Christmas in Carlsbad

This morning we took our time getting started. We lounged in bed, did some reading and did a little messing around on the internet. We finally got ready and left the hotel around 9:30am. We decided we wanted a better breakfast than what the hotel provides. So we went to iHop, which was just down the road from us. The place was very busy, but thankfully we only had to wait about five minutes. So we had a relaxing and delicious breakfast.

After breakfast we started our day of letterboxing. First we headed south and drove a little ways past Whites City to Rattlesnake Springs. This is a picnic area near a spring that makes a nice oasis in the desert. There was a couple at the springs when we arrived but they left shortly after we parked. The main reason we were at this place was so I could plant a letterbox. I placed La Serpiente de Cascabel near the picnic area. It should be an easy drive by find, but it is a bit of a drive from Carlsbad. After taking a few pictures we left and headed back towards Carlsbad. As we were passing Whites City I asked Thomas if he was up to doing the hike we did yesterday - the one at Carlsbad Caverns on the Juniper Ridge Trail. He said 'sure'. So we turned at Whites City and drove the seven miles to the Walnut Canyon Desert Drive entrance. At first we were a little worried that the gate would be closed since it was Christmas Day and the Caverns were closed. But the road was open so we drove to the trail head and started our hike. Yesterday we wondered if we had missed some cairns or if the trail divided. So today we were going a little slower and tracking our way keeping an eye our for any cairns leading in a different direction. With all of that we ended up in the same spot as yesterday. Since it was still early we decided to follow the cairns along the fence line just to see if we could find the landmarks that seemed to be missing. We still came up empty handed. So we headed back to the car to continue on with our day.

Once back in Carlsbad we made our way to the north side of the city. Specifically, we drove to the NMSU Carlsbad campus and parked near the trail head for the Ocotillo Nature Trail. Here we went in search of Ocotillo by Agent 86. I am not sure how far we walked along the trail, maybe a quarter to a half mile, but we met up with ten people in that short distance. The clues were easy to follow and we had no trouble finding the box. At this time we were alone on the trail and with no one around it was easy to retrieve the box. I found a spot on the trail to sit so I could stamp in. Once the box was back in place we headed back down the trail to the car. I had clues for one more box to look for today. So we headed a little ways out of Carlsbad on Illinois Camp Road to Alkali Road. This part of the drive was okay but from Alkali Road we turned onto a two track dirt road and there were spots where we were hitting bottom. We parked on this road near the letterbox/geocache hybrid location. The hybrid was just a little off to the right side of the road. I found Bombs Away! by Rock13 and Panda5 with no problem. I was surprised that the stamp was there (I am assuming it was THE stamp - it was the only stamp in the box. A store bought stamp and an image of a cowboy on a horse. Not sure what it had to do with bombs.) Anyway, after stamping in we headed back to Carlsbad and the hotel.

Back at the hotel we relaxed for a little bit and then showered and changed. At 5:15pm we left the hotel and headed for our reservation for Christmas on the Pecos. We arrived at the office, checked in and got our boarding passes. At 5:45pm we boarded our boat (Noelle) and at 6:00pm we started our ride along the Pecos. It was really cold out on the river, but thankfully we had bundled up and it was comfortable. The boat ride lasted about 45 minutes and we enjoyed all the decorated houses and yards. A nice way to spend Christmas Day night. Once back at the dock we headed to the car and decided we needed something to eat.

Riding around today we noticed that most places were closed - all the fast food restaurants and most of  the local restaurants. The only places we saw open were Denny's, iHop, Sonic and Dragon China Buffet. Since we ate at iHop this morning and Dragon China last night we headed to Denny's. We were told it would be an hour wait. We decided we were too hungry to wait that long so we headed back to Dragon China. We enjoyed it last night so we decided to give it another try.

Now we are back at the hotel and relaxing. We had a great day, spent some time outdoors in a beautiful location and got to see some wonderful Christmas decorations. We still have one more day in the area and we are planning to spend part of the day tomorrow at Guadalupe Mountains National Park.