Carlsbad

Today we leave for Brantley Lake which is on the outskirts of Carlsbad, New Mexico. The drive is uneventful; with good roads and little traffic. The terrain here is very flat. The vegetation is low to the ground. You can see for miles all around you. We are taking the back roads and every now and then you will come across a sleepy little town. The towns here have a basic population of 200 to 400 people. This is even smaller then Beamsville! In some areas you have vast farm fields in other areas it is either dirt or low scrub. We are driving along when a truck passes us and Crack! we are hit with a stone. Then we see the stone chip in the window. We are close to a Camping World so off we go. They can't help us but they find us an auto glass shop that can fix us up. So we head over to find the nicest and friendliest people around. While I make lunch, Guenther and the nice gentlemen fixes the windshield. The price is only $30 dollars. We got off easy with this one. After lunch we are back on the road. We start to see oil rigs drilling for oil. These aren’t the big huge ones you see on TV, these are small ones that pop up every now and then.

We arrive at the park in good time. This is another state park. We like to stay at these because they are usually smaller, have fewer campers and are not cramped together like cars in a parking lot. This one has maybe 30 sites, all with hydro and water and a couple (not ours) with sewers. We are here for 4 nights. The views are not as spectacular as the last park. Once again we have low vegetation with some trees in the campground. There is a reservoir with a dam but no swimming. You can see for miles around and you can see some foothills in the distance. Our site is nice with a shaded picnic area. The last park had bison and deer; this park has bunnies and birds. More photo ops!

Day 1

Today it is raining. The rain started last night and has continued. This is why I bring little projects to do 'for a rainy day’. I have finished my sweater and have started another one. The weather breaks and we do head out for a walk around the park. They have a trail that leads down to the lake and has some interesting plaques explaining the formation of the area and the different plants . Once again the bunnies are cute. I have lots of birds to take pictures of. I have not seen a lot of these birds, so I’m having fun with my camera. One of the birds is the Greater Road Runner, this is the state bird. The other bird that is plentiful is the Bullock Oriole. The bunnies here are little cotton tails that look like the Lindt chocolate bunny. There are also bigger jack rabbits, but I haven’t got a picture of them yet.

There are not many campers here and few tenters (getting wet, not for me!). The park is mostly filled with older people, so it is nice and quiet and friendly! It is kind of fun going around and seeing where people are from and saying hi. This park does not have Wi-Fi, so I will post the blog at the end of our stay.

Day 2

Today the sun is shining and the sky is blue. We are heading off to Carlsbad Caverns today. These are underground caverns that were created millions of years ago. They were once part of an underground sea that once covered this entire area. As the water drained the caverns were formed. These caverns go 750 feet underground and are massive. They have an elevator to take you down or you can walk down. The walkway going around the cavern is about 1 ½ miles, so we take the elevator down. They have managed to create a wonderful walkway throughout the entire area. It is cooler down here about 13 Celsius. The pictures don’t do it justice and were very hard to shoot. The main cavern is very large with a towering ceiling. These caverns were first discovered in 1800’s by settlers, but is was Jim White who explored the caverns more thoroughly and brought them to the attention of the general public. By 1930 Carlsbad Caverns National Park was created. The caverns are the summer home to the Mexican free-tailed bats and every evening they are a spectacle to see as they fly out of the cavern for feeding. The bats however, are late getting here this year because it is too cool. So no bat pictures for you (they are in a separate cavern anyway, so I couldn’t get pictures anyway).

Back to the caverns, you are in a constant state of awe and wonder as you go through. The formations created over 1000’s of years are spectacular. The caverns are also very quiet and a little eerie. These caverns are usually pitch black, no light ever gets down here, but the park has installed very low lighting to illuminate the path and certain formations so that you can see them better.

A note here about the beautiful drive up to the canyon park entrance. While the rest of New Mexico (that we have seen) is flat, the drive up is a wonderful zig-zag through what here could be called mountains. This is a part of the Guadalupe Mountain range. Once again the vegetation is low scrub with a few higher plant sticking out, but the landscape is beautiful none the less. Every region we go to has different scenery, but the thing to remember when traveling is to appreciate each region for what it is. This region is flat with different plants and animals then we see somewhere else. That is part of the joy of travel to discover what is out there. The other part of travel is to connect, no matter how small, with different cultures. This will help you grow as a person and become more tolerant of different cultures.

After the caverns we head into Carlsbad to a place called Lucy’s for some Mexican food. The fajitas were absolutely wonderful. (Have to keep up with our cultural explorations!) The price was average ($40.00 for two) and the setting was very pleasant. The people were once again very friendly.Read more