Carson, Stephen and I went to White Sands Monument today and it was awesome.  Gimpy, Lieu, decided to stay in the Bus because of his kankle. Words cannot describe our adventures that we had, but the video in the video section attempts to show the fun activities at White Sands.

We arrived at White Sands thinking we would climb around on the dunes and and take a few pictures.  We decided to stop by the visitors center first.  Luckily we did because we hit the jackpot when we found sand sleds that we could rent for a mere $5.  The cashier directed us to the Alkali flat trail where all the big dunes are.  We jumped out of the car and immediately ran up the dunes to test out our sleds.  We got the hang of sliding and walked around to several different peaks to test out all the places we could.  We all ate it more than once, which got sand in every crevice of our bodies, but it was well worth the excitement and pleasure.

On our way back to the Bus, we stopped by this missile testing sight that was right off the highway.  We found out that sometimes the highway and White Sands are closed for missile testing, but luckily we made it to both places without any missiles landing on or around us.   The signs on the way to the missile museum were crazy; they had warning signs, an danger level of alpha (whatever that means)  and missile truck exits, it was intense.  Upon entering, they had us give our registration, insurance, and each of our I.D.’s as well as open every compartment of the car — doors, hood, trunk, and glove box.  They even went around the bottom of our car with a mirror to look for any weapons that we may be hiding.  They also told us that we could only take pictures facing towards the mountain.  After being thoroughly freaked out, we made it to the missile exhibit.  We saw some pretty intense missiles; we even saw a casing for ‘fat bot’ the nuclear bomb that dropped on Nagasaki.  After we had our fill of the missiles, we headed back to the Bus to meet up with gimpy, Lieu.

We’re now in El Paso, and we’re hoping that we will continue to have some awesome adventures.  We’ll be visiting Carlsbad Caverns on Friday so keep watching for more pictures and blogs.

-Ashley

Today was my first true day on the eBUSlive adventure and it was everything I dreamed of… and then some. We set out early for a morning hike at Sabino Canyon. Not sure if anyone knew this, but Arizona is a desert. The hike went pretty well to start out with, but then we decided to walk back along the river, and by “river,” I mean a sandy ditch where a river once was. Eventually we stumbled upon a ten foot waterfall (cliff), and Ashley, Carson, and I decided to walk around. Lieu stood upon this waterfall, glaring down below, thinking god knows what. As I glanced back I saw him jump gracefully 9 feet down. That last foot was the problem and now he has a gnarly sprained ankle. 

Following the Sabino hike, we packed up and headed out west… well actually east to the great town of Tombstone. Some might call Tombstone corny, and way too touristy, but they apparently did not get the same rush as I did when I scooped up the dirt that Doc Holiday once stood on. The O.K. Coral gunfight reenactment was entertaining, and I am hoping they’ll be accepting applications in the near future. Further down the road we had some food and whiskey at Big Nose Kate’s Saloon. At this point we wondered the tourist shops of Tombstone and I was able to stumble upon a cowboy hat that was much needed as we approach Texas.

As the day came to an end, Carson, Ashley, Gimpy, and I loaded up the bus and set out for Las Cruces. Driving across the county in the bus is a blast, and with the speakers we hooked up today there is no need to ever get off. Which is good news for Lieu, because who knows how long it will be before he can walk normally?

-Stephen