What a difference a day makes. We woke up to clear, blue sky and a chilly temp in the 40's. And there standing in the not so distant horizon was the Organ Mountains which were not at all visible the day before. However, we had already made plans to move on last night and with reservations to stay at the campground at Kartchner Caverns State Park near Benson, AZ. An easy drive although still windy (about 20 mph) and only a few distant dust storms. For the second day in a row we changed time zones as Arizona is the equivalent of Pacific time since it does not do daylight savings time. We checked into the campground at 2:00 and then took the 3:00 Rotunda/Throne Room tour. The caverns were discovered in 1974 but were not opened to the public until 1999. In the meantime, the caverns were done right after consulting with existing caverns on how to properly preserve the cave. The caverns are active meaning wet and still forming and are among the best we have seen. The caverns have many different features including the tallest “soda straw” at 21 feet and a magnificent 58 foot column named “Kubla Khan”. Can’t wait for tomorrow morning when we take the Big Room tour. After the tour, we hiked the Foothills Trail.
Day 9, April 10, 2019, Wednesday. Las Cruces, NM (280 miles)
We continued our long trek across Texas and experienced our first non-stop dust storm. We battled a constant cross-wind from the south at what must have been at least tropical storm force gusts almost the entire day. We stopped at a rest stop for lunch and the coach was rocking so much I thought I would need dramamine. While driving, the wind was so strong that many times it pulled our driver’s side window shade out and slammed it back against the coach. There is no way to secure the shade as it contains a powerful spring action that keeps it retracted except when fastened in the open position. Amazingly, the wind was more powerful then the spring. Never had experienced that before. The wind made for slow going as we reduced speed to between 50-55. We stopped a little south of El Paso for fuel and I was sandblasted the entire time I was outside the coach, including sand in the eyes. The only positive was the sand blocked out the sun and kept the coach cooler than expected. I definitely preferred the thunderstorms of Louisiana! We arrived at the Walmart at Las Cruces. Drove around town in the car a bit but decided hiking in the Organ Mountains as was the plan would be a bad idea in the sandstorm.
Day 8, April 9, 2019, Tuesday. Fort Stockton, TX (352 miles)
We departed Austin and began a long trek west across Texas. About two thirds of the way to our stopping point, a Walmart in Fort Stockton, TX, we visited the Caverns of Sonora. We had visited the caverns before in 2015 and it is one of our favorites. We managed to have a private tour as no one else showed up for our appointed tour time, not surprising given its fairly remote location. It did not disappoint. A welcome break from the day’s drive.
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