Stop 8 of 11
Dell City, TX
February 9, 2026
February 9
Travel day.
We packed up from Davis Mountains State Park and had a little trouble with the black tank dump before getting on the road. Nothing too dramatic, just enough to slow us down.
From there we headed toward Dell City. On the drive, we passed Prada Marfa out in Valentine and caught a glimpse of the Blue Origin launch site — both felt very “West Texas.”
We got settled at our campsite and kept dinner simple with frozen pizza.
February 10
The kids and I left Cal and Pepper back in Dell City and headed out to Hueco Tanks State Park.
The day turned into more of an adventure than expected — a little off-roading, climbing up rock formations, crawling through caves, and seeing pictographs scattered throughout the area. It felt more like exploring than hiking.
Afterward, we drove into El Paso to grab groceries and a few things we needed.
Back at camp, we tackled a less exciting but necessary job — fixing bike flats. Once everything was rideable again, we biked into town for dinner at Two T’s.
We ordered a little bit of everything: a chicken sandwich, una hamburguesa, tacos y enchiladas. Small town spot, solid food.
February 11
Cal took the day off, so we all headed out to New Mexico to visit Carlsbad Caverns.
When we checked in, we managed to get spots on the King’s Palace tour — they only had three left, but somehow fit the four of us in. During the tour, they turned off the lights in the cave for five full minutes. Completely dark. No light at all. It’s hard to describe how disorienting that feels.
After the tour, we had lunch and then hiked down through the natural entrance. On the way, we ran into one of the park rangers from earlier, and he ended up giving us an informal, almost private tour as we made our way down.
We finished by walking the full Big Room loop. Huge doesn’t really cover it — it just keeps going.
We got back to camp, made sweet and sour chicken with rice, and added cheddar, Ritz crackers, hot honey, and Tony’s on top. It sounds random, but it worked.
Caught a really good sunset and then rode bikes back to Two T’s to grab more rice.
February 12
We worked through the morning — some school, some real-life attitude adjustments — and then ate lunch in the car on the way to Guadalupe Mountains National Park.
We grabbed Junior Ranger books, badges, and patches, then headed out on the Devil’s Hall hike. About four miles total, and the second half turns into a rocky wash where you’re basically climbing and navigating boulders.
The kids loved that part.
Back at camp, we kept dinner easy with hot dogs and finished off the Night at the Museum movies.
February 13
Another travel day.
We knocked out most of the schoolwork before breaking camp, then drove through El Paso, stopped to charge, and ate lunch from the camper on the road.
Just outside the city, a passing bus started honking at us — turns out our bike rack had broken and was dragging.
We pulled over and assessed the damage. My bike ended up with two flats, and Jude’s bike took a pretty good hit. Not ideal, but it could’ve been worse.
