By Steve Forand
Leaving Vernal we headed to our rally in St George Utah after which we headed to Las Vegas. Great time camping at Nellis Air Force Base and caught a couple of shows in the city. Next, we spent five days hiking in the Grand Canyon National Park. Those who haven’t visited, this must be on your bucket list! The pictures do not do it justice, and peering over the rim is breathtaking!
I need to mention the number of international tourists we met throughout our trip. I know that there has been much ink in the press that international tourism is down especially from our neighbors to the north. While I have no way to question the overall numbers, we came across visitors from all over the world! Yes, plenty of Canadians, Europeans, Indian, and Asian tourists. We met them in the National Parks, campgrounds, tourist sites and restaurants. There were numerous families, some quite large, all enjoying themselves. Many were traveling in rented motorhomes as they made their way around the country. Claire and I have seen other international visitors traveling around the country, as far back as our first cross country trip in 1989. We have a beautiful country and people visit to enjoy our great nation.
One of our most interesting stops was a small facility that had only four campsites in Carlsbad, New Mexico. As you leave the highway heading down a gravel road after a couple of miles you come across a lush green area with ponds, streams and huge cottonwood trees! Nestled in the heart of the now park like setting is Camp Washington Ranch. This oasis is fed by Rattlesnake Springs (we didn’t see any) and supplies water to Carlsbad Caverns National Park. The Ranch is owned by the Community Assistance and Resource Center (CARC) of Carlsbad NM. It has dormitories and residences for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. When we arrived, right across from the campsites was a large, shaded plaza and they were setting up for an outdoor event. Later in the day, a young man approached us and let us know that his wedding would be taking place the next night and he was apologizing ahead of time for the music that would be playing late into the night! We thanked him and wished him well, and the following night we sat outside with the other campers enjoying the music and joyous wedding noise!
Using the Camp as our base, we visited Carlsbad Caverns to our north and the Guadalupe Mountains National Park to our south. Unbelievable hiking! Yes, the bats at Carlsbad were awesome! This area is a part of the Permian Basin which is undergoing a huge oil boom. In Carlsbad the community is rapidly expanding in size as oil workers descend on the town to work in the oil fields.
This beauty in this area of Texas/New Mexico is truly mesmerizing. Yes, it is a desert, but the mountains and rolling hills with occasional patches of lush green are so different from our very green New England landscape that I am thoroughly amazed. The infinite shades of browns and tans, the spectacular sunrises and sunsets, and the incredible night sky with the stars so plentiful you think you are looking at clouds!
