On Sunday morning, we left Dallas and headed east on I-20 to the Odessa Meteor Crater outside of Odessa, TX.  It’s not a very big hole, or very deep, having been filled in over time.

Next we set up our first dispersed camping site near Carlsbad Caverns National Park:

We left the RV behind and drove up to the cave to watch the bats come out at dusk.  It was really something to see.  There’s a video here.

Here’s a map of today’s drive.  The Odessa Meteor Crater is point “B”.  We drove 521 miles today.

Monday morning, we drove back up to Carlsbad Cavern hiked down into the cave:

The chamber in the darkness beyond is where the bats roost:

The rooms were surprisingly large:

The entrance to the “Big Room”, which has a floor space of 350,000 square feet, and is 750 feet below ground:

We left Carlsbad Caverns around noon, picked up the RV, and went for a hike in McKittrick Canyon at Guadalupe Mountains National Park:

B was tired, so M carried her for a bit:

After the hike, we drove towards White Sands National Monument to catch the sunset tour.  We took route 62, which was completely desolate for 100 miles.  Good thing we had enough gas.

White Sands is beautiful at sunset, and the sand is indeed white!

This shrub grows higher and higher as the dune moves in.  When the dune moves away, the plant’s roots hold back the sand to form a tower.  This tower was about 30 feet high:

B and M sliding down the dunes:

We were going to spend the night on BLM land near White Sands, but decided to stay at the Walmart in Alamagordo so we could do laundry in the morning.

Here’s today’s driving map of our 277 mile route, showing Carlsbad Cavern (B), Guadalupe Mountains (C), and White Sands (D).

Last year’s vacation worked out so well, mechanical difficulties notwithstanding, that we decided to do it again.  A bit more South this time, and about 1,000 miles farther.  6,266 miles in 21 days.  The plan was to leave Wednesday night, be in Dallas for Shabbos, spend the first week working our way to the second Shabbos in Phoenix, spend the second week working our way towards the third Shabbos in Denver, and then drive the last 1,831 miles back over Sunday and Monday:

We left Wednesday night, and by early Thursday morning we had driven 300 miles were bunked down at the Walmart of Winchester, VA:

First stop Thursday, Shenandoah National Park:

We were more than a little disappointed.  Compared to the National Parks of the West, Shenandoah wasn’t at all impressive.  The vistas were comparable to the views from the foothills of Oregon.

We did see a bear family crossing the road:

Continuing East, we passed within 20 miles of the TrailManor Factory, but passed by too late at night to visit.  That night, after driving 816 miles, we stayed at the Walmart in Nashville, TN:

We drove most of Friday (451 miles) and spent Shabbos in Dallas, and had the pleasure of being hosted for meals by two very nice families (names withheld for privacy).  The house at which we parked had it’s own RV pad!  Dallas was hot, but the A/C held up OK.

Here’s a map showing where we overnighted:

As we have in the past, we went to Mongaup pond for a 3-day weekend.  This time, we were able to get a site right on the water.

We had some great fishing.  I caught an 18.5” Chain Pickerel:

B caught a 19” Chain Pickerel with her Barbie fishing pole.  She was surprised!

We did a bit of kayaking:

Trailmanor in the distance:

Lots of frogs near the shore:

M caught an 18” Chain Pickerel:

We all went for a 3.5 bike ride:

I then went for a longer bike ride (my cycle computer ran out of batteries half way through):

On the ride, I came across a part of the trail that was supposed to have a little stream across it, but now is a pond thanks to a busy beaver:

We hiked down to Mongaup falls:

Some things go without saying:

Pulling out.  Another great weekend at Mongaup!

We went down to Assateague for Thanksgiving weekend.  We did quite well, and were able to leave Wednesday in the early evening.  We had dinner in Philadelphia at the Holy Land Grill, and arrived at Assateague a bit after midnight.  This was quite the improvement over last time, when we didn’t leave home until 2AM!

Thusday was chilly, but we ventured out looking for shells:

We went skating too.  I didn’t want to bring the bikes, because of the hassle of putting them on the RV:

After dark, we did the Life of the Forest trail.  Spooky!

On Friday, it rained, then cleared.  It a bit warmer, which was nice.

We did the Life of the Dunes trail.  Here’s a fragment of Baltimore Boulevard, a road built in the 50s as the arterial for a 15-mile long housing development on the island that never materialized:

Saturday was quite cold (the high was in the high 40s).  Saturday night, we had a campfire on the beach:

Sunday was warmer, which was a shame since we had to be back home in the early evening, so we left Assateague at 10AM.  We did one more quick look for shells on our way out:

Trish found a nice sized Whelk shell, our first on Assateague!

Our visit was short, but well worth it!

We got up early Friday morning, as we had a long day ahead of us.  We were supposed to stay in Hannibal, Missouri last night, but stopped 230 miles sooner due to the tire problems we had.  We were scheduled to spend Shabbos in Indianapolis, so on Friday we drove 540 miles:

Shabbos in Indianapolis was nice.  It was odd being back in civilization again.  The roof A/C dripped into the cabin, so that’s something else for me to fix when we get home.

On Sunday, we drove 738 miles without any sightseeing:

What a great trip!