Turtles and Too Many Ladders

June 25, 2019
Southern Oaks
Aransas Pass, Texas






This morning we were up at 4 am to make the hour and a half drive to Padre Island to see the sea turtle hatchlings release. 










Unlike the bat flight this one was really worth it.

Baby turtles are so much cuter than the bats. 

The rangers and some volunteers held netting over the turtles so they had a better chance of making it to the sea.  The people in the surf with the orange flags were chasing the birds away.  Everyone cheered when the last turtle made it into the water.












On our way back to the camper we stopped to tour the USS Lexington.












Dave wanted to show Troy how large an aircraft carrier was.  I think the thing that Troy was the most impressed about was all the ladders between the floors.  He said he would never join the Navy because his legs would wear out.  

If a 9 year old was tired can you imagine how worn out two people in their 70s were?

While we were standing in front of the Blue Angel plane on the flight deck, I was mentally trying to figure out how many more ladders I had to climb to reach the bridge.





We survived the USS Lexington and tomorrow we will head to Houston.

Turtles, Fish and Sand Castles

June 23, 2019
South Padre Island KOA
South Padre Island, Texas

We have spent the last four days here and leave tomorrow for Corpus Christie.


High on our list of things to do was to visit the turtle hospital.  There were quite a few patients but they seemed completely unimpressed with all the visitors.  We missed one of the turtle hatchings by one day but then our timing has never been good.






There are several sand castles around town. 

We got a chance to dip our feet in the Gulf of Mexico.













Troy and Dave had a contest on our fishing trip to see who could catch the most fish.












Troy caught the fist one, but eventually Dave caught up.














We have done all the touristy things - even shopped in a shark!

Bats and Caverns

June 19, 2019
Mathis RV Park
Mathis, Texas

A few nights ago we drove an hour, waited another hour to see the bat flight and then drove another hour back to the camper.  The bats emerged from the cave entrance and circled over us before flying away. Dave was a little concerned about this so he wore a hat to prevent bat poop from hitting his head. We were so exhausted that we had to stop at Sonic for 1/2 price milk shakes on the way back.

The next day we spent time in Carlsbad Caverns exploring this beautiful natural wonder. 

Troy was impressed that it was made by nature and no one carved it.  We went down about 800 feet but then had to go back up the 800 feet.  I wish we could have gone downhill both ways.

We have spent the last two days driving across Texas.  Finally tomorrow we will arrive at South Padre Island for a stay of several days. Hope it cools off some.  It was about 100 today.

Aliens Everywhere!

June 15, 2019
Trailer Village RV Park
Roswell, New Mexico





This afternoon we spent roaming around Roswell.  Aliens were present not only in the UFO Museum but also at many businesses.

I especially liked the Roswell street lights.  At least they have a sense of humor here.








Tomorrow we are heading to Carlsbad, NM.

Finally!

June 14, 2019
Boot Hill RV Resort
Alamogordo, New Mexico

We had a much later start to our summer travels this year.  Danika's family visited Arizona the first week in June and left Troy with us.  He will be traveling with us to Minnesota.  We finally made it on the road June 11.

We took Dani's family to the Grand Canyon while they were here.  It was very hot and crowded but the kids enjoyed the train ride to the Canyon.  The train was robbed on the way back and I don't think Thor has gotten over the fact that cowboys steal your money.  We tried to tell him that they weren't cowboys; they were outlaws but I am not sure he believed us.

Our first stop on our trip was Tombstone, Arizona.  It has changed a lot since we were last there.  I'm not used to it being almost completely deserted.  Many places I remember were no longer there.  Luckily we found a very good ice cream shop.  Troy had a Cotton Candy cone.  He said it was very good but it was such a bright shade of blue that I bet it glowed in the dark.










The next day we traveled to Bisbee to tour the Copper Queen Mine. 

Notice the fashionable attire.  

People ride a "train" that is only one person wide to the lower levels of the mine.  

Due to the close quarters everyone is very well acquainted by the end of the trip.









On the way back to the camper we stopped at Coronado National Memorial.  It sits right next to the Mexican border.  We went through several border checkpoints.








Troy tried on some chain mail armor.  There was a mail shirt also but Dave and I couldn't lift it.  The helmet knocked off Troy's glasses so he couldn't see how he dashing he looked.












Today we visited the New Mexico Space Museum.  It was very nice and they even had trash cans shaped like rockets.  Troy enjoyed the Black Hole movie but it was beyond me.













Troy and I got "transported" on the Star Trek set.









Pistachioland was across the street from the campgroud so we made a quick stop because Dave wanted to get some pistachios.  Troy and I don't like them so we settled for ice cream.  This is supposed to be "The World's Largest Pistachio".

After much time sampling all the different flavors, Dave bought PLAIN
pistachios.





Later in the afternoon we went out to White Sands National Monument.  We borrowed some plastic saucers and climbed the dunes to slide down. 

 It was hard work climbing the dunes so I only went down once.  Troy had more energy so did more sliding.