When Keith and I started dating, he wanted me to see New Mexico, the state in which he had done most of his growing up. It's a bit of a trip, and there were a number of places Keith wanted to see and/or show me in the state; so we decided to make a north-to-south loop and see everything.

Roper State Park

By: Paul S Cilwa	Occurred: 3/5/2014 Posted: 2/1/2016		Page Views: 1,539
Hashtags: #RoperStatePark #Safford #Arizona #Travel #Photography
All about our first night on the trip. Hint: There's a hot spring!
Estimated reading time: 2 minute(s) (262 words)

We didn't get an early start on our trip, because we couldn't leave until Keith got out of class. But that was okay, because we didn't have to go far. I'd long known there were hot springs in the eastern part of Arizona, but I'd yet to experience them.

White Sands National Monument

By: Paul S Cilwa	Occurred: 3/6/2014 Posted: 2/20/2016		Page Views: 1,466
Hashtags: #Places #WhiteSandsNationalMonument #NewMexico
All the photos we took at the world's largest gypsum dome.
Estimated reading time: 4 minute(s) (739 words)

We had no intention of making this a death march, so we took our time getting up. And it was a 5-hour trip to today's destination; so we arrived late in the day—which only meant the lighting was exceptionally dramatic. A win for me and my camera!

Roswell

By: Paul S Cilwa	Occurred: 3/7/2014 Posted: 2/21/2016		Page Views: 1,633
Hashtags: #Places #Roswell #NewMexico #UFOs #Photography
All about Keith's and my visit to the self-styled UFO capital of the world.
Estimated reading time: 3 minute(s) (623 words)

We hadn't arrived at our campground, which was on public land and was free of charge, until well after dark. That wasn't a problem, because Keith and I generally have to set up our camp in the dark. The surprise came in the morning; I hadn't had any idea how stunningly beautiful the place was. But we couldn't stay to enjoy it; our plans called for us to visit Roswell, New Mexico, location of the famous 1947 UFO crash, this day and there was no way I was going to miss that!

Carlsbad Caverns

By: Paul S Cilwa	Occurred: 3/8/2014 Posted: 2/24/2016		Page Views: 1,536
Hashtags: #Places #Photography #CarlsbadCavernsNationalPark #NationalParks #NewMexico #GuadalupeMountainsNationalPark
All the photos from Keith's and my magical tour of the world's most spectacular-yet-accessible caverns.
Estimated reading time: 5 minute(s) (1112 words)

Despite the fact that we were almost blown completely away by the previous night's windstorm, we were so looking forward to visiting Carlsbad Caverns I had every intention of taking many pictures. (And I did; please give them time to load!)

Return Home

By: Paul S Cilwa	Occurred: 3/9/2014 Posted: 2/24/2016		Page Views: 1,463
Hashtags: #Places #Photography #GilaNationalForest #NewMexico
All about the last day of our New Mexico trip.
Estimated reading time: 1 minute(s) (102 words)

It's wonderful to go on a trip. But it's also wonderful to head home again! This, our last day of this journey, dawned clear and beautiful, as so often seems to be the case in New Mexico.