Day 2: New Mexico to Arizona

Carlsbad Caverns: It was a terrific day weather-wise: 66 degrees when we got there, 56 in the caverns, and 76 when we came back out. It rained lightly as we got ready to go.

Gordon insisted we make the trek down the natural entrance of Carlsbad Caverns, and now I know why. 

It was 86 when we arrived in Artesia for lunch at the Everspring Chinese Buffet. There were quite a few Chinese buffets on the drive from the caverns to Artesia but we decided to keep going. The food at Everspring was perfectly edible and the staff was very friendly.

Next stop is White Sands, which is white because it is made of gypsum. It had just rained so the dunes had a hard coating. The kids had a blast running around. Ocean did a face plant running down a sand dune toward this really cool outcropping.

We just had dinner at El Mirador Mexican and American Restaurant in Deming, NM. The food was good and the people there were very nice. The sopapillas were very good, nice and thin, light and rightly resembled fluffy pillows. The pozole had a savory broth and was chockful of large chunks of tender pork. I ordered the liver and onions and it too was tender, though for some reason it came out with a light layer of gravy on top of the onions. As a non-gravy eater, I had to scrape it off but other than that it was very good. If we had been at a chain restaurant I would have had them redo the order but as this was a small local eatery I let it go.

Ocean had no trouble making friends. He immediately went and sat at a nearby table w/ an older gentleman who didn't mind in the least. He spent the rest of the time running around trying to fetch coffee cups off the table.

Our itinerary: