Our final destination was Carlsbad Caverns, a subterranean wonder on the edge of the Guadalupe Mountains in the very southern tip of New Mexico. The cave was discovered by a cowboy, Jim White, almost 100 years ago. He thought he saw smoke in the distance, and when he went to investigate, it turned out to be millions of bats leaving the mouth of a giant cave. At first no one would believe the caves were everything White said they were, but after showing photos to Congress, in 1930 it was proclaimed a National Monument, and became one of the most famous caves in the world. In 1995 it was designated a World Heritage site.

What surprised me most the very first time we visited, was that the cave entrance is in the top of the mountains, so one has to drive seven miles up a winding mountain road to reach it.

The most spectacular way to see the caves, is to descend through the Natural Entrance trail down to the main cave complex, then take one or more of the mile long tours down below. But it's a steep mile long trail, descending 800' down into the earth. My feet have a 2 kilometre limit, and the steep downhill slope is far too difficult on my knees, so I decided it was best for me to save my feet and just take the mile long Big Room Tour - which is accessible by elevator. Yes, an elevator! Back in the 30's they drilled an elevator shaft down to the main cave complex. I doubt the Park Service would do such a thing in this day and age, but I'm grateful they added one back then.  So Jan took the Natural Entrance trail by himself, while I entertained myself in the RV. 

After lunch, we both went down the elevator to take the Big Room self-guided Tour. 

Most of the cave photos were taken by Jan with his small point-and-shoot camera. He had greater success with it in the low light than I did with my Canon Rebel. Even with flash.

It's hard to tell scale from the photos, but the cave formations are gigantic. People are kept well back so as not to touch the formations, which are very dimly lit. The photos are misleading, since they were taken by flash.  Personally I'd have liked a bit more light to more fully appreciate the rock formations, but the Park service wants to keep it as "natural" an experience as possible, so lighting is kept to a bare minimum, with hand railings on both sides of the winding trail to help guide people through the caves. Children must stay within arms reach of their parents at all times 

*Note:  Efreet and Bonnie only got to explore the displays in the Visitor Center, which is where I photographed them - we did not take them down into the cave.  Which proved to have been a smart move.  The cave was so dimly lit, that photography was almost impossible. I don't see well in low light, and with humidity over 90%, my glasses would fog up instantly, so I had to do without them - not that it made much difference in the dark. By the time we finished the tour, my hair was drenched and I felt like a 'drowned rat'.  I was so glad we hadn't taken any dolls along.

Well, this is finally the end of my doll's adventures on our Fall Trip. I can't believe how many photos of them I took. It's probably because of my decision to take a group of contemporary dolls along - after all, they can be photographed almost anywhere.  I'll have to do that again.

We visited many fabulous places, and experienced some spectacular wilderness scenery. 

I was touched by a quote on the cover of the Carlsbad Caverns Visitor Guide.....

On our way to our final trip destination, we passed through Roswell, the famous site of the 'Roswell UFO Incident' of the summer of 1947 and the following 'Cover Up Conspiracy' theory. Roswell residents and businesses have fully embraced their town's infamous notoriety, and little (and not so little) green men can be seen everywhere throughout town......like here at Walmart...

At first the kids thought it was all in good fun, and enjoyed looking for the 
green aliens, and being photographed with them.....

But by the time lunch rolled around, they'd become much more paranoid. We were going to 
treat them to lunch at McDonalds, but the Playland was in the shape of a flying saucer, and 
they refused to go in. So we got Take Out and found a park with an 'Air Force fighter jet'.

They made themselves some aluminum foil hats to protect themselves from alien brain scans, 
and climbed onboard the 'jet' with their lunch.   They figured they'd be safe there.....

We took the free, self-guiding tour.....

Efreet, who is interested in all things scientific, was very impressed....

Back at White Sands, Leona and Owen were taking a nice relaxing break atop a dune, 
with drinks and donuts, while the kids were having fun elsewhere.....

Jan decided to join them - which made for a fun picture. But who is out of scale in whose world?

Trudging back to the RV.  It's nice to have an assistant!

We left White Sands and headed west, with the intention of heading into the mountains and taking the very first hair-raising drive to Puye Cliff Dwellings that we took on our very first trip here to the southwest almost 20 years ago, and see if it was really as scary as we remembered. But the road was closed - probably washed out from all the major storms the past two days - so we had to spend hours doubling back. One bonus - the sunset over the desert was amazing that evening. The sunset was completely different in every direction - to the east it was puffy pink clouds over a deep blue landscape. To the south behind us, the sky was cloudless with colours blending from deep blue high above, to red at the horizon. To the west, the sky was a riot of colour.....

It was like watching four sunsets all at once.

Well, I'm finally all caught up with my photos, and all the new albums are now finished, except the final Fall Trip album with the pictures of Southern New Mexico - but it is up to date. Just three more attractions to visit, and we'll have finished the entire trip.

One of my favourite exotic hibiscuses has had flowers blooming for the past week. All the plants came inside for the winter way back in September before our Fall Trip, and since most of the plants don't even start developing buds until the end of August, I usually miss most of the flowers, since they bloom when we are away.  But not this time.  Several of my favourite plants still had a lot of buds, and they've been opening ever since we've gotten back home. My oldest hibiscus has a gorgeous, ruffled, deep pink flower edged with white, and for a few days this past week, there were actually four huge flowers blooming all at once.....

Of course, something that special needed to be taken advantage of. Erzulie was still in her pink fairy costume from Hallowe'en, and she was only too happy to pose with the hibiscus flowers....

It's a shame hibiscus flowers are so short-lived.  Most last only a single day, but my exotic varieties generally will last three days, and inside maybe even another extra day. But I guess that's what makes them so special. Soon the last buds will have opened, and then I'll have to wait until the end of next August for them to bloom again.

Well, it's been more than a week since Hallowe'en, and the Jack-o-lanterns have seen better days. They're shrivelling up and going moldy, and it's high time to get rid of them, and toss them on the compost pile.  Ringo wasn't too happy about it........but he brought them all outside....

I told him that the pumpkins won't last, but he can carve a new one next year. 

I'm in the process of updating the Favourite Photos page. I've added quite a few new albums, none of which currently open yet - but they will as each one is completed.  There's a final Hallowe'en album, and another instalment of 'Iplekids Everyday', where all the miscellaneous photos of my Iplehouse dolls go.  I've decided to divide the fall trip photos into four albums; Denver & the Mountains, Pike's Peak & Arches, Santa Fe & Albuquerque, and Southern New Mexico. The first one is done, and I can start working on the next two. The Southern New Mexico album will be completed later, as there's still a couple of new adventures to be shared here first.

With the new BID dresses finished, I'll be starting work on this year's Christmas dresses for my Kaye Wiggs girls. I have five gorgeous embroidered, and sequinned, taffetas, which I need to colour-coordinate with matching velvets or velours. Then I can start cutting.

But today is looking to be sunny and warm (relatively speaking), so I need to take advantage and wash all my garden pots and put them away for the winter. 

I just posted two brand new outfits for BIDs up for Sale....
Country Ruffles in Pink Rose, and Blue & Yellow. One of each available.

We spent the night in Alamogordo, and early next morning we were back in White Sands.....

My little family decided to take a hike across the dunes....

"Okay, time to have some fun!" and Bonnie took a leap off the side of the dune....

Efreet followed.   "Wheeeee!"

Even Owen and Leona joined in the fun....

But Peach, who considered herself too mature for such nonsense, just watched from above....

I had come up with an interesting way to take my doll photos without exposing them to too much sun. Being early in the mornings, the sun was still low in the sky, so I chose a nice big sand pile at the westerly edge of a parking lot, and Jan parked the RV right up beside it, casting a big shadow over the whole area. After the dolls were set up, he backed up the RV just long enough for me to take some quick photos, and then he pulled forward again to put everything back in shade. Changed everyone's poses and did it again. It was a lot more convenient that trying to shade the dolls with an umbrella!

You guessed it!  We were at White Sands National Monument in southern New Mexico, and Efreet and Bonnie had mistaken the white gypsum sand dunes for snow. 

Leona and Owen had laid out a picnic on the dunes....

...when Bonnie and Efreet, who had started to get rather hot, were coming back....

Owen and Peach turned to see them coming, and were rather shocked....  

"Take off all that stuff immediately, before you get heat-stroke!  And then come and cool off."

They didn't need to be told twice. Leona offered Efreet a big slice of watermelon....

...and Bonnie helped herself to the box of popsicles in the cooler...

Bonnie and Efreet soon felt a lot better.  They had been confused, and didn't understand why they had been so warm. But now they understood.  It was white sand, and not snow.

Well, I can certainly understand their confusion!  White Sands is an amazing place, and it really does play 'mind tricks'. The dunes are blazing white in midday, and even sun glasses aren't enough to fight the glare. 

Deep inside the dunes where there's no vegetation, it really does look like hills of snow. And because they plow the roads, the piles of sand at the side of the roads only add to the effect

White Sands is one of the few National Parks where people aren't restricted from wandering wherever they want. After all, a good brisk breeze will erase all the footprints. So, many families come here to spend the day on weekends. It's like a day at the beach, combined with a day of sledding. Parents sit under beach umbrellas, or lay in the sun, while the kids go down the hills on their sleds. The Visitor centre even sells Crazy Carpets and disks for sledding. 

Huge storm clouds moved in in late afternoon, creating some very dramatic lighting.....

We had just arrived in one of my very favourite places in New Mexico, when Bonnie and Efreet looking out the windows, exclaimed "Snow!".  

They had so much fun sledding down the slopes....

Bonnie even made an 'angel'....