Current Location: BLM Land (Bureau of Land Management) between Carlsbad Caverns and Carlsbad
Let’s play good news/bad news with the current van situation. Good news- we didn’t need brakes. Bad news- we needed a new alternator. The mechanic had to order the part, and scheduled us for first thing Friday morning to install it. Thursday morning, however, as we were about to leave on a run, he called with good news- the alternator was in and could install it for us asap. Eric brought the van over, and rode his bike back to the RV park, while Rooney and I went for a run around Alpine. The day started off cool, and quickly warmed up. For the second day in a row, we sat in our empty camp spot, with a dog, some water, a folding chair, laptop, and books…Thursday was slightly better than Wednesday when we also had 4 loads of laundry in bags/pillowcases with us too. We did get some looks from the ‘locals’ of the rv park, while others were very kind and checked up on us several times over the course of the 2 days. When the van was ready, Eric hopped back on the bike to go pick it up. We quickly showered and swept out the van before we left. A quick stop at Cowdog Food Truck for lunch and the grocery store for meals for the next few days, and then we were on our way out of Alpine.
The land was wide open, capped by mountains along 3 sides, and the road stretched well past the horizon in a straight strip of asphalt. Our route took us up into the Guadalupe Mountains and into Guadalupe National Park. Unfortunately, we did not get to explore much of the park since dogs are not allowed on most of the trails. We did however get to camp in a parking lot alongside a dozen or so rv/motorhomes. There could be worse places to share a view with other people. To celebrate being back on the road, we grabbed a beer, some snacks and the deck of cards and played a few rounds of 500 Rummy.
After our beef stroganoff dinner, we packed up some things we’d want to bring with us on our tour of Carlsbad Caverns and called it a day. With 2 alarms set, one on central time and one on mountain time we fell asleep. In the morning, our phone had updated and held onto the mountain time zone. We were up and pulling out of our parking spot within a half-hour. Breakfast was eaten in a pullout as the sun rose. Hobbes was one of the first cars into the parking lot for the Caverns. Rooney had a tour of the parking lots before we dropped him off at the kennel. The elevators were out of service and the only way into and out of the caverns is to walk the steep and windy paved trail into the mouth of the cave down into the depths.
I have to say, that is the way to truly experience the cave. It was easy to imagine yourself as Jim White when he discovered the cave for himself and became the first person to enter and explore the cave. Many of the names he gave to the features remain the same- Witches Fingers, Devils Pool among others. The names of the features he would have come across in his early exploration of the caves have a very different connotation than when he became accustomed to the darkness and what lays beyond. Our ranger-led tour took us into The Kings Palace, Papoose Room, Queens Champers and The Green Lake Room. These areas are no longer open to the general public, and are only seen if on a tour.
To say that these areas were stunning/beautiful/awe inspiring doesn’t quite do them justice- and neither do the pictures. We’ve never seen anything on this scale. It was incredible. Our tour guide was someone who truly loves his job, and you can tell! He himself is a caver and geologist and was able to give tons of information beyond the standard info. The tour includes a full blackout of all the lights in the Queen's Chamber. Pretty darn crazy to not see a single speck of light...or your hand directly in front of your face. At the conclusion of the tour we grabbed a quick snack from the underground lunchroom and continued our self guided tour into the Great Room. We said it many times along the way, Carlsbad Caverns is easily on the top of our list of favorite places we’ve been. We'll let the pictures do some of the talking.
After reuniting with Rooney, we drove to check out our options for camping and hung out in the sun for a bit while we waited for Milton’s Brewery in Carlsbad to open. We sampled the local suds and returned to camp under a setting sun and rising eclipsed moon. A pretty stellar day!
L