If Carlsberg did Caverns...

By way of Balmohea, a crystal clear desert spring made into a massive swimming hole by the CCC (Civilian Construction Corps during the great depression), we made our way through the sheer and barren Guadeloupe Mountains & out of Texas into New Mexico.

We arrived at the Carlsbad Caverns National Park in time to watch the 800,000 bats spiral out from their bat cave for a night of feasting on insects. The next day we walked through the cave's natural entrance & spent hours exploring the biggest cavern in the western hemisphere 800ft below the ground, and still only saw a fraction of it.

We went from underground wonders to outer space mysterys with a visit to the 'UFO Museum & Research Center' in Roswell - lots of silliness but quite fun and had to be done.

Our final visit of the day was to a childhood hero of Jo's - Smokey Bear. Although originally created as just as a drawn character when the firefighters found this badly burnt baby bear hanging on to a burning tree they decided he had to be named Smokey and ended up being a living symbol of the longest running advertising campaign.

Finally on this packed day when we camped on this small ridge surrounded by lava fields ringed by towering mountains we were treated to an awesome display of lightening storms, rainbows and incredible coloured skies. I think we must have taken a hundred photos but they don't do a fraction of justice to what we witnessedRead more