Carlsbad Caverns, NM

We spent the majority of the day driving to and enjoying Carlsbad Caverns which is about 30 mi. SW of the city of Carlsbad-then up a narrow winding 7 mile road up into the Guadalupe Mtns. Much to Hank's frustration they were paving that road and we had to wait about 15 min. in a line of cars, buses and large RV's to go up the mountain. The entrance to the caverns is in a small valley in the midst of the mountains. The top left photo shows the huge dark gaping entrance and to get down into the caverns-nearly 1,000 ft deep we walked down paved walkways which were incredibly steep. The right photo shows some of the rock just as we entered that huge gaping hole in the ground. We were warned that it was a very strenuous walk and that there is an elevator which would take us down into the caverns in a minute and that anyone with heart problems, leg problems, etc. should do that. Every evening at dusk millions of bats fly out of the mouth of the cave and I guess it must be quite a spectacle. (There is seating just above the opening where we could have gone to watch the exodus, but we were just too tired to make the trip back up there tonight.) I have a serious problem with heights and was a bit nervous at the beginning of the descent. However, once we got past the light from the opening, the lighting was kept "cave-like" and if I couldn't see a huge drop off the side of the walkway it was fine with me. Prior to our entering the cave we had rented audio gadgets which gave us commentary at various points-50 of them-along the way-so our tour was self-guided. We met a lady going about our speed who was by herself and asked if she could walk with us-she is from Port St Lucie, FL and her husband was meeting her at the bottom of the descent. Had a good time sharing experiences along the way. We saw all kinds of stalagmites and tites, and flowstone, and drapery, and soda straw formations-and water pools so clear it was unbelievable. Most of the formations were made 200 million years ago, but in some areas some of the formations are being added to as water seeps through rock and down through the layers of whatever is in its path mixes with minerals which give the formations some color. Eventually we made it down to what is called the "Big Room"-takes and hour and a half to walk all the way around it-incredible sights. There is even a snack bar, restrooms and gift shop outside the big room-750' below the surface of the ground! We had some nourishment then did the walk around the perimeter of the room-more incredible formations. And this room is 100' high in places! Very hard to be able to describe it! The temperature in the caverns remains at 56 degrees year 'round and we had been warned to bring sweater or jacket and glad we did. When we finally came up -via the elevator-out of the caverns the outside temperature was nearly 100 with a hot wind blowing. Of course we had to explore to bookstore and gift shop and purchased a DVD so any of our readers will be able to get an idea of what we experienced!

Eventually made our way back to our campground just south of Carlsbad City-fixed some supper then did a week's worth of wash. We live such an exciting life, right? Not quite sure from where the next piece of the blog will be sent from as we're not sure exactly where we're headed tomorrow!

San Antonio, TX to Carlsbad, NM

Left photo shows nothing-that's what we saw nearly all day.

Center " shows part of a wind mill farm-take my word for it!

Right shows an operating drilling oil well along the highway

Leaving San Antonio at 8:15am on a Sunday was a good decision as we encountered little traffic as we made our way West on I-10. Am at a loss for words to describe the vastness, emptiness, and strange land formations we saw along the 473 miles we traveled today. And no towns for more than 50 miles at times. We were trying to gage when to purchase gasoline-at one point we got off the highway-drove a mile into a town which advertised gas (on the highway) but when we got to the town, it was almost a ghost town-there was no gas. And it was about 30 miles from the next town-which we hoped had gas! Got back on the highway-made it to Sonora-on fumes only-where everyone within 50 miles was waiting to fill up at $2.99 per gallon! As we had seen many what we believed to be oil drilling operations we wondered why we were paying more in Texas for gas than anywhere else? (Also saw many wind farms with hundreds of wind turbines.) Back on the highway with a full tank was a very good feeling and at Ft. Stockton, TX we left the Interstate to take US rte 285 through more desolate countryside and very sad towns-like Pecos-on into New Mexico to Carlsbad where we had to change to Mountain time-now we're 2 hours behind you! ( Have to keep that in mind if I make any phone calls to any of you! ) Found a campground from our Passport Directory and 2 minutes after we got the camper set up with electricity, water, etc. we got hit with a thunderstorm which gave us small hail beating on the roof, but the worst part of that was that it took out the electricity-no A/C-and the temp. had been 101 degrees before the storm and the camper was HOT! Hank talked with the maint. person at the campground and we were told the power would not be restored for 2-3 hours! So when the storm abated a bit we got back in the car and decided to see what the city of Carlsbad had to offer. On first look not much as it looks pretty dreary in the rain-the streets were flooded in some intersections and there doesn't seem to be any mechanism to deal with the water-no culverts or whatever. Thought we might find a place to have some dinner, but the only thing open was Chilli's and the line was long. So we rode around for a while and finally came back to the camper where Hank made us Western Omeletes (sp?) which were great! And to our great delight the power was on and we have A/C! Hank said I should explain that tho we are camping we are not sitting around a campfire toasting marshmallows! We have cable TV, a supply of beer and wine and evenings are pleasant-indoors!