Day 17: Las Cruces, NM to Pecos, TX

Driving Dist/ Time: 193 mi./ 3h 32min. (to Carlsbad Caverns NP); 103 mi./ 1h 52min. (to Pecos)

Sights seen: Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Sights missed: Guadalupe Mountains National Park

It was a border mission. The McNamara family was called on by the Commander-in-Chief himself to personally survey the Texas-New Mexico border between El Paso and Carlsbad; when the Chief calls, you answer! We proceeded from our rally point in Las Cruces toward the population center of El Paso. Following well-marked routes through the city, we followed the directions of our military-grade GPS device, CODEWORD: TOM TOM. We checked in with the US Border Patrol about an hour outside of El Paso only to be held up in traffic due to suspiciously placed road construction an hour later; the Chief would not be pleased by the delay. After the "construction," we learned of an infiltration of illegal immigrants in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, to which we immediately responded. Upon arriving at the Park, we found a makeshift barricade erected at the entrance the park; it seems the Border Patrol had already responded, was going to "neutralize" the threat, and that we were not needed and were allowed to continue on our original mission. Once entering Carlsbad Caverns NP, we immediately obtained the high ground and Mom was sent out to perform a 360 degree recon of the area. Once deemed safe, we assaulted the main bunker with "Visitor's Center" on the front (heh, cheap ruse!) and interrogated the militants inside. Their uniforms very much resembled the US Forest Service's uniforms, but we could also see through this ruse. We ventured further into the bowels of the bunker, which seemed to be connected by a 750ft. tall elevator shaft to enormous underground Caverns with amazing displays of speleothems (stalagmites, stalactites, etc...), and while we were there, people were down here as well, they did not wear the uniforms of the militants above and they seemed more interested by the cave formations than of any malicious plots in the making. After surveying the caverns for approximately 2 to 3 hours (and taking the just recently declassified photographs now in the photo album), we left the Caverns. The TOM TOM sent us down a non-upgraded, dirt road, which did not suit our non-military grade vehicle well and were then forced to find an alternate route. We soon thereafter made camp for the night and filed our report to the Chief.

Well, it may not have happened exactly as stated here, but take out the military charm and find an accurate depiction of the trip (and yes, we were stopped by the US Border Patrol deep within Texas. Seriously though, see the pics; it's the best way to get a feeling for what we saw.

States visited to date: 16

National Park Passport cancellations to date: 20