Big Bend National Park
On Oct 15, we left Carlsbad, NM and headed for Big Bend NP. (Actually, BBNP wasn't in our original plans. But when I noticed that it was almost directly south of the Caverns, I said why not. When will we ever be anywhere near it again?)
Carlsbad is in the Permian Basin which has major petroleum and other mineral deposits. For many miles we saw related businesses and popup housing with hundreds of units for the workers.
Big Bend is one of the most remote and least visited NP's in the contiguous 48. Terlingua, the town that services visitors has a population of 50 and the county has a population of 9000 or so.
Entering the park were the most ocotillos I had ever seen. Far more than Anza Borrego. It had rained two weeks before we got there and they had a fresh set of shiny green leaves. Must be a great sight when they all bloom.
Leaving Big Bend on Oct 17, we took a road through BB State Park that ran along the Rio Grande. That night we made it to Las Cruces, NM.
NM tries to limit interpersonal contact due to Covid, but was very inconsistent about it. They had a 14-day quarantine with an exception of a negative Covid test within 72 hours of arriving in NM. So we planned exactly that. We had our neg test, but the delay in Tucson made them too old. When we first entered NM, we didn't expect a roadblock, but we did expect to see a big sign about the quarantine. Didn't exist. Most restaurants had tables well spaced, but one in Las Cruces looked like the good old days. (We found a table at a reasonable distance).
One RV park told us they were booked up even tough the place was half empty. They said they were limited by the governor. Down the road we found one that filled every space.
In Socorro, we were first denied admission to a Mineral Museum because we had only been in NM for 10 days, even though there was no one else there! I asked the person to check with their manager, who let us in. When we were in Santa Fe, we planned going to the Georgia O'Keefe museum until our second day there, only to find out that the gov closed all museums that morning.
Read MoreCarlsbad is in the Permian Basin which has major petroleum and other mineral deposits. For many miles we saw related businesses and popup housing with hundreds of units for the workers.
Big Bend is one of the most remote and least visited NP's in the contiguous 48. Terlingua, the town that services visitors has a population of 50 and the county has a population of 9000 or so.
Entering the park were the most ocotillos I had ever seen. Far more than Anza Borrego. It had rained two weeks before we got there and they had a fresh set of shiny green leaves. Must be a great sight when they all bloom.
Leaving Big Bend on Oct 17, we took a road through BB State Park that ran along the Rio Grande. That night we made it to Las Cruces, NM.
NM tries to limit interpersonal contact due to Covid, but was very inconsistent about it. They had a 14-day quarantine with an exception of a negative Covid test within 72 hours of arriving in NM. So we planned exactly that. We had our neg test, but the delay in Tucson made them too old. When we first entered NM, we didn't expect a roadblock, but we did expect to see a big sign about the quarantine. Didn't exist. Most restaurants had tables well spaced, but one in Las Cruces looked like the good old days. (We found a table at a reasonable distance).
One RV park told us they were booked up even tough the place was half empty. They said they were limited by the governor. Down the road we found one that filled every space.
In Socorro, we were first denied admission to a Mineral Museum because we had only been in NM for 10 days, even though there was no one else there! I asked the person to check with their manager, who let us in. When we were in Santa Fe, we planned going to the Georgia O'Keefe museum until our second day there, only to find out that the gov closed all museums that morning.
