We got our best sleep of the entire trip so far last night so packing the car to head to Carlsbad, NM didn't seem all that bad this morning. It also helped that it was only 80 degrees. 😎

We got the car packed up, checked out of Lajitas Golf Resort and were on the road by 10:30am local time. Possibly a new record for us!

"I'm insane and responsible, this is a potent combination." - Albert Brooks as David Howard in Lost in America.

Though we were sad to leave the views of Lajitas and Big Bend behind, we were very excited to see what adventures Carlsbad had in store for us. Boy were we in for some adventures!

We tried listening to a podcast about the Black Dahlia murders along the way but had to turn it off due to the content being too gruesome. The full discography of The Lumineers would take over from there.

We opted for the scenic route to Carlsbad to see (1) Marfa, TX and (2) Guadalupe Mountains National Park. We were trying to determine if it would be worth the trip to combine Carlsbad Caverns and Guadalupe Mountains in one day. We stopped at the Guadalupe Mountains Visitor Center, grabbed a map and did a very brisk and brief mile hike to stretch the legs. Honestly, we're not sure what people see in Marfa, TX and Guadalupe Mountains proved to be far underrated as a National Park, so surprises in both directions there.

Driving into the town (or city?) of Carlsbad was a bit sketchy at first, but Nikki found us the best place in town to stay, The Trinity Hotel. Upon checking in, we were doubly glad to have turned off the Black Dahlia podcast from earlier that day. The building, which was built in 1892, was once a bank building with LOTS of history!

The wonderful young lady that checked us in excitedly told us about our room and then went into several stories about the building being haunted 👻 , most predominantly by a woman named Ruby who still resides in the hotel. All of the guest rooms were once offices, except Room 206 which was once the bank vault. Apparently Ruby is most active in 206 so we were glad to be in the opposite corner in 202 (not that it made it any easier to sleep...). 👀

We unpacked the car and made it back down to the lobby around 5:15pm to have dinner in their restaurant (inside the same building). Justine, our amazing hostess and storyteller, gave us what she described as the "best table in the house." She could not have been more correct.

The food was phenomenal, the {local} wine was fantastic and the service was excellent. Apparently The Trinity Hotel is the place to be in ALL of New Mexico. We had the Mayor of Carlsbad at the table behind us (the second best table in the house 😏 ) discussing some local politics with several people that looked like they were vying for his job. We also had a view of the Governor of New Mexico sitting downstairs. At one point she thought we were trying to take a picture of her. We were not. We just wanted a picture of the view from the best table in the house.

The whole evening felt like we were in an episode of Goliath Season 3 (minus the casino). Later we found out the building also was the HQ for the Carlsbad Irrigation District for some time after the bank closed down which made for some additional deja vu. For those that know what we're talking about 👍 . For all the others, we highly recommend watching Goliath. Amazon Prime Original. Worth the binge watch.

We couldn't thank Justine enough for such a wonderful evening! Off to Carlsbad Caverns in the morning...if we make it to the morning (insert creepy laugh).

Happy Cinco de Mayo! We're excited about another National Parks day and we've got two of them in store today!

Unfortunately neither of us slept great last night. Chalk it up to the ghost stories we heard all night in the restaurant. From the Mayor of Carlsbad, to our waitress and the people sitting at the bar, everyone had a story about seeing glasses fly off tables or the music stopping unexpectedly. We definitely woke up several times throughout the night thinking we heard something moving around the room, but good ol' Ruby didn't make an appearance after all. 👻

The first stop of our day was the famous Carlsbad Caverns! The drive up to the visitor center and cavern entrance was surprisingly steep and offered more incredible views. We opted not to stop and take pictures as we already have plenty of pictures of 'mountains in the distance', plus we were running a couple minutes behind for our reservation time.

Checking in was super easy and we were off to adventure down the long winding trail into the darkness of the caverns! 🤠 We've been to a couple of the so-called caverns around the Austin area, but those look like tiny holes in the ground compared to Carlsbad. The entire cavern trail is indescribably beautiful! Everything you see is so grand and jaw dropping. We got some really good pictures in the caverns and are excited to share them here.

There were no ranger guided tours but everyone in the caverns was pretty respectful and the reservation system for timed entry made it less busy which was much appreciated. We opted to walk the entire underground trail which is currently about 2.75 miles. We then decided to hike out of the caverns (rather than use the elevator) which is about a mile straight uphill. The switchbacks were seemingly never ending and our lungs were working overtime but we're really glad for the experience. The sign before you start the climb out of the caverns said it's like walking from the bottom to the top of the Empire State Building! Go us! 💪

While still gasping for air, we grabbed a quick bite to eat at the little food court in the cavern gift shop (which had surprisingly decent food) and jumped back in the car for an afternoon adventure at Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

We knew we didn't have time to do the 8.5 mile round trip hike to the top of Guadalupe Mountain, so we decided on a 4.5 mile trail called Devil's Hall Trail. The first half out isn't too bad and offers some amazing views of the mountains and the canyon. The second half is pretty tough. Crawling and hiking through a canyon wash over massive rocks and boulders is really hard on the knees but the payoff at the end of the trail was very worth it. The trek back offered cool breezes through the canyon and wonderful sunset views of the mountains at the last mile or so. Both of us were nursing tender knees along the last half mile or so and had to take it pretty slow, but this hike turned into one of our favorites so far on our trip! Pictures of Devil's Hall in the gallery of the Carlsbad stop!

We made our way back to the Trinity Hotel and Restaurant in time for another tasty dinner. Hopefully Ruby will let us get some sleep tonight, we definitely need it! 😴

We finally got a decent night sleep in the haunted hotel! Ruby must have liked us and let us rest easy for a night. 👻 We found out that she didn't like couples that argued so we were EXTRA nice to each other the whole time we were there. 👫

We dragged all of our luggage down the three flights of stairs and loaded up pretty swiftly. Interestingly enough the "hardest" car packing day ended up being the smoothest for us so far. Confirmed, we definitely work better under pressure.

With two dinners under our belt at the Trinity Hotel Restaurant, we decided to give their breakfast a shot. The Trinity Hotel apparently never disappoints. This has definitely been our favorite stops so far and is going to be a really hard stop to beat for the rest of the trip.

We jumped in the car and continued our journey west. A quick stop at White Sands National Park was a good way to break up the drive to our authentic adobe house in Las Cruces. Before we got to White Sands, we had the pleasure of driving through the Lincoln National Forest in the south central part of New Mexico. It was an absolutely gorgeous part of the country and one we would love to visit again in the future. Not sure we would say the same about White Sands. Driving down the steep grade while exiting the national forest was pretty crazy and there were a couple of tiny (and super cute) mountain towns that we stopped in briefly to stretch our legs. Unfortunately, the most impressive part of White Sands was seeing it in the distance while coming out of the national forest. While not a total letdown, White Sands won't be a park we'll be chomping at the bit to visit again soon.

After the White Sands stop, we were excited to get back on the road and get to the historic adobe house in Las Cruces. We arrived, checked in, unloaded the car and were pleasantly surprised by the size of the adobe Airbnb. Nikki took a video that we're hoping to share here eventually. #webdeveloperfeaturesftw

The compound was a VERY authentic adobe house with multiple units including the main house where the hosts lived. Originally built in the late 1800s, it was very charming with some modern amenities including a wall A/C unit that cooled the 'bedroom' area well enough to sleep during the nights. However, authentic copper pipes throughout wasn't the greatest. Both of us were only able to shower once each because we couldn't take the smell of the water. Imagine dunking your face into a huge bowl of old pennies. That's what the water smelled like coming out of the pipes. ☠️

Having said all of that, Clara's Nest (the adobe Airbnb) was a good choice for a couple of nights in Las Cruces and was within walking distance to some downtown Las Cruces local favorites. We had some authentic Mexican food at Matteo's along with some amazing aguas frescas!

We made a quick pit stop at The Little Toad Brewery and Distillery to sample some local beers on the way back to the house. Much more earthy tasting brews 🌿 but very good and a nice stop. Tomorrow is a day of rest for Nikki and golf for Ryan. YOLO friends! ❤️