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2026 Leepin’ Across America
  • Mike and Kimberly
  • Mike and Kimberly

2026 Leepin’ Across America

An open-ended adventure by Mike and Read more
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  • Trip start
    January 1, 2026
    Mike and Kimberly2026 Leepin’ Across AmericaTraveler

    MOSN Polk City, FL ( 1/1 - 1/14)

    January 1 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    We left off in 2025 staying at our Winter roost at Mount Olive Shores North (MOSN) We have been spending time hanging out with friends, Mike has been going on his Tuesday geezer rides, and I have been working. We got everything settled with the new truck and the new bike lift in the back of the truck. Now we’re ready for a test drive.

    Now that we have everything situated for the bike to be towed in the back of the pick up truck it’s time to get the old motorcycle lift removed from the back of the RV. We found a place close by and took the RV there and within a few hours, it was removed. Boy seeing the RV without the bike lift on the back sure looks funny.    Read more

  • Mike and Kimberly2026 Leepin’ Across AmericaTraveler

    Big Cypress - Ochopee,FL ( 1/14 - 1/20)

    January 14 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 79 °F

    It’s time for a little road trip with our friends Barbara and Mark (BAM). You will hear a lot about them in our adventures this year as we are going to caravan together throughout the year. We traveled a little bit together last year when we were in Kentucky and Tennessee.

    We headed down to big Cypress national preserve in southern Florida. This will be the furthest south we’ve ever been in Florida. We are staying in our RVs at a small campground located inside the national preserve. On the drive, as we got closer to southern Florida, we saw several road signs warning of panther crossing. At first, I didn’t believe what I saw. I thought I made a mistake looking at the sign. But no, there were many panther crossing signs. Wow! It would be so cool if we actually saw one.

    Also, along the way we saw lots of street lights with big platforms on top ready for eagles to make their nests

    Big Cypress National Preserve is located about 45 miles west of Miami on the Atlantic coastal plain. It also butts up to the Everglades national Park, which is located just south of big Cypress. The 720,000-acre Big Cypress, along with Big Thicket National Preserve in Texas, became the first national preserves in the United States National Park System when they were established on October 11, 1974.

    While staying at this campground, we also saw some fox squirrels which are much bigger than traditional squirrels with very bushy tails    Read more

  • Mike and Kimberly2026 Leepin’ Across AmericaTraveler

    Everglades NP - flamingo

    January 15 in the United States ⋅ 🌬 70 °F

    Everglades National Park protects the southern twenty percent of the original Everglades in Florida. The park is the largest tropical wilderness in the United States and the largest wilderness of any kind east of the Mississippi River. Everglades is the third-largest national park in the contiguous United States after Death Valley and Yellowstone. The national park has three sections flamingo, which is the farthest southern tip overlooking the Florida Bay shark Valley, which is to the north and Everglades city which is to the west.

    We headed over to the flamingo area, which was the furthest southern point of the park. At the visitor center, we saw a statue of a panther, which is much bigger than I thought it would be. we also saw a skeleton for a python. Boy, those things are big. Fortunately, we did not see any of them in our travels, but we were all on the lookout for them.

    We came at the perfect time of year. It’s not hot and the mosquito meter is set to low. As soon as it warms up that mosquito meter is pegged at high mosquito levels. I’m glad we avoided that.

    The pictures that you see that are large bodies of water is actually the Florida Bay. The ocean, hooray! I miss the ocean. We went on a few short hikes while we were down here and it seems that every tree has an air plant in it. Pretty neat to see. We ended the day spotting a crocodile out in the water. We’re all certain that it is a crocodile based on the teeth and the way the head is shaped. The Everglades is the only place where both alligators and crocodiles coexist in the United States.    Read more

  • Mike and Kimberly2026 Leepin’ Across AmericaTraveler

    Nike Missle site - boardwalks

    January 16 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F

    Today we headed over to the Nike missile site. When compared to all of the missiles we’ve seen in our travels this was pretty minimal. It did not have a lot of information or a lot of displays.

    This missile base was built by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, completed in 1964 at the height of the Cold War, immediately following the Cuban Missile Crisis of October, 1962. At a time when national security against Soviet attack was America’s main priority, the United States Army chose this strategic site within Everglades National Park, located 160 miles from the Cuban coast, to build an anti-aircraft missile site. HM69 was also significant because of the technology employed. The South Florida Nike Hercules sites were integrated with Hawk missile sites to provide an all altitude defensive capability around South Florida

    Next, we stopped at several boardwalks along the Everglades. In these areas, there’s usually several alligators hanging out for the day in the water, and you have a great view point from the boardwalk above.

    Our last stop was at the skunk ape visitors center. Don’t know what skunk ape is? The skunk ape is a large and hairy human-like mythical creature purported to inhabit the forests and swamps in Florida. It is synonymous with, or called the "cousin" of Bigfoot. It was a little roadside attraction, and they had some big statues of the swamp ape and all kinds of T-shirts and memorabilia that you could buy.    Read more

  • Mike and Kimberly2026 Leepin’ Across AmericaTraveler

    Everglades City air boat tour

    January 17 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 75 °F

    Today we headed over to the west side of the Everglades to Everglade city. There’s not much on this side of the park to see, but we did take an airboat ride through all the mangroves. Wow! This was the best part of the trip, gliding across the water and spinning with such ease was like riding a roller coaster. Or as Mike thought of it like riding in a race car on a dirt track. I was glad I was sitting in the middle of the boat and not on the edge because we came so close to some of those trees I thought for sure we were going to hit them. Our guide was great and thankfully knew exactly where he was going. To me it felt like we were driving around in circles. I can see how it’s easy to get lost in the mangroves. The nest part of the mangroves is when they form a tunnel and you can see right down the middle. You can see this in the seventh picture. We saw a few birds, but no gators over here.Read more

  • Mike and Kimberly2026 Leepin’ Across AmericaTraveler

    Everglades - shark valley

    January 18 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 79 °F

    Our next stop is to the shark Valley area of the Everglades. I know when you think of shark you think of the fish. Shark Valley is named for its location at the head of the Shark River Slough in the Everglades not the fish.

    Here we took a tram tour about 8 miles into the Everglades where we were able to get off the tram and walk up the observation deck, which is 45 feet above sea level. From there, we had a great 360° view of the Everglades.

    The tour guide on the tram was awesome. He told us so much about the ecosystem of the Everglades the plants the animals. In fact, he told us how the number of animals in the Everglades are dwindling due to the the number of pythons in the Everglades that are eating all of the other animals

    On the tour, we saw lots of alligators, but we also saw some crocodiles. They are in the last five or six pictures. Those are crocodiles.    Read more

  • Mike and Kimberly2026 Leepin’ Across AmericaTraveler

    MOSN Polk City, FL (1/20 -2/15)

    January 20 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    Our adventures in the Everglades went by fast, as always we had a good time. while we were there, we were able to unload and reload the bike with no issues. It was a successful test drive.

    We are back at our Winter roost for a few weeks until we head up to Ocala for an oil change. While we are here, we’re hanging out with friends, playing pickle ball, and Mike is going on his geezer ride.

    Mike also got the opportunity to head over to new Smyrna Beach to work the races. He’s working the races with the same group he works with in Pensacola. This worked out really well for him because through that connection, He got his foot in the door and will be working the racing circuit with this group throughout 2026.    Read more

  • Mike and Kimberly2026 Leepin’ Across AmericaTraveler

    Cummins Ocala,FL (2/15 - 2/20)

    February 15 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 79 °F

    We made a quick trip an hour and a half north to Ocala to get the engine service completed at Cummins. We needed an oil change and the belts and hoses replaced. Mike also noticed a little wet spot near the oil pan drain. When the guys went to change the oil the drain plug for the oil pan just kept spinning it would not tighten. That means they can’t put new oil in because the plug might fall out while we’re driving and blow up the engine.

    At first they told us they don’t make a new oil pan anymore because our RV is too old. After several hours, they located one up in Indiana and had it shipped overnight.

    The picture you see is the new oil pan which is about 3 feet wide. You could easily fit a small child inside that thing. The service appointment took a few more days than expected because of this, but we were soon on our way back down to the Winter roost at MOSN. We were glad that we went in for the oil change before we hit the road for our 2026 trip.    Read more

  • Mike and Kimberly2026 Leepin’ Across AmericaTraveler

    MOSN Polk City, FL (2/19 - 3/11)

    February 19 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 84 °F

    We are back at mosn and hanging out with friends and enjoying the beautiful weather. We were supposed to leave on March 15, but we are going to leave a little early so that Mike can go work another race in Pensacola that takes place on March 13 and 14th. It works out well because we were going to be in this area around that time anyway.

    I also took a quick little trip up to New York before we left to visit my dad for a few days. There was still snow on the ground and it was cold but I enjoyed the pizza and half moon cookies of course I also enjoyed seeing my dad. While in New York, we took a short little walk to see about a dozen bald eagles sitting on the ice by Syracuse. That was pretty cool because that’s the most bald eagles I’ve seen altogether at once.    Read more

  • Mike and Kimberly2026 Leepin’ Across AmericaTraveler
    Apalachicola river marks the time zone changeIt's a lot cooler up in the panhandleHoller trucks at the racetrackMike working his dream jobOne of Mike's jobs is to hold the BFS. Big f* sign he is holding the red signs behind the carRacetrackRace carsSunrise at the racetrack

    Pensacola RV- Pensacola,FL (3/11-3/19)

    March 11 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 79 °F

    We had a great winter down in Polk city but the temperatures are getting too hot. It’s consistently been an upper 80s low 90s and very humid. It’s time to hit the road!

    Our first stop is at Pensacola RV Park. We have been here many times before and we are stopping here again because Mike will be working at the speedway once again.

    There wasn’t anything too exciting on our drive up here except at the Apalachicola river we crossed into the central time zone. Except for a couple of days we exclusively spent 2025 in the eastern time zone.

    The weather here is much cooler. It’s amazing how just moving a couple hundred miles north the weather changes dramatically.    Read more

  • Mike and Kimberly2026 Leepin’ Across AmericaTraveler
    Jellyfish
    Usually, the water is crystal clear blueAnd the beach sand is whiteLots of jellyfish washing upLots of kites flying todayPensacola Beach TowerSailboat in the bayOur 2026 national Park passAhhhhh the ocean

    Pensacola beach

    March 15 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F

    Every time we come to Pensacola, I always wanna go to the beach. It’s only 30 minutes away with white sugar sand, and crystal clear blue water. It looks like the typical Caribbean picture most of the time.

    However, every time we come here there seems to be some kind of storm offshore that turns up all the water and makes it murky so I never ever get to see my crystal clear blue water.

    Anyway, the temps warmed up to 80 and we hit the beach. Even though there was a high rip current, the water was still beautiful, and the sound of the waves is so Zen to me. We didn’t do much walking in the water along the sand because there were a ton of jellyfish and I fear every creature that comes out of the ocean. The jelly with the brown starburst print in it is a mushroom cap jellyfish, and the jelly that is all clear is a moon jellyfish

    even though it’s spring break the beach was not crowded. We also picked up our national Park pass, so we’re ready to hit some national parks this year.    Read more

  • Mike and Kimberly2026 Leepin’ Across AmericaTraveler
    Leaving Florida sign
    On to AlabamaTunnel under the mobile riverUSS Alabama in Mobile BayNow we are in MississippiPassed through BiloxiNow in LouisianaCrossing the Mississippi riverThe mighty and muddy MississippiAtchafalaya bridgeAtchafalaya bridge1The bridge is not high off the ground, but it spans a long distance over a lot of swampCampsite

    Parkside RV Broussard,LA (3/19-3/21)

    March 19 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 73 °F

    Today we are leaving Florida for the first time in the last 5 months. We arrived in Florida on October 15 and we left today. We are headed west, first we passed through Alabama. There we crossed under the mobile river through a huge tunnel. On the other side of the tunnel, we were able to see the USS Alabama sitting in Mobile Bay. We only crossed 60 miles of Alabama and then we were into Mississippi. there’s not much really exciting in Mississippi, after 75 miles we crossed into Louisiana.

    Louisiana uses the term "parish" instead of "county" due to its historical ties to the Catholic Church during the French and Spanish colonial periods, where local governance was organized around church parishes. This system was officially adopted in 1807 and has remained unique to Louisiana, reflecting the state's distinct cultural heritage. That’s a pretty long time to keep using the word parish instead of county.

    In Louisiana, we crossed the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge which is approximately 18.2 miles long, making it one of the longest bridges in the United States. It carries Interstate 10 traffic over the Atchafalaya Basin. We crossed the Mississippi. Once we hit Lafayette, we headed south a little bit to our campsite for the next few days.    Read more

  • Mike and Kimberly2026 Leepin’ Across AmericaTraveler
    2We started at the museum
    They sell Tabasco by the barrel or half barrelThese were displays inside the museum, life-size bottles, not realThe same family has been making Tabasco since the 1860sTabasco peppers2Tabasco in the barrels. Age for three years with salt on top of the barrel.Transportation truckMaking the TabascoThe whole property is on top of assault mine1I love watching assembly lines2These are the bottles we boughtLegend has it. This is the gator that was at the gardens next to the Tabasco factory.This is the only actual gator we saw at the gardensLots of pretty trees and a really cool little stone bridge over the waterPretty flowers not sure what kindThere is a little Buddha temple in this houseAll those white things are egrets nestingThey built these docs as a sanctuary for them to nest

    Tabasco Factory & Avery Island Gardens

    March 20 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 72 °F

    Today we headed down to the Tabasco factory, which is located on Avery Island. Avery Island is often referred to as an island, but it is technically a salt dome located in Iberia Parish, Louisiana. It is about three miles inland from Vermilion Bay, which connects to the Gulf of Mexico.

    We started the tour at the museum where we learned about the history of Tabasco sauce, which has been made by the McIlhenny family since 1868.

    We stopped at the greenhouse next, where we were able to see displays of jalapeños (1000-4000 Scoville heat scale) Tabasco (30k-50k Scoville) and habanero (100k-350k Scoville).

    Next we stopped in the barrel aging section. They barrel the Tabasco sauce in White Oak barrels for three years before they’re sent off to production. The barrels are covered with salt, which is convenient because they are sitting on a salt dome. The salt helps keep the Tabasco sanitary during aging somehow but I didn’t quite understand that.

    We were able to see the production area where they’re bottling the sauce and labeling it. It was pretty neat. They make a lot of sauce each day.

    Lastly, we stopped in the country store where you can buy bottles of Tabasco of all kinds of flavors along with T-shirts and souvenirs. They also have a tasting bar where you can sample up to 15 different flavors of Tabasco. We tried almost every single flavor, although some of them were quite hot. We bought a few bottles to take home with us, including - salsa picante, jalapeño, sweet chili and chipotle.

    Our tickets also included a drive-through of the gardens on Avery Island. All of this land is owned by the family and back in the day, I’m sure it was just gorgeous with all of the ponds and flowers and bamboo. It still is pretty with all the huge oak trees and Spanish moss.

    There is Egret sanctuary, where the birds come every spring to build their nest and raise their young, check out the last video. I have never seen so many birds all at once it was crazy!    Read more

  • Mike and Kimberly2026 Leepin’ Across AmericaTraveler
    Made it to Texas
    Gosh, I hope that tailgate doesn't fall offOil well pavilion at the rest area. Cute place to have lunch.Campsite at the stop overCrawdad Farm

    Lavender Rd RV- Tyler, TX (3/21-3/22)

    March 21 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 88 °F

    We are continuing our trek west. We only stayed a few days in Louisiana and now we’re moving on. We are headed to Fort Worth but it’s a long drive so we’re going to have a stop over along the way in Tyler, Texas.

    Along the drive in LA we saw several crawfish farms. You can see them in the last 3 pictures. It might be hard to tell but there are crawfish pot bouy’s laid out in a dried along the water

    We entered Texas on interstate 20 and we will be taking that all the way across to big Springs Texas, where we will head north and then head into New Mexico. It’s almost 600 miles that we will be traveling across Texas.

    It was an uneventful drive however we did see a haul truck with his tailgate pretty much falling off as he was driving down the road. It’s pretty scary some of those things you see on the road.

    In Texas rest areas are little oil Derrick’s. See the 3rd picture. So cute    Read more

  • Mike and Kimberly2026 Leepin’ Across AmericaTraveler
    We saw tons of flags on the drive-in. Boy they love that Texas flag.
    Blue bonnets along the side of the roadWater tankThis was a huge campsite, three vehicles wide, and all concrete1Dinner with Mike sister, DawnAt the campground, this is their sign to tell you to pick up your poop1

    Yellow rose rv-Ft Worth,TX(3/22-3/27)

    March 22 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 91 °F

    On the road again a nice short drive across Dallas into Fort Worth. We are staying on the west side of Fort Worth. Along the drive we passed several areas along the side of the road with blue bonnets. They are a popular blue purpleish colored flower that pops up all along the side of the road here in Texas in the spring.

    Once we got set up at the RV park, we headed over to Dallas to meet Mike’s sister for dinner. She travels often and this is the first time we’ve actually both were in the same city at the same time. Totally unplanned. We headed over to ponchos Mexican restaurant for dinner. When Mike and Dawn were little. they recall eating frequently at ponchos in Tucson and it was a great nostalgic meal for them.

    At the campground, they have a pretty neat little waterfall, running out of an old Ford truck into a pond. And I loved their “pick up your dog poop” signs.    Read more

  • Mike and Kimberly2026 Leepin’ Across AmericaTraveler
    The sign over the road indicating we're at the stockyards
    This video is at the pen where the cows are waiting to make their march down the roadNeat painting on the side of the buildingThe start of the cows marchingLook at those big hornsThey've barely fit two side-by-side across the streetThis cow was hitting his horns on the post, trying to walk by11Back at the holding penJohn Wayne MuseumGift shop in the John Wayne Museum

    Fort Worth Stockyards

    March 24 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F

    Today we headed down to the stockyards to check out the shops and the cattle drive. This historic area is where the convergence of the railroad and the stockyards meet up. During the Civil War, they would round up all the cattle from states as far as Kansas and bring them down the Chisholm Trail to Fort Worth, where they would load them on trains and take them out to be sold.

    Today they reenact the cattle drive down a short part of the street with some Longhorns. those suckers are really big and the horns are huge

    Texas Longhorn cattle are a breed known for their distinctive long horns, which can span over 8 feet. They are hardy and adaptable, originally descended from cattle brought to the Americas by Spanish conquistadors in the 15th century. The ones we saw today weigh between 1000 and 2000 lbs.

    We also checked out the John Wayne Museum. We didn’t go through the whole museum, but the gift shop had a lot of neat stuff and information.    Read more

  • Mike and Kimberly2026 Leepin’ Across AmericaTraveler
    The entrance sign
    A picture from the brochureThere was a lot of information on how they find counterfeits

    Bureau of Engraving and Printing

    March 24 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 82 °F

    Our next stop was to the bureau of engraving and printing facility in Fort Worth.

    The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) is a U.S. government agency under the Department of the Treasury that designs and produces various security products, primarily Federal Reserve Notes (paper money). It has facilities in Washington, D.C., and Fort Worth, Texas.

    They have super high security here so before you even walk in the visitor center, you cannot bring your camera or smart watch or anything really. So the pictures kind of stink I took them off the brochure that we were able to take with us.

    The tour was super cool. It’s self guided and we got to walk around and read about the history of how they printed money and then we got to go upstairs to the production viewing area where we were able to see all the machines printing the money and stacks and stacks and stacks of cash. It was unbelievable. Millions upon millions upon millions of dollars. I don’t think we would ever see that much money in our entire lives. They run three shifts so they work printing money 24 hours a day seven days a week. It’s kind of crazy because you have to think about where does all that paper cash go?    Read more

  • Mike and Kimberly2026 Leepin’ Across AmericaTraveler
    Over night stop
    Pump jackRefineryBurning off the excessSand blowing across the road1Looks like a haboob

    La Vedera RV Lamesa, TX(3/27-3/28)

    March 27 in the United States ⋅ 🌬 52 °F

    Our time in Fort Worth went by fast and it’s time to get out of Texas before the tornadoes come. We are on the road again headed to New Mexico, but it’s a long drive. Texas is such a big state. We have a quick stop over in La Mesa, Texas, which is north of big Spring.

    This is oil country! Along the way we saw several pump jacks and refineries. It was also a very windy day. Probably one of the windiest ones we’ve had on the road. The last three pictures is just one area where the dust was blowing. It was actually more like sand. You can see it building up along the side of the road.    Read more

  • Mike and Kimberly2026 Leepin’ Across AmericaTraveler
    Welcome to New Mexico
    1Can you hear Mike yelling "weeeeee"I wish the car was not in the picturePotash fields courtesy of Google mapsCampsite

    Carlsbad RV- Carlsbad,NM (3/28-4/3)

    March 28 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 61 °F

    It was a nice easy drive into New Mexico. Along the way we got to watch a crop duster pass right in front of us a few times on the road.

    We also passed through the town of Hobbs, which had a huge sign as you enter the town, it was pretty cool.

    We passed by several potash fields that are owned by intrepid potash. You could not see much from the road, but they are big ponds where they let the water evaporate to extract, potassium chloride, and other minerals    Read more

  • Mike and Kimberly2026 Leepin’ Across AmericaTraveler
    One of the lakes at bottomless lakesA small stream running through bottomless lakes State ParkThis is at the airport, where the aviation museum was1The smallest aviation museumStreet lamp in downtown Roswell11The McDonald's in the shape of UFOOne of the displays inside the UFO museumThe file room inside the UFO museum2One of the file boxes from the file room

    Bottomless Lakes and Roswell

    March 30 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    Our first stop while in New Mexico was to bottomless Lakes State Park. It’s a little oasis in the desert just outside of Roswell. All the vegetation is brown and dry, but there still was quite a bit of water in the lakes and it was crystal clear.

    The next stop was Walker aviation Museum. This is located at the Roswell airport. It was one of the smallest aviation museums we ever been in, no more than a 25 x 25 room. It had some neat stuff, but it only took a few minutes to walk through. The airport in Roswell is the smallest airport I think I’ve ever been to.

    The next stop was downtown Roswell. This town really embraces the whole UFO and alien theme. The street lamps look like little alien heads. The McDonald’s is in the shape of a spaceship and the Dunkin’ Donuts sign is held up by an alien.

    We stopped into the international UFO museum because when you’re in Roswell, you gotta check it out. I was expecting it to be real cheesy. However, they are very serious about the alien landing. There were tons of displays to read recounting the incident from 1947. If you are not a believer after checking out the museum and all the information they had, you would be. they also had a huge file storage room with bankers boxes just full of data sheets and memos. and information about the whole UFO landing in aliens. It was crazy.

    The thing I found the most interesting was that they led you to believe that the reason that UFO came to earth in 1947 is because in outer space, they saw the explosion from the atomic detonation that took place in White Sands at the Trinity Center just a few years before the alien spaceship crashed into Roswell. That’s an interesting theory.    Read more

  • Mike and Kimberly2026 Leepin’ Across AmericaTraveler
    2Can you spot the sheep?The start of the natural entrance1Swallows flying around in the natural entranceStill on the natural entrance, cave trailThese are the Brazilian bats that show up in the summerMap of the cave to the left of the red dot the natural entrance to the right the big room2The bat amphitheater

    Carlsbad caverns natural entrance

    March 31 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 75 °F

    Today we headed out to Carlsbad caverns. On the way into the park, I spotted a Barby sheep. In the second picture see if you can spot the sheep, he blends in so well with the desert. Pictures three and four are a close-up of him.

    To get into the cave, you can either descend via the natural entrance or take the elevator. We decided to take the natural entrance. The Natural Entrance Trail is 1.25 miles and is known for its steep descent and ascent, gaining or losing about 750 feet in elevation.

    Seeing all the switchbacks from the opening of the cave was pretty unique and pretty cool. As we were descending the switchbacks, we saw lots of swallows flying around. They look just like the bats do that fly out of the cave. They circle the entrance of the cave and then take off. The national parks calls the swallows the dayshift they live just inside the cave and come out during the day to eat bugs while the bats live deep inside the cave and only come out at night.

    In the second to the last picture is a map of the two trails the natural entrance trail, which is on the left side of the map and goes all the way down to that red dot. All of the trails to the right of that red dot is just the big room inside the cave. I’ll discuss that portion in the next post but this gives you some perspective on how big that big room is compared to the natural entrance trail

    The last picture is the bat amphitheater. We did come back at night to see the bats, but the group of bats that were in the cave they believe are just a migrating colony. They are not the usual Brazilian bats that live in the cave throughout the summer. During the bat flight, you cannot have any electronics at all on. You have to turn off your cell phone so no photos. Which kind of stinks because it was so cool to see. We sat in the amphitheater for about 20 minutes before the bat started to leave the cave. Once the bats started to leave the cave, it was a steady stream of bats flying out for at least 30 minutes. It was amazing! Additionally, it was almost a full moon, and the bats all flew out, kinda towards the moon, so it was like the perfect Halloween scene with the moon almost full, and the bats just streaming across it. It was really the coolest thing.    Read more

  • Mike and Kimberly2026 Leepin’ Across AmericaTraveler
    To the left of the red dot is the natural entrance trail to the right is the big room
    The big roomA ladder that still remains from 1923Neat sign upside down, but in the reflection of the water, it reads mirror lakeThe big roomStill in the big room

    Carlsbad caverns the big room

    March 31 in the United States

    Once we descended all the way to the bottom of the caverns, we were in what they call the big room. This is the biggest room we have ever been in in a cave, so it was well named. It’s hard to express just how vast it is and the pictures of course do not do it justice. The trail inside the big room is another 1.25 miles and takes about an hour and a half to walk-through.

    Carlsbad Caverns was formed primarily through the action of sulfuric acid dissolving limestone, which occurred when hydrogen sulfide-rich water from petroleum reservoirs mixed with oxygen in groundwater. This process, along with the uplift and erosion of the surrounding area, created the large chambers and unique formations seen today.

    It seems like this cave has a little bit of all the formations we have seen in all the different caves we have been in. We also saw a ladder from when they started exploring the cave back in 1923.

    Check out the videos because they give you a better idea of how big the big room is.

    Once we completed our walk-through the big room we were contemplating hiking back up the natural entrance, but it would take another hour, and I was already really hungry and didn’t wanna wait any longer to eat. We ended up taking the elevator up.    Read more

  • Mike and Kimberly2026 Leepin’ Across AmericaTraveler
    1

    Guadalupe Mountains national Park

    April 1 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F

    Just an hour drive south of Carlsbad Caverns is Guadalupe Mountains national Park. Never heard of it? Most people haven’t. It’s located right on the Texas, New Mexico border and Carlsbad caverns is actually located within the Guadalupe mountains, but they are two separate national parks

    Guadalupe Mountains National Park, established in 1972, preserves a 260- to 270-million-year-old fossil reef and includes the highest point in Texas, Guadalupe Peak, at 8,751 feet. The park features diverse landscapes, including deserts, canyons, and forests, and offers hiking, backpacking, and wildlife viewing opportunities.

    This national park is pretty undeveloped and there are not very many hiking trails, but there was one that we really wanted to do called Devils Hall. It was a 4.2 mile round-trip. We started at 5800 feet and hiked across the desert for about a mile before we made it to a wash (a river with no water). From there, we had to hike in the wash crossing several boulders and through a canyon to get to the waterfall section. The total ascent was 729 feet. Don’t get too excited this is the desert and there is no water coming down the waterfall. It’s a natural staircase that was created by the water when it does run. But the stair steps are big and at awkward heights and a little bit slippery with all the dust. After we made it up the staircase, we got to the devil’s hall, the hall itself is a narrow passage with steep, limestone walls, closing in on you.

    We have been at sea level for so long that this hike felt great to actually have some hills and rocks to climb over. On the way back, we had to descend that staircase however, we all decided we were going to walk along the ledge instead of trying to climb down the staircase backwards. Everyone made it across and then it was my turn. I have such a fear of falling even though we were maybe 15 feet off the ground it freaked me out, but Mike made me push through it, and somehow after 10 minutes. I finally made it across that stupid ledge. I put an arrow in a picture of the staircase where you can see the ledge we crossed. The picture doesn’t give enough detail for you to see how scary it was. I swear the ledge is only the width of my shoe.

    After the hike, we stopped at McKitrick Canyon and the Frijole Ranch. The canyon was just a pull off with some information and a short hiking trail and the Ranch was all closed up so we weren’t able to see the old house on the ranch.

    Adding these two national parks were up to a total of 22 parks that we have seen. More to come!

    This was our last stop in New Mexico from here. We head over to Arizona.    Read more

  • Mike and Kimberly2026 Leepin’ Across AmericaTraveler
    Back into Texas
    Guadalupe Mountains in the distance in front of usThe salt flats outside of Guadalupe MountainsLots of yellow flowers on the desert floorThe roadrunner in Las Cruces81 Palms RV

    81 Palms RV - Deming, NM (4/3-4/4)

    April 3 in the United States ⋅ 🌬 75 °F

    We are headed to Tucson, but it’s a long drive from here. So we have a stop over in Deming, New Mexico. We are leaving Carlsbad caverns RV park, which is located in New Mexico and headed to Texas. Well at least we cross through a part of Texas.

    Along the way, we drove along Guadalupe Mountains, national Park, and beyond the mountains are the salt flats. It looks very similar to white sands. This time we took the 375 Loop around El Paso instead of driving right through the middle of the city. It was much less congested and a smoother ride even though we had to climb over a mountain. Once passed El Paso, we made it into New Mexico. I got a great picture of the roadrunner in Las Cruces. We are in Deming for just one night and then we hit the road in the morning.    Read more

  • Mike and Kimberly2026 Leepin’ Across AmericaTraveler
    Who knows what it is?
    Back in AZSite at Voyager1I do miss the awesome sunsetsSunset reflection in the RVPalo Verde trees in bloomA few flowers getting ready to bloom on a saguaroCactus in bloom

    Voyager RV -Tucson,AZ (4/4-4/21)

    April 4 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 77 °F

    We had a nice easy drive into Tucson. We have stayed here at Voyager before and coincidentally we got the same exact space as last time. While we are here we will be spending all our time visiting family and friends.

    On the drive in we passed several signes for the thing. This is a popular tourist trap. Someday we will actually stop and see it but I hear that it’s mummy looking thing.

    This time of year all the trees and cactus are blooming They all look pretty but boy they are doing a number on our allergies.    Read more