February 2, 2009
We left Roswell and headed to Carlsbad Caverns, we were trying to make it to the caves by 2pm so that we could go in through the natural entrance. We arrived at 1:55 just in time to either take a guided tour or go in through the natural entrance. We chose the Ranger guided tour of Kings Palace; this tour was definitely the right choice. We had a very small group of 8 people and our guide was very informative and friendly. To enter the caves we took a large elevator down 750 feet that caused a feeling much like a journey into the center of the earth.
Our guided tour last about an hour and took us through 4 chambers of what is known as King’s Palace. After the tour we were able to take a self-guided tour of the Big Room until the caves closed at 5. Our lowest point in the tour was 830 feet below the Earth’s surface. It was very interesting to listen to the Park Ranger refer to things “on the surface.” I got the feeling she spent a lot of her time in the caves. She was 4th generation Guadalupe Native American. Carlsbad Caverns are located in the Guadalupe Mountains and the road up to the caves provides some very breathtaking panoramic views of the mountains.
So far I think Carlsbad Caverns have been the highlight of the trip for me, there was so much to see in the caves. I almost wish we had another day to explore more of them. I was surprised at how easy it was to get around; the parks service had made paths from the natural rock throughout the caves with handrails, which was much easier to navigate than the ice caves in Austria. At one point our guide turned off the lights and we sat in the darkness for about 30 seconds listening to the dripping water, what an amazing experience!
After the caves closed we headed down the mountains and took many pictures of the setting sun. Our next stop would be Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. In order to get there we had to drive through Texas once again (Emily was not too happy to find this out) but this time we went through El Paso where to our surprise they had a Chick Fil-A and sweet tea (Emily had given up on finding either of those again). Of course we stopped and Emily had her sixth serving of Polynesian sauce. We luckily made it to our hostel in Truth or Consequences twenty minutes before they closed. This seems to be a recurring theme during this trip for us. I don’t know why but we are always showing up places just in the nick of time.
This concludes our broadcast day.
Dave