Camping in Cutie RV: Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad, New Mexico

Yesterday we saw the vineyards and hill country of Texas, while today we saw the desert and grasslands and the oil derricks and wind farms. We stopped in Fredricksburg at the German Bakery and Restaurant for a wonderful breakfast of potato pancakes, eggs, and German sausage. We got a sweet nut pretzel and a salted Bavarian pretzel to go that ended up as lunch, The high winds caused a brown out of visibility due to the blowing sands and the tumbleweeds were a driving hazard. We had blue skies as we took the route around Carlsbad to Brantley Lake State Park. Once we crossed into New Mexico we switched to Mountain Zone. We made a reservation for tomorrow to do a self-tour of Carlsbad Caverns in the National Park. Once we set up camp, we took a glass of wine and followed the path down to the lake before dinner. We did our sweet potato fries in the air fryer and then pork chops along with a rice dish for dinner. Tomorrow we'll get an early start for breakfast in Carlsbad before we head to the National Park.

Our German breakfast in Fredericksburg

Our huge campsite at Brantley Lake

A cozy spot out of the wind

Our hike to the lake

Nice gravel and rocky path that looped around to the lake

A breezy walk through the desert vegetation

The wind howled last night at speeds over 30 MPH and rocked us to sleep. We got up before daybreak to head into Carlsbad for breakfast at the Peco River Diner. It was a delicious breakfast and filled with locals. We headed towards the mountains and then to Carlsbad Caverns National Park. We had a 9:30 am reservation for the 2.5-mile hike through the natural entrance for a self-guided tour of the Great Room. It was a spectacular walk downhill on a concrete path with railings through the dimly lit caverns, We were by ourselves so that just added to the beauty of the tour. We were warm and toasty in the 56 degrees that the caverns are year-round. We enjoyed a cup of coffee and the video before heading back to Carlsbad. We did some shopping and then found Mi Casita for an early Mexican dinner before heading back to the campsite. The two breweries, one winery, and Artist Center were all closed on Monday.