#26 ARKANSAS - 3 Chicks, 2 Tots, and 1 Turkey

Our daughter, son-in-law, and three grandchildren, ages 3 1/2, 2 1/2, and 1 live in Texarkana, Texas. Texarkana is a bifurcated city with some of it in Texas and some of it in Arkansas. The state line runs through the middle of the post office (the post office is the number one tourist site in Texarkana according to Tripadvisor). The two Texarkanas share some public services but are otherwise separate governmental entities. I thought it would be nice if the whole family could partake in one stop on the breakfast tour. I had been to and ate in both Texarkana, Texas and Texarkana, Arkansas. To stick with my criterion of I finding breakfast in a town I've never been to I got on the internet and searched a 30 mile radius from my daughter's home. Thirty miles was the maximum I figured the three little ones could tolerate without being complete basket cases at breakfast.

I found nothing and I was ready to drop the family breakfast idea when I came across an interesting looking place on the Arkansas side of the border. The mailing address was Texarkana, Arkansas but the restaurant's website stated it was located in the community of Greenwich Village south of Texarkana. There is also an official state highway sign indicating you are entering Greenwich Village so that was good enough for me. I've never been to Greenwich Village, AR which is about 9 square miles in size and has maybe 200 people at the most. I knew it was bending my rules a little but it was a loophole I was jumping through and I'm glad I did.

Three Chicks Feed, Seed, & Cafe

Greenwich Village, Arkansas

Where's the third chick?

Early on a Friday morning we packed everyone into two cars. It was akin to Napoleon preparing his army to invade Russia but we managed to get off. The Three Chicks website stated that the cafe opened at 8 AM on weekdays. We drove the 21 miles to Greenwich Village and arrived about 8:30 AM.  Then, DISASTER! As we pulled into the parking lot we were greeted with a large banner that said the cafe opened at 10 AM on weekdays and 8 AM on weekends. Hey Chicks! You got to change the information on your website.

We released the kids from their car seats to let off some steam while I tried to think this through. Although the kids were having fun chasing a couple of puppies there was no way we could wait until 10 to eat. So it was off to Cracker Barrel back in Texarkana. I could go on and on about Cracker Barrel but I'll just mention one thing. PUT BLINDFOLDS ON THE CHILDREN WHEN YOU WALK THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP TO THE DINING AREA.

Plan B was to go back to the Three Chicks Feed, Seed, & Cafe the following morning (Saturday). My daughter and son-in-law had an engagement that day and could not go. They wanted us to take the three grandchildren. The Healthy One and I have an adequate man-to-man defense but our zone defense sucks so the one year old ended up at home with a sitter eating Cheerios.

It was really too bad because she loves eggs. As I learned at Cracker Barrel, she likes her eggs "double scrambled".  That is, she takes her order of scrambled eggs and with both hands she re-scrambles them before consumption.

  
AMBIENCE: Three Chicks Feed, Seed, & Cafe has been in operation for about 7 years. As you might have guessed, the establishment is owned and operated by three women. If you use the restroom, you can see the three chicks staring at you from the wall as you take care of business. It is a bit unnerving.

The cafe is attached to a substantial feed and seed store. After getting out of the car (where I just managed to avoid stepping in a pile of dog shit) we took a peek inside the store. It looked like you could buy just about anything for your livestock and garden needs. As opposed to the merchandise in the Cracker Barrel store our grandchildren, G & K, showed little interest in swine show feeds and Happy Jack animal medications. 

We followed the signs to the cafe. You walk down a small hallway to a double door made of corrugated metal and old two by fours. It looked like the entrance to a cow barn. This door dramatically lowered my expectations. I half expected to be eating out of a trough. 

Upon opening the door I was absolutely gobsmacked! The place looked beautiful. I now know not to judge a restaurant by its door. 

G & K took off like a shot. They were not about to sit down at a table. Children must have some internal radar that directs them to either fun or trouble or both. The two of them raced through the cafe and out back where they found a myriad of toys and all sorts of farm animals. As I was watching G & K run around having a great time, a humongous turkey sidled up to my leg. This turkey must have had free rein in the feed store.

A young girl walking by on her way to feed the goats said, "That's Trey, he's real nice".  Yes, I'm sure Trey is real nice. He stood by my leg like a dog waiting to be petted. How do you pet a turkey? Do you scratch him behind the ears? Do turkeys even have ears?

Meanwhile K had found a set of golf clubs to carry around. K isn't really happy unless she is carrying at least three or four objects.

After a considerable amount of time we finally got G & K to come into the cafe and sit at a table.  K had a hard time parting with her golf clubs and insisted they be part of the table decor.

  

I appreciated her dedication to the game but insisted they disappear. Fortunately, she complied and we got ready to eat.

5 out of 5 stars

FOOD:   The menu is refreshingly uncomplicated. There's a total of six breakfast entrees. I ordered the Chuck Wagon Special Breakfast which consisted of two eggs, two pancakes, and a large piece of ham.        

There is a world of taste difference between farm fresh eggs and store bought eggs. These eggs must have been laid a few minutes before they were scrambled because they tasted incredible. I wanted to get up from the table and go out back and personally thank the chickens for a job well done. The pancakes were excellent as well. My personal preference is not to wreck the taste of a great pancake by drowning them in syrup.  These beauties required only a whisper of syrup. Completing the trifecta of food items was the ham. It was perfectly grilled and had a nice smoky flavor.  

We ordered the same entree for the kids to split. Here is G cutting into his pancake. G eats Viking style; using a knife in one hand to cut and then using the other hand to pick up the food and shove it into his mouth. I'm not quite sure what the dice were doing on the table or where they came from. Maybe he plays craps at daycare.

Both of the kids are "little dippers". They pour the syrup onto a specially requested dish and then dip the pancake piece before ingesting.

G and K both loved their pancakes and eggs; the ham not so much. Grandpa, the human garbage disposal, ate their ham.

The Healthy One got the French Quarter Breakfast which consisted of french toast, scrambled eggs with cheese and ham. There was no granola on the menu. You would think that a cafe that was part of a feed store would have the grain to bake up some granola but I have the feeling there is not a big demand for granola in Southeast Arkansas. The Healthy one thought the french toast and eggs were fabulous. She didn't eat her ham. Guess who did?

5 out of 5 stars

COFFEE: Truthfully, I can't remember what the coffee was like. I do remember keeping it away from G's hands and arms which always seemed in motion. The last time I sat next to G at a restaurant, I ended up with a whole large cup of chocolate milk in my lap. I'm assuming the coffee was alright.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

SERVICE:  Our waitress was named China. I'm sure there is a good story behind that name but I didn't get a chance to ask her about it because I was busy making sure the grandchildren didn't climb into the goat pen. China did a great job and didn't seem intimidated by the grandchildren. She set me up with some coffee to take out back while watching G & K. I tried to take a selfie with my new friend Trey but was completely unsuccessful.

COST: $20.00 including tip. This food is a huge bargain.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT GREENWICH VILLAGE:  Just so you don't confuse Greenwich Village NY with Greenwich Village AR, I'll point out a few differences.

TYPICAL GREENWICH VILLAGE, NEW YORK RESIDENTS

TYPICAL GREENWICH VILLAGE, ARKANSAS RESIDENTS

TYPICAL GREENWICH VILLAGE, NEW YORK TRANSPORTATION

TYPICAL GREENWICH VILLAGE, ARKANSAS TRANSPORTATION

TYPICAL GREENWICH VILLAGE, NEW YORK PET

TYPICAL GREENWICH VILLAGE, ARKANSAS PET

BURN THOSE BREAKFAST CALORIES OFF:

-          -  Keeping up with the grandchildren.
       

-        

May 13, 2017

NEXT UP: An epic 14 state trip in the Midwest this coming October: OH, MI, IN, WI, IL, IA, MN, ND, SD, NE, KS, MO, KY, & WV.

#25 TEXAS - Denton Decisions

Driving from the western border of Texas to the eastern border is no treat (almost 600 miles via I-20 and I-30). I needed to find an oasis town, somewhere we could stay the night and wake up and have a great breakfast to fortify us for the drive across East Texas to Arkansas. The city of Denton, Texas was about two-thirds of the way across the state. It seemed like a happening place with several Airbnb options for an overnight. I searched on Yelp and TripAdvisor for Denton breakfast restaurants (in Texas it seems most places serving breakfast are called cafes) and was happily astonished to find no less than ten highly rated candidates. Some entire states didn't have this many breakfast restaurants with a rating of four or more stars out of five. Here, it seemed, was a town that liked breakfast.

About a month before our trip I booked an Airbnb in Denton and then took on the task of choosing a breakfast place. The way I operated on this breakfast tour was to have where we were going and where we were eating defined well before the trip. Having ten solid breakfast choices turned out to be an embarrassment of riches.

The most popular place on Tripadvisor was the Old West Cafe which I eliminated because it had five different locations; not a national chain but enough locations to fail my criterion to visit only places with no more than two related establishments. I eliminated a few others for various reasons and my list was down to six. Then I started reading reviews and looking at menus. I even contacted some local experts.

We listen to podcasts to pass the time on our long car trips. I had stumbled upon a podcast called "Denton Dallas and Beyond" which along with other topics, provides reviews of Denton restaurants. The hosts visit restaurants in the area and provide their thoughts on the experience. I was struck by their honesty, providing both the good and the bad of their experiences. I sent the show an e-mail, describing the breakfast tour and asking where I should eat breakfast.

The following week, my e-mail was featured on Episode 213 - "A Long Strange Trip". The three commentators had kind words for the Upper Park Cafe, Seven Mile Cafe, Loco Cafe, Sidewalk Cafe, and Egg House Cafe but stated the Chestnut Tree was the one we should definitely visit and implied that the Upper Park Cafe was the runner-up.

I was all set on the Chestnut Tree until I looked at its web page and saw they didn't open until 9 AM. I knew it would be difficult to hold on until 9. The Chestnut Tree also listed the morning menu as a "brunch" menu. This was a breakfast tour not a brunch tour. To me, people who brunch are either slackers, hungover, independently wealthy, or some combination of the three. The Healthy One and I had discussed the Denton dilemma while driving across New Mexico. She favored the Chestnut Tree while I favored the Upper Park Cafe. She maintained that 9 AM is just a late breakfast while I argued that 9 AM is just a early brunch.

We rolled into Denton; asked our Airbnb host where we should have breakfast. We went to dinner on "The Square"; asked our waitress where we should have breakfast. We walked to the Upper Park Cafe and peered through the windows at the darkened room like a couple of perverts. It looked fine. I went to bed with the Upper Park Cafe as the choice.

We awoke the next morning, I had a cup of coffee, and off we went to the Upper Park Cafe. After about ten minutes of walking, the coffee and my diuretic pill hit hard and I looked around frantically around for a bathroom. By happenstance, we were standing right in front of the Loco Cafe. I said, "let's just have breakfast here, please!". Yes, after hours and hours of research , polling numerous strangers, car debates, and great angst, my bladder ended up choosing the restaurant.

Loco Cafe

Denton, Texas

AMBIENCE: The Loco Cafe gets its name from being located on the corner of Locust and Congress streets. The owner was also quoted as saying that he already had one restaurant across the street, so it was kind of crazy opening a second one. The look is sleek and modern with exposed pipes and industrial lighting. There is also a lot of natural light which flows through the eating space. 

Upon entering the restaurant you walk down a corridor to the ordering/payment station. I flew by the young man waiting to take my order, said "I would be right back", and made a beeline to the bathroom. Upon my return (the Healthy One was waiting patiently), the friendly gentleman took our orders, I paid, and he gave us a number to be displayed at the table of our choosing. The cafe was not very crowded this Thursday morning and our food was dropped off and number taken away after only about 7 or 8 minutes of waiting.  

4 out of 5 stars

FOOD:   I ordered the Loco Moco, mainly because it was mentioned in a positive way by my podcaster friends. Loco Moco is a big deal in Hawaii. You're not Hawaiian if you've never had a loco moco.  Its described on the Whats Cooking America website as "a mountainous meal consisting of a heap of white rice topped with a hamburger patty and sunny side-up egg and then smothered in gravy. There are different variations of the Hawaiian Loco Moco. For instance, you can substitute spam for the hamburger. Yum. The Loco Moco I ordered at the Loco Cafe was different., If you were Hawaiian, I think you would be disappointed. My Loco Moco did have eggs but that's where the similarity ended. My dish emphasized hash browns instead of rice, came with cheese, and was without a slab of meat.  One could add sausage, bacon, ham, or steak to the meal for an extra couple of bucks. I decided to add the bacon. The Loco Moco also came with the signature biscuit which our waitress from the previous night's dinner raved about.  

As you can see, the Loco Moco arrived with both salsa and meat gravy. A Hawaiian might pour the gravy over the egg, hashbrowns, bacon combination but that triggered the ick factor in me. Instead, I poured the salsa over the eggs and the gravy over the biscuit. I don't suffer from brumotactillophobia (fear of food touching each other) but the thought of the salsa and gravy possibly mixing on the peripheries of the biscuit and the eggs/hashbrowns mixture started turning my stomach. I grabbed another plate from the table next to me (nobody was sitting at the table and the plate was clean) and solved the problem.                        

The Loco Moco was very good. The bacon was cut up into little crunchy bits and did not really add any flavor to the dish but the eggs and hashbrowns were tasty and the salsa was a great complement. The house baked gargantuan biscuit was fabulous. Without the gravy, the biscuit would provide comfort and pleasure. With gravy, the biscuit provided total blissful fulfillment. 

The Healthy One went with the granola but no yogurt this time. She ate what the menu called The Bees Knees which in addition to the granola came with warm milk, honey, and strawberries. She thought it was very good, especially the fresh strawberries.

4 1/2 out of 5 stars

COFFEE:  Loco Cafe had a "coffee bar" and this usually means some pretty good coffee.

This coffee bar was no exception. There were a number of choices each with their own little biography. I chose a blend of Central American Typica, Bourbon, Caturra, and Catuai beans. Typica, Bourbon, Caturra, and Catuai sounds like the bullpen of a professional baseball team. These beans were grown at elevations of between 1200-1800 meters. Apparently caffeine junkies know that the beans from higher elevations are superior to their lowland relatives. I looked it up; these beans evidently came from an elevation that make them worthy. The taste of the coffee was described as "crisp cherry and chocolate brownie flavors with very little acidity, satin syrupy mouth feel and rich body". I'm sorry, my mouth feel is not that sophisticated. I didn't taste cherry; I didn't taste chocolate brownies. All I tasted was coffee. To me there are only four taste categories of coffee: strong and delicious; strong and bitter; weak and delicious (this is a rare bean); and weak/low elevation and repulsive. This coffee was strong and delicious.

5 out of 5 stars

  

SERVICE:  This is the seventh breakfast spot of the tour (NM, SC, AL, MS, CT, & NJ) where you ordered food at the cash register and it was then delivered to your table. I miss having a waitress/waiter taking your order at the table. It gives you a chance to chat a little with a "local" and encounter all different types of personalities from bubbly to methodical. I understand that restaurants do this to cut costs and possibly speed up the time it takes to turnover a table but I believe a personal interaction with a server enhances the breakfast experience. This belief assumes the waitperson is friendly and competent. So far that has always been the case. I think I'll strive to find restaurants in the remaining 23 states that use waitresses or waiters.

COST: $22.73

A FEW WORDS ABOUT DENTON:  Denton with a population of over 113,000 lies just 35 miles north of Dallas. With Dallas and Fort Worth, it is the third point of what is called "The Golden Triangle". It has been referred to as a "mini-Austin, primarily because its a big college town with accompanying bars and a lively music scene. The two major colleges are North Texas University (enrollment 38,000) and Texas Women's University (enrollment 15,000).  I believe most Dentonians hate being compared to Austin for good reason. Denton is much more politically conservative than Austin. More than 57% of Denton County voters cast their ballot for Trump while in Austin (Travis County) Clinton received almost 66% of the vote. Austin also seems  edgier than Denton with a higher tattoo per capita rate.

The heart of Denton is "The Square" and the heart of "The Square" is the Courthouse.

The Courthouse, built in 1896, is ringed by restaurants, bars, shops, coffee houses, and music clubs. One of the more magnetic establishments is Beth Marie's Old Fashioned Ice Cream and Soda Shop. The shop evokes a "Music Man" setting.  The ice cream (14% butterfat!) is made in a machine built in 1927.  We stopped in on our way to dinner. There were about 50 incredibly looking flavors. I told The Healthy One I didn't want to spoil my dinner by buying a cone but that I wanted to ask for some tastes. She said that if I got tastes but didn't buy any ice cream it was an "immoral act". The Healthy One knows best. We went to dinner.

BURN THOSE BREAKFAST CALORIES OFF:

-          - Walked the pretty campus of Texas Woman's University. TWU has a total enrollment of 15,000 and has the largest doctoral nursing program in the world.
       - Walked around The Square, both clockwise and counter clockwise. 

-        

May 10, 2017

NEXT UP: Arkansas

#24 NEW MEXICO - Half Way Done

Food and drink "trails" can be found in many states. For example, there is a cheese trail in Wisconsin, a wine trail in California, an ice cream trail in New Hampshire, a bourbon trail in Kentucky, and a BBQ trail in Texas. New Mexico happens to have a breakfast burrito trail. The state lays claim to the invention of the breakfast burrito in 1975 at Tia Sophia's restaurant in Santa Fe (still operating). The official name of the trail is New Mexico's Breakfast Burrito Byway and it has 50 stops. I decided that breakfast had to be at one of these stops and I picked a place about a mile from the Texas border. This breakfast visit would mark the halfway point of the breakfast tour; 24 states down, 24 to go.

Avila's Nipa Hut

Hobbs, New Mexico

Avila's Nipa Hut was not an easy place to find. It lies off the beaten byway. I did have an address and put it into Google Maps for directions. When the irritating voice on my I-phone said "you have arrived at your destination" we didn't see it. All we could see was a large Conoco gas station with an attached 7-11 type market called Stripes.  As we kept driving up the road the irritating voice kept recalculating and telling us to make a U-turn and go back. (Maybe if I changed her voice to a Jamaican accent, it would be more pleasing.) We finally gave in, did the U-turn and went back to the gas station. And there it was right where irritating voice said it was located. I half expected her to say "I told you so!" 

The Nipa Hut was attached to one end of the gas station looking like an afterthought. That's it in the picture below, in front of the white pick-up truck.

You can hardly see "Avila's Nipa Hut" on the window!

Let me flash forward in the narrative to after our breakfast when we were setting off across West Texas. About an hour into the drive I started to wonder about why the restaurant had the name "Nipa Hut" so I did what any sane person with an I-Phone does and googled it. A Nipa hut is the national house of the Philippines. It is usually built on stilts and has a thatched roof made from the nipa palm. I should have know this. We had spent two weeks during February in the Philippines; a beautiful country with beautiful people. The Nipa Hut in Hobbs, sitting on a cement slab and having a corrugated metal roof, was anything but what Wikipedia described. I also found on the internet a couple of Nipa Hut restaurants in Florida and one in California and they all served Filipino food. So was the Hobbs Nipa Hut a case of "Filipinos selling burritos"? I liked the lyrical sound of that. 

Driving across flat, desolate, vast West Texas is a soul sucking, brain draining experience. You need to occupy your mind with some mental activity or else you could go insane. I decided the phrase "Filipinos selling burritos" might serve as a great launching pad to a best selling country western song so I started writing.

I'd grown sick of those big city snobs,
Got in my pick-up and headed to Hobbs,

Driving forever, shrub after shrub,
I was worked up a hankering for some good grub,

So many miles, pains in my butt,
Lucky to find Avila's Nipa Hut.

It had Filipinos selling burritos ohh yeahhh,
It had Filipinos selling burritos ohh yeahh.

As I started the second verse, I fell asleep so the song was to be continued. When I awoke, I wondered, was it an actual case of Filipinos selling burritos? I had assumed that the staff we saw were of Hispanic ethnicity. It was stereotyping I know, but come on, we're talking burritos not lumpia.  

I called Avila's Nipa Hut to find out the story. The very nice owner told me that no, they were not Filipinos selling burritos. The restaurant was bought 30 years ago from a couple who had named it the Nipa Hut. He was American and she was Filipino. They sold pizza and burgers. The current owner decided to keep the name. So much for my song.

AMBIENCE:  The Nipa Hut was a snug little place. Greeting you on the front door was a sign stating "CASH ONLY". This was to be a theme on the inside of the restaurant as well with a number of reminders that it was cash only. You ordered food at the cash (only) register and then find yourself a table and wait for them to deliver your meal. While we were there a steady stream of customers came in, with about half carrying their food away and half eating at a table. 

It was hard not to notice that the walls were completely covered by 18 x 24 inch glossy pictures of high school athletes. We asked about this and were told that the kids sold them to businesses, relatives, and friends at $50 a pop to raise money for the sports teams. The Nipa Hut certainly did its part in supporting the local teams as most of the wall space in the restaurant was covered by these smiling young athletes.

Our table is shown in the above picture and from where we sat it was hard not to notice Cory Dean of the Hobbs Eagle Swimming and Diving team looking down on us.

I had two thoughts about Cory: 1) This kid had no trouble getting a date to the prom and 2) What is he doing with his hands?

4 1/2 out of 5 stars

FOOD:  Are you kidding me? The menu had 23 different breakfast burritos! You could come in here every day of the month (it is closed on weekends) and have a different breakfast burrito. Also on the menu was one non-burrito item called The Big Breakfast. Usually I would jump at something called The Big Breakfast but I was here to eat a breakfast burrito. You don't order a hamburger in a seafood restaurant. I did however, order the breakfast burrito with the most ingredients. It was called "The Grumpy". Stuffed into The Grumpy was sausage, bacon, ham, egg, potato, and cheese.

Behold this gem of a breakfast burrito:

A peek inside:

It was incredibly delicious. What a filling and fortifying way to start your day.  The tortilla was about as fresh as could be with just the right amount of char. The filling was bursting with flavor and the red chile sauce gave it just the right amount of kick. I could easily see myself coming in every weekday of the month and trying each of the 23 burritos. I asked why something that made me so happy was called The Grumpy. The story I got was they had a regular customer who always ordered this particular breakfast burrito. He was known as Grumpy because he looked like one of the Care Bear characters. I missed the whole Care Bears thing (I believe this was good fortune) so I had to look it up on the internet. This is Grumpy:

When Grumpy (the customer, not the bear) passed away, in his memory, the Nipa Hut gave him the high honor of naming the burrito he always ordered, "The Grumpy". Hmmm. I wondered if the cause of death was too many Grumpies?

The Healthy One, because they did not have a granola burrito on the menu, ordered an egg and bacon burrito which she had no problem polishing off. She did not touch her chile sauce even though I told her it was a vegetable and it was healthy.

5 out of 5 stars

COFFEE:  Ehh. The industrial cup of coffee I had in the Best Western lobby before coming over was better.

2 1/2 out of 5 stars

SERVICE:  The young lady who took our order, brought us our food, and cashed us out was very friendly and accommodating. She seemed to be in charge of the place and kept things moving smoothly. At one point she yelled back at the cook to "hurry up with that order Mom". Daughters of a certain age bossing their mothers around seems to be a universal phenomenon. 

5 out of 5 stars

COST: $10.90 + $2.00 tip - CASH ONLY  

A FEW WORDS ABOUT HOBBS:  Hobbs is flat; very flat. The weather isn't great; really hot in the summer, dry throughout the year, and a cold wind in the winter. So why does this city of about 45,000 people exist?

In 1928 oil was discovered. Hobbs sits atop the Permian Basin which is said to contain more recoverable oil than any one field in the world except for Saudi Arabia's Ghawar. Oil production is estimated to be 2.49 million barrels a day, accounting for more than a quarter of U.S. total production. Because of its dependence upon oil, Hobbs is in many respects a "boom or bust" town. Three years ago when crude oil prices topped $100 per barrel, workers were flocking to Hobbs. The demand for housing far exceeded the supply. A room at the Best Western cost about $250 a night. We paid $64 for the same room. Oil prices are down more than 60% from 2014. A huge number of hotel rooms sit empty every night.

Oil and gas severance taxes still make up about half of local tax revenue. One in five jobs is in the mining sector. Hobbs is hanging on. It hopes oil prices bounce back but in the meantime has taken steps to diversify its energy dependent economy. The city has managed to attract other energy producers including a uranium enrichment company and four solar power plants. Hobbs also has those two favorite economic quick fixes: a casino and a prison.

BURN THOSE BREAKFAST CALORIES OFF:

-          - On our drive to Hobbs we walked around the campus of New Mexico State in Las Cruces NM.
-     - We hiked in the Organ Mountains - Desert Peaks National Monument. Established in May, 2014, it is America's newest national monument. The Organ Mountains are so-named because the granite peaks look a bit like a pipe organ.
       - We hiked the Smith Spring Loop in the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Beautiful vistas were available, but my eyes were locked on the ground so as not to step on a rattlesnake.
       -  At Carlsbad Caverns National Park we took the 1.5 mile Natural Entrance trail 750 feet down to the 1.5 mile Big Room trail. This place is a amazing wonderland.

-        

May 10, 2017

NEXT UP: Texas