Category: YouTube Video Link

Posted in: Campground Review, Exploring New Mexico, Food, YouTube Video Link

KOA Carlsbad, New Mexico: Campground Review

Written by tepetravels 2 Comments on KOA Carlsbad, New Mexico: Campground Review

For our stay in Carlsbad, New Mexico, we stayed at the Carlsbad KOA. It’s a little bit out of town, about 20 minutes.

The campground was a nice one, with plenty of things to keep the kids busy. There was a large outdoor checkers board and a porch swing by the office. The main building housed an office/store, restaurant (delivered to your site, food made on-site in smokers), bathrooms/showers (men’s main bathroom closed for our stay), and a laundry room. The campground had WiFi (no streaming), picnic areas, fire pits at sites, pool (closed for the season for our stay), gaga ball court (boys’ favorite), tether ball, playground (with a set of bathrooms/showers nearby), and fenced dog area. Most of the sites were pull-through. There were a few tent sites and a few cabins to stay in as well. The rows were nicely labeled to help find your site. Once we were checked in (they gave us some cute red/black plaid can koosies at check in), a staff member led us to our site. The front desk recommended using a water filter for the drinking water.

The office store sold some souvenir type things, grocery items, ice ($3/10 lb bag), and firewood bundles ($10/bundle).

The spots were nicely spaced, with plenty of room for our trailer and truck to fit on the paved spot. There were only a couple of downsides (which they didn’t have control over): very windy at times and a fair amount of flies.

The campground was about 20 minutes from town, about 45 minutes to Carlsbad Cavern National Park, and about 1 hour from Roswell. Carlsbad (the town) had an Albertsons, a Walmart, and a Lowe’s, plus plenty of fast food options. There were also plenty of fuel stations in town, a lot with diesel. Most of them, however, would be difficult with a bigger RV/trailer.

Everyone we interacted with at the campground was nice and helpful. If we were back in the area, I would stay here again.

VIDEO: Carlsbad KOA Campground Tour

Side Note: Due to Covid, we could only go to National Parks/National lands. The State Parks (even all outdoor ones) are closed to non-New Mexico residents. Masks are also required indoors. The staff at the KOA did a great job with this, but the regular people out and about and employees in other stores did not.

SUMMARY OF CAMPGROUND:

Our rating: 2.5-3 out of 5 hitches

Cell Phone Reception: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile

Laundry: Yes

Bathrooms/Showers: Yes, partially open for repairs

RV Sites: Pull through, a few back-in

Pop Up Tents/Gazebos/Outdoor Rugs On-Site: No

Amenities: picnic table and fire pit/grill at each site, cable, dog park, gaga ball court, tether ball

Cabins: Yes

Tent Camping: Yes

Full Hook Ups: Yes. 20/30/50 Amps

Pool: Yes, closed for season when we were there

Food On-Site: Yes

Camp Store: Yes

WiFi: Yes

Fishing: No

Posted in: Exploring New Mexico, Museums & Tours, Sightseeing, YouTube Video Link

Looking For Aliens In Roswell, New Mexico

Written by tepetravels

Roswell was about an hour drive from our campground. Since it was so close, I wanted to go see it. We ended up going on my birthday! After everyone was done with school/work, we drove up. We got there about 4:00pm. Although an hour is a quick drive to us at this point, it seemed longer with the emptiness of the land. The way home was very dark (no street lights unless in a town) and smelly (processing plants).

We visited the UFO International Museum. (Cost us $14 for entry tickets.) There was a machine to take your temperature as you came inside.

The exhibits had a lot of reading. None of the smaller video monitors were on, so it was more like standing and reading a book. The Research Library and Video Room were roped off. The spaceship display in the center of the room was probably the neatest thing in there!

There was a really neat gift shop as well, so we spent a little time doing some shopping at the end.

It seemed like most of the shops were already closed when we got to town or closed at 5:00pm. (If you are going, I would check with each store. Maps had listed the Visitor Center as open until 5:00pm, but the sign on the door said 2:00.)

There were fun street lamps along the main street decorated with alien eyes! (Which I later learned on RoadsideAmerica, were not even done by the city! A group snuck in one night and applied them to some of the lamps. Here’s the link to the story.)

There were a few alien statues, but it seemed like it was mostly done by the individual stores. The McDonald’s was amazing! The outside was shaped like a UFO, complete with lights.

VIDEO: Walking Through The International UFO Museum and Main Street of Roswell, New Mexico

The town was ok. I would not make a specific trip out there. Maybe it was because so many things were closed, but there didn’t seem to be a lot to do. I also thought the town would have embraced the alien theme and would have been kitschier.

Posted in: Exploring New Mexico, Hiking, Museums & Tours, National Park, National Parks, School, Sightseeing, YouTube Video Link

Carlsbad Caverns National Park: No Bats, but Still Amazing

Written by tepetravels 5 Comments on Carlsbad Caverns National Park: No Bats, but Still Amazing

We visited Carlsbad Caverns National Park and it was amazing. It was both breathtaking, awe inspiring, and scary.

Right now the timed entrance tickets are not being used. According to their website, there are some days near the holidays that the park will be using the timed tickets again, so check their website if you are going near Thanksgiving and Christmas. The website also stated that there was currently a limit to 1,000 people/day.

The Park opened at 8:00am, Cavern opened at 8:30am. We got there about 7:45am, and there was already a line to get into the Visitors Center. Because of the daily entrance limit, I would try to get there as early as you can. We were in the cave about 4.5 hours.

The Visitor Center had bathrooms, 2 gift shops, a ticket booth, and an informational booth (park map, junior ranger books). There were not any ranger tours (Covid), but you can rent an audio tour ($5). I would really recommend the audio tour, it had some great information and also could be useful for kids who don’t like to (or can’t) read the signs. The Visitor Center has some interesting information at the exhibits, as well as a model of the cave.

The Cave had both elevators and a Natural Entrance. If you can, take the Natural Entrance down into the cave. It was quite the view and experience to walk these switchbacks down into the cave.

There were no bats while we were there, as it was too late in the season, but it must be amazing to see them exit at night.

It is a little scary when think about how far down you are. Nick was listening to audio tour and pointed out a section with tiny stalactites laying on the ground. They had fallen in an earthquake. Of course, then I looked to the ceiling and prayed for no shaking or earthquakes because that would really, really hurt. (There were also emergency call buttons to reach the Rangers throughout the cave. It was paved and had guardrails throughout.)

Top right picture: small fallen stalactites.

When you finish walking the cavern, it brings you to the elevators and lunch area. They sold drinks and cold items there. We took the elevators back up (it looked like maybe it was one way). The elevator rose 754 feet to get back to the Visitors Center!

Recommendations: Bring a water bottle. (No food or gum is allowed, but plain water is.) Wear boots, or at least shoes with a really good tread (some spots are slick, some are a little steep). Bring a small flashlight: you can see some cool things, and well…what if they loose power? It is completely dark when there are no lights.

VIDEO: Walking Through Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Note: The video is a little dark, as it was in a cave, but there are some neat scenes!

Jim White was the first known person to explore the cave (from 1898 to 1902). He saw what he thought was smoke and went to investigate what/where it was. The smoke turned out to be bats exiting the cave. How bored do you have to be to repel (because the Natural Entrance Switchbacks were not there), with a lantern into an unknown hole in the ground?! Seriously, it had to have been nerve wracking. He unfortunately, according to the Ranger Will talked to, never filed a claim on the cave/land. Miners came in to mine the guano and sold it to farmers, specifically to citrus groves. Eventually, the government came in and declared it a National Monument and then a National Park.

Posted in: Campground Review, Exploring Arizona, YouTube Video Link

Lazydays KOA (Tucson, Arizona): Campground Review

Written by tepetravels 1 Comment on Lazydays KOA (Tucson, Arizona): Campground Review

For our stay in Tucson, Arizona, we stayed at the Lazydays/Tucson KOA.

There were so many different kinds of sites to pick from: full hook ups, covered sites, sites with an outdoor fireplace, grass sites with a fence for dogs, tent sites, pull-through and back-in sites, and cabin rentals. The lots were gravel with a small paved parking pad for cars/trucks. It seemed to have plenty of room at each site. The sites also had some type of outdoor seating, but that also varied per site. There were fruit trees scattered around the campground. We saw limes, lemons, grapefruit, and the boys think they found an orange tree.

This campground had lots of amenities: 2 pools (heated) and a hot tub, laundry room, office store (mostly souvenir type stuff), office had pool table/bookshelves/shuffleboard, 2 bathroom/shower buildings, a gym, restaurant (sit down or would deliver to the pool or your RV), pond with bench seats, a bike course, putting greens (I would not call it putt putt, but the boys had fun with it), pickleball courts, WiFi (no streaming), cable (bring own coaxial cable), playground. There was also a tortoise, although we never saw him. The office also had the clubs, paddles/balls for the outdoor games. By the office was a large patio with outdoor seating and fire pits. If you wanted a fire at your site, you could rent a fire pit from the office as well. The gates closed at 7:00 pm, however you could still get in through the main entrance. You had to buzz or call in and have them open the gates.

Garbage was placed at the end of your site. You could also get a recycling bin from the office.

Laundry was the most expensive of the campgrounds so far, $2.50/load in the washer or dryer. There were plenty of machines and we didn’t have to wait. We had two loads, so it cost us $10. There was a change machine in the laundry room.

The campground did a nice job with having a variety of planned activities. While we were there it ranged from breakfast (coffee/juice, danish/muffins) to friendship bracelets to yoga. The activity list was posted in the office and laundry room.

There was some train and plane noise. Most of the plane noise seemed to come from military jets.

Arizona does require masks, so in the campground staff and guests must wear masks indoors.

The campground was well maintained. I would stay here again if we were in the area.

VIDEO: Tucson Lazydays KOA Campground Tour

 

SUMMARY OF CAMPGROUND:

Our rating: 3 out of 5 hitches

Cell Phone Reception: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile

Laundry: Yes

Bathrooms/Showers: Yes

RV Sites: Pull through, Back-In

Pop Up Tents/Gazebos/Outdoor Rugs On-Site:

Amenities: picnic table, cable, playground, dog park, pickleball, putting green, gym

Cabins: Yes

Tent Camping: Yes

Full Hook Ups: Yes. 20/30/50 Amps

Pool: Yes, heated

Food On-Site: Yes

Camp Store: Yes

WiFi: Yes

Fishing: No

Posted in: Animal Sightings, Exploring Arizona, National Park, National Parks, Sightseeing, YouTube Video Link

Saguaro National Park (It’s Two Parks!)

Written by tepetravels

There were a few reasons we stayed in Arizona. One: To help break up the long, long, long, drive across the bottom of the country. (Seriously, you see it on a map, but until we were driving and there was literally nothing for a hundred+ miles, it doesn’t quite sink in just how much land this country has.) Two: To see the cacti. We went to Saguaro National Park, which was about a half hour drive from our campsite. Saguaro actually has two sections to the park: East and West. They are not connected! (See map below.) Although each side had the saguaro cactus that the park was named for, they did offer different things to see. We went to see Saguaro West, because I wanted to see the petroglyphs.

The Visitor Center looked like a nice building (but had closed by the time we got there). It had some nice informational signs with desert life information. There was not a ranger booth/ticket booth like in many of the other National Parks we had been to. Instead, you paid at the Visitor Center. There was also an outside payment box if the Visitor Center was closed. ($25/car for 7 days or $45 for a Saguaro annual pass. It is $80 for the America The Beautiful pass that lets you into all National Parks, Monuments, etc.)

We drove the Bajada Loop (aka Hohokam Rd.) It was really neat to see, but I would recommend going in a truck, SUV, or a car that sits up higher. The highway and road to the Visitor Center was paved. However, the scenic loop road was not! While, the end of the road was nice and flat, there were sections along the rest of the road that were definitely bumpy and had some ruts. (See Video: Drive Through Saguaro National Park West) We only saw a few people in the whole park, maybe 10 people besides us.

There were a few spots to pull off and hike. It was a warm day, 90 degrees F, so we just stuck with easy short trails. We ended up doing 3 trails: Valley View, Signal Hill (petroglyphs), and Desert Discovery Nature Trail (paved). In total, about 2 miles of hiking, so it was a light day.

Valley View offered a great view at the end of the trail over the valley below. There were just cacti as far as the eye could see. It also offered a few interesting plant information plaques along the way. It must be amazing when the cacti are in bloom.

We only saw 1 lizard (looked like a small whiptail like we have been seeing out West) and a few birds. We did see a web on the ground that covered a good amount of space, but no spider to go with it.

Catci look really weird when they die. Especially the Saguaro cactus.

Signal Hill was a short trail at the Signal Hill Picnic Area. There were several great grill areas and benches around for picnics. At the top of the trail was what looked like a pile of rocks. There were a bunch of petroglyphs on these rocks, some you can see from the bottom of the trail looking up, some you can see right next to the trail. If you enjoy petroglyphs, I would definitely take this trail (it’s only a .3 mile trail according to the park).

We ended the day with the Desert Discovery Nature Trail. It was an easy paved path. There were several informational signs around the trail. The sun was beginning to set, which gave the cacti a really neat backdrop. We saw a roadrunner running through the bushes near the parking lot. (Contrary to what TV taught me, there was no coyote chasing it. We didn’t see any ACME products either. They were fast, but didn’t say “Beep Beep”.)

Posted in: Exploring Arizona, Museums & Tours, Sightseeing, YouTube Video Link

Stagecoach Tour in Tombstone, Arizona

Written by tepetravels 1 Comment on Stagecoach Tour in Tombstone, Arizona

While Ben and Will were exploring the Bird Cage, Nick and I took the Stagecoach tour. It cost $15 for the two of us (plus a tip).

The tour began at a single person booth next to the sidewalk. It was very easy to miss! There was a step ladder to get up into the coach. Inside, there were two seats on either end and one in the middle. Nick and I had the whole coach to ourselves! It was a little bumpy, but not bad. I imagine the original seats must have been a very bumpy ride.

It was really neat to see the town and hear some interesting history about Tombstone and its buildings. We even went on a couple of side streets and saw the courthouse (which is not on the main street, and we would have missed seeing otherwise). The driver had a headset on and there were speakers inside the coach, which made it was easy to hear him.

VIDEO: Stagecoach Ride/Tour Tombstone AZ

For the price, I think it is definitely worth the trip!

Posted in: Exploring Arizona, Museums & Tours, Sightseeing, YouTube Video Link

The Bird Cage Theater (Tombstone, Arizona)

Written by tepetravels 1 Comment on The Bird Cage Theater (Tombstone, Arizona)

There were many things to do in Tombstone, besides walking around and shopping. There were a few different kinds of tours. We wanted to take in all of them, but honestly didn’t want to spend that much money.

To see the two tours that we were interested in, we split up. Ben and Will did the Bird Cage Theater self-guided walking tour. It was $28 for the two of them.

The Bird Cage was built in 1881 and is the only original building in Tombstone. It wasn’t destroyed in either of the town’s fires.

The Bird Cage theater was an entertainment venue that provided all of the entertainment that you could want in the Old West. Part bar, part brothel, part theater (variety shows, singers and dancers) and part gambling hall (faro and poker) it must have been quite the site in it’s heyday. Even 139ish years later, it is remarkable.

The front room had a large painting of a belly dancer, complete with bullet holes and a knife slash from drunken rowdy patrons. The theater lays claim to some 154 bullet holes throughout. Will couldn’t find them all, but had fun trying. To the left in the front room is is the original wooden bar (it’s gorgeous).

They have converted the main area of the theater and backstage into a museum of relevant time based artifacts. You can see historic rifles, dentistry equipment, gambling devices, chamber pots, mining equipment, and so much more. The museum even contains the last known model of the hearse pictured below, The Black Moriah, currently valued at over $2,000,000 due to its rarity.

One of the craziest parts of this tour was Ben learned what a “crib” is. They had 14 box seating type areas overlooking the theater where soiled doves would entertain their gentlemen callers. Each crib had curtains that could be drawn as needed for some privacy. Everyone in Tombstone seemed to understand these terms. But we had no idea. Ben doesn’t like being embarrassed or ignorant and thus came back from the tour with a new history book from there bookstore (Upstairs Girls: Prostitution in the American West by Michael Rutter*). It was certainly an interesting read. Although it will likely not make the bookcase when we get home.

The Bird Cage served the longest running poker game in history (8+ years!). The buy-in was $1,000 (approximately $25,000 in current value). They continuously had at least 4 players at the table for that whole time. The current museum claims to have the room laid out with the mirrors and poker tables in the same locations as they originally were. Not sure how that would work as the player to the dealers right would have had quite the advantage seeing a sloppy player’s hole cards in the mirror.

Ben and Will had a great time learning about the old west, since it was a self guided tour and they both like to read. Nick and my tour was over and Nick fell asleep waiting for them in the courtyard outside the Theater museum. They certainly got their money’s worth.

VIDEO: Walking Through The Bird Cage Theater. I would have had a better video, but when I was working on fixing Ben’s phone I accidentally deleted the longer video from the main front room. *Verbal permission given to use video and photographs by the shop on 11/2/2020.

*Affiliate link

Posted in: Exploring Arizona, Sightseeing, YouTube Video Link

Gun Fight At The OK Corral (Tombstone, Arizona)

Written by tepetravels

Old Tucson used to have a gunfight show. Ben was really looking forward to that, and was very disappointed to learn that Old Tucson was closed. However, we learned that Tombstone still had a daily gunfight show! The OK Corral Gunfight show happens three times daily. Tickets cost $10/person and includes the gun show, the Historama show (a mostly audio show), and a free paper at the Tombstone Epitaph (the newspaper).

You entered the OK Corral building from Allen Street (the main street). To the right was the Historama show, straight ahead was a shop and the place to buy your tickets. Continue straight back and you enter the outdoor space behind the building. There is a lot to see in this space. There were different historical information signs, buggies, historical photos. You could even try roping a steer! There was also a reenactment of the gunfight with statues and a voice recording.

Entering the live show area, there is a town scene to the left and bleachers/risers with a nice awning to the right.

The show is about the famous gunfight at the OK Corral between the Earps and the Clantons/McLaurys. The gunfight does include shooting blanks, so certain parts got a little loud. It also encouraged audience participation with cheers when the good guys came on and boos for the bad guys. We all really enjoyed the show!

VIDEO: Gun Fight At The OK Corral*.

We stopped by the Epitaph for our free newspaper. I really enjoyed walking through and seeing all the printing equipment and type sets.

The Historama show (about Tombstone’s history) runs on the hour, so we wandered back to the OK Corral for that show. We were the only ones in the room! There was a stage at the front of the room. A curtain drew back and we saw a diorama. It was cone shaped to look like a mountain. It had three different scenes on it, complete with figures and lights. It rotated to show different scenes and highlighted in lights what the audio was portraying. There was a screen that came down and showed images as well when the diorama was turning.

*I asked for and received permission to use the pictures/video I took of the show from the shop on 11/2/2020.

Posted in: Exploring Arizona, School, Sightseeing, YouTube Video Link

Walking Through Tombstone (Tombstone Part 1)

Written by tepetravels

Our first big adventure in Tucson was going to see Tombstone. We drove out to the town, which was about an about an hour drive from the RV park. There was a lot of on-street parking and a few public parking lots scattered around the edges of the town. From what I saw, it looked like mostly free parking, which is always nice.

We all loved Tombstone. I enjoyed it a lot more than Deadwood. There were more historical buildings, historical markers and signs. It seemed a lot more family friendly, as there was so much to do and see (and not a casino in sight!). The Chamber of Commerce and Tombstone Visitor Center had free maps of the town.

There were a few shows and tours around town. We crammed a lot into one day, so we’re going to do a short series of Tombstone posts!

The main street of Tombstone is Allen Street. The historical main street was closed off at either end so cars could not drive down the street (although in a few spots they could cross over the main street).

There were a lot of neat shops in the area and we picked up a few things for Christmas, as well as some postcards.

We enjoyed a delicious dinner at Big Nose Kate’s Saloon. The bar and restaurant are on the main floor. In the middle of the floor, there was a really cool spiral staircase going to the basement. There was a small shop down there with souvenir type things. The food prices were a little high on some things, but not too bad considering it is a tourist stop. A lemonade (came in a Solo cup, but had a refill) was $2.50, a large beer was $8 (offered a large or the “sippy cup” size), sampler appetizer platter was $15.99.

There was so much history to learn about, it was fun for all of us. I loved that the kids were having so much fun, that they were actually reading signs and learning. (To be fair, Will always wants to read the signs.) I would definitely recommend checking out Tombstone if you are in the area. (I will say that when we were there, most things closed at 5:00pm. We could have spent a lot more time there.)

YouTube VIDEO: Walking Down The Streets Of Tombstone

Big Nose Kate’s Saloon

Posted in: Exploring California, Museums & Tours, School, Sightseeing, YouTube Video Link

The USS Midway: Top Notch Naval Museum

Written by tepetravels

The USS Midway is a decommissioned (retired) aircraft carrier docked in the San Diego Bay. It now serves as a top notch naval museum that is open for tours. It cost us $82 for the four of us and was well worth the money. (Ticket costs are: $26/adults 18-61, $22/seniors, $18/students 13-17, $12/youth 6-12, $10/veteran.)

As with most things these days, there are COVID restrictions: your ticket is a timed start to control total visitors on board at once, masks are required, 6 feet social distancing is encouraged and it seemed like many parts of the vessel have been removed from the tour.

The boys loved the Midway. (All of my boys.) We got to see:

Several bunkrooms – these were so cramped it is amazing they didn’t go stir crazy.

The Captain’s lower quarters – really nice, but according to a Yellow Hat (tour volunteer) the Captain only used this area while the ship was in port. The Captain slept up top by the bridge when underway.

The radio facilities control room – amazing to see how they transmitted classified information over the decades of the aircraft carriers service.

NOTE: Some of the ship was closed or roped off. I’m not sure if that was due to renovations or to COVID. (For example, the website lists the chapel and sick bay below deck, and the bridge and quarters above deck, but these weren’t open.)

There was a free audio tour available. You held the device up to the headphone symbols and a recording started. You listened by holding it up to your ear. You could also connect to the tour on your phone.

NOTE: Ben was excited to get to the tour and was worried about parking so we got to the tour at least an hour before our start time. We listened to most of these audio tracks in the truck. He was grateful we did because we did not bring headphones and it was hard to hear some of these recordings while on the deck.

The flight deck of the carrier had so many planes and helicopters displayed. Most of the aircrafts had folding wings. These were really neat to see, and of course growing up watching Top Gun, Ben and I liked seeing the F14s. The Midway Museum also had all the helicopters that have ever taken off from an United States aircraft carrier. Amazing to see the older ones.

I think the whole experience was really well done. We spent over 3 hours at the museum and Ben wished we had longer. We ended up closing the museum down. With the audio tour, lots of informational signs, and eager Yellow Hats ready to help, it was a great time. The kids enjoyed learning which is a solid accomplishment for any museum. I would definitely recommend it if you are in San Diego.

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