Eric at the top of a hill of "white sand"
The past week and a half has been filled with all kinds of events. Eric and I had the fortune of meeting up with our family friend Anita in New Mexico and visiting Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands with her. We also got to visit with our good friend David in Las Cruces, NM – who made us the most delicious Mexican food I’ve ever tasted!
White Sands was so beautiful, but in fact, despite the name, White Sands is actually comprised of a substance called “gypsum.” It is so pure and reflective that during this time of year it becomes pretty hot. The Sands are so soft and fine that you can go sledding down the hills!
Whether going through the Carlsbad Cavern natural entrance or down the 80-story elevator, you instantly enter a completely different environment. The climate of the cave is cold, dark, and damp. It has the feel of a vampire’s dungeon and a chill fills the air – the temperature is about 30 degrees colder than above ground. In the cave there are so many beautiful stalagtites and stalagmites dripping from the ceiling and emerging from the ground.
The Wazzamba-Mobile at The Alamo
After the beautiful sights in New Mexico, we headed to Texas, where we are currently staying with our aunt in Waco. We got to have some fun at the local hot spots, barhopping with our aunt, uncle and cousin here near Dallas. We also went to the Alamo in San Antonio. The history of this site is what makes it interesting, and to my surprise the old building is located right off the streets of downtown San Antonio.
On a side note, I am soon to be traveling to England as a part of an exchange program at my university and I have had the most difficult customer service experience of my life this morning trying to work out a technological problem setting up my visa. After calling multiple numbers, I had to pay $12 just to speak to somebody who knew anything about how to help me! What a pain! If you ever need a UK visa, beware!
Well, tomorrow we are back on the road again, crossing the center states of the U.S. and gaining ground toward South Dakota!
