9 mile scenic drive. Then we had dinner and went to bed.

Jan. 18, 2018

Andi:

Yesterday Mom had a meeting (over the phone) until 11:00 am. While she was doing that Nick and I did homework and played tablets. Then we went to the UFO Museum. I got very bored very quickly so I went into the car with Mom for her next meeting and played my tablet the rest of the time. The little part of the UFO Museum that I did look at was about how people thought aliens were landing on the Earth only in White Sands Base, NM. I found it suspicious. Then we went home, played on the playground, and went to bed.

We believe...

Nick:

Yesterday we had a lazy morning. Mom was on a phone call. It did not end until 11:00. During her call we did homework and had breakfast. Them we drove into Roswell. Roswell is known for UFO sightings. We went to a UFO Museum. It was about a UFO that supposedly landed in a ranch near Roswell. It also said that they found bodies of aliens. My dad thought that it was a cover-up story for some sort of secret missile. I agreed because tons of people all over the world were claiming to see UFO’s so that would have been a good story. Then we came home and had dinner.