11/10/2019 - Las Cruces → White Sands National Monument → El Paso → Carlsbad Caverns National Park → Roswell / USA (739 kilometers)

Experience the sunrise at White Sands National Monument - that was our plan. So we got up very early to overcome the 40-minute drive from Las Cruces. We skipped breakfast because after the visit we wanted to come back to our accommodation, have breakfast and take all our things for the onward journey. Shortly before our arrival at the monument, there was a checkpoint of the American border authorities, because we were already close to the Mexican border. Unfortunately, we had left our passports in our accommodation along with all our things for safety reasons :-/. The officers now checked our identity using driver's licenses and identity cards. We waited for a long time and the sunrise got closer and closer. Fortunately, they eventually let us continue without a penalty. We made it to this snowy white desert just in time for the sunrise. It's impressive how tons of bright white sand suddenly appear in the middle of the country. Even the roads are cleared of sand drifts here, and you can sled down the sand trails. It was still very cold in the desert early in the morning. So you could really think we were trudging through the snow. After extensive photography and enjoying this beautiful spot on earth, we made our way back to our accommodation.

After breakfast, we headed towards Texas with our packed belongings. We made our only stop in this state in El Paso. The Rio Grande flows right through the city and forms the border with Mexico. It divides the city area with its 2 million inhabitants into the American part of El Paso and the Mexican part of Ciudad Juarez. There is not really anything worth seeing in the city, so we enjoyed a view from the 1,700-meter high Ranger Peak and could even see all the way to Mexico. After this view, we treated ourselves to a very delicious burger at the best burger joint in town and then continued our journey east towards Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

A national park that once again differs from all the others we have seen so far. Because here you go underground. The national park has 83 individual caves, and we visited one of the largest underground chambers in the world with many stalactites, stalagmites, and special structures. Once again, nature impressed us. An exciting adventure awaited us above, because every evening at sunset, several thousand bats leave their cave to go in search of food. We sat in a specially created atrium and waited eagerly. A park ranger answered the visitors' many questions and told us a lot about the animals. At some point, he ran out of stories, but the bats still hadn't shown up. Only a few animals and occasional ones left their cave, most likely not feeling up to it today. Unfortunately, once again, we couldn't observe this phenomenon.

We drove to another significant place: Roswell.