Day 7: Carlsbad Caverns

We left San Angelo this morning and headed for Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico. The entire trip took place along 2-lane state highways. Even so, the speed limit was 75 in Texas. The winds were incredibly strong, so driving was stressful! On the second to last road, I had to veer completely out of my lane to avoid a dead deer in it! Did I mention that I saw 2 dead deer within 10 minutes on the side of I-10 yesterday? I can't remember the last time I've seen even one dead deer on or along the road.

Anyway, the scenery in Carlsbad Caverns National Park was incredible! We were awestruck by the drive from the park entrance to the canyons themselves.



We took this picture from the parking lot. Unfortunately, they are remodeling the visitor's center, so there was a lot of construction debris. Everything normally in the visitor's center was in portables. Still the caverns were the main attraction, and they were beautiful.


The walk through the caverns was a challenge, however. At first Carys didn't want to walk because she was afraid. Strollers are not allowed in the caverns, so I had to carry her. Eventually, she wanted to get down and walk which was great with me! After 10 minutes of this, though, she wanted to walk without holding anyone's hand. When we wouldn't allow this, she had a nice temper tantrum. So, now I am carrying a wiggling, screaming toddler on a 1.5 mile walk through the caverns.

This is part of Fairyland. The man who first explored the caverns in 1898, Jim White, named most of these structures.


This is one of the "Three Giants". The pictures don't do these formations justice.


I had to sit down whenever I could since my walk was weighted down, so to speak!





This natural seating area was at the "Top of the Cross".


This is part of the "Rock of Ages" formation. It was massive and absolutely gorgeous!


This is the "Totem Pole" formation.


Thanks to Landon for taking many of these pictures while I wrestled a screaming toddler. By the time we got back to the top, I was exhausted! I guess Carys was, too. She slept almost all the way to our hotel in El Paso, even after she'd slept almost 2 hours between San Angelo and the caverns.

We are heading for Phoenix tomorrow morning to see our friends, the Harpers. We pick Greg up at the airport around 8:00 p.m. Yippee on both accounts!