Nestled in the mountains of New Mexico is Cloudcroft. On our way from Carlsbad, New Mexico we decided to take a more scenic route to get to Gila Bend, Arizona. We stopped  on New Year’s Day just outside of Cloudcroft, New Mexico at Rio Penasco RV Park in Mayhill with the intention of playing in the fresh snow in Cloudcroft and relaxing for a few days.

We pulled into the quaint RV park and set up while it was snowing. It was really quiet and we even got to enjoy seeing a giant buck out our RV window. Once we settled we got bundled up and headed up to Cloudcroft. Cloudcroft is an adorable little town. We ate lunch at Big Daddy’s Diner and headed out to figure out how to rent some tubes.

We rented tubes and headed for the recreation area! We made it after we chased  the runaway tube down the highway that flew out of the back of the truck. The scenery was beautiful. Being from Texas we just don’t get to see snow like that.

We were super excited and drug our tubes up the hills. Owen wanted to go first… he went down and BAM… he fell (or flew) out of his tube. He recovered and was walking up the hill. As Patrick and I were yelling at him to get out of the sledding lane a group of tubers linked together took us out and we both landed on our backs and Owen was completely flipped in the air landing on his head and neck. Thankfully nobody was hurt, but it ruined the rest of the day as Owen’s little body was hurting. Maybe we will try tubing next year… somewhere a little “safer” for newbies!

There was an OUTDOOR skating rink in downtown Cloudcroft. We thought that was soooo neat! We didn’t even attempt to skate… we just went back to the RV for some recuperation and hot chocolate.

On the way out of Cloudcroft we stopped at a little turnout on the side of the mountain… we thought it was so cool that we could see our next destination… White Sands National Monument!

Check out our trip to White Sands National Monument in the next post!

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New Year‘s Eve… we decided since we are en route to Gila Bend, AZ we would make a few stops along the way since we rarely get time between jobs to actually enjoy the journey. Our first stop was the town of White‘s City, New Mexico. There really isn’t much to the town… AT ALL… but the campground was right outside the National Park entrance. We were told that the campground was built and designed in the 50’s, and you could tell. The spaces were tiny! The good part is that they are full hookups and 36.00 a night. The RV park was a NO FRILLS park, but we chose it because of how close it was to the Caverns.

Once we got to the Caverns Patrick waited in line and I took the boys over to the information desk to get started on their junior ranger program! The junior ranger program is a program for children offered by the National Parks Service. The program is for children who are interested in learning more about the parks and how they can help protect them. It is much better and more interactive than just visiting the cave.

The boys were given a workbook, pencil and instructions and started working on them right away. They really enjoyed learning different facts about the bats! Once they complete the visit and their workbooks they take it to a ranger and she goes over it with them. If it is completed and they answer the questions from the ranger they get an official badge or patch and take the junior ranger oath!

The cave tour we took was a self guided tour that lasted about 1.5 hours. You can rent audio tour for 5.00 a person so we rented one and took turns with it. The cave itself was massive. I must say… I was hoping for sparkly crystals and breath-taking views, but it was pretty basic. We still enjoyed the cave and especially the awesome ranger that took time out of her day to sit with the boys and talk to them about what they experienced!

Since we are affiliated with the military we were able to each get a FREE ANNUAL National Parks Pass (an 80.00 value). This offer made our admission into the cave FREE! If you are military I highly recommend getting your free pass!

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