Day 10 - Las Cruces NM

Miles today: 427

Miles total: 3577

Left just before sunrise, continuing west on US90 through Valentine to Van Horn.  Passed the sort of-infamous “Prada Marfa”.

From there Rt 54 north to US62, passing by the Guadalupe Mountains National Park ...

... to Carlsbad Caverns.  For someone with limited time the Caverns are great: take the elevator 750 feet down, and from there you can walk through it in under an hour (though you’d need a few hours if you wanted to see the bats too). They also limit capacity so you’re not jammed in there with a lot of people.  Pretty crazy rock formations!

Rode north, turned left at Artesia, took US82, climbed to 8600 feet at Cloudcroft, then came down the other side of the mountains to Alamogordo. Passed a ranch called “Muerto Springs” - says it all. I also stopped at this roadside stand to get something to drink.  As I parked I discovered the stand also had, bizarrely, a petting zoo.  With a zebra. 

Last notable stop before Las Cruces was the White Sands National Park, which is inside the White Sands Missile Range (there’s a large sign on US70 warning drivers that the road is closed when the range is active).  Couldn’t get into the park visitor’s center, they were limiting entry to one family at a time.  I did get out to the dunes though ... so I can at least say I’ve been there ...