Comfort Inn Carlsbad

... he had a state park permit he said we should drive around to some other parks. <br><br>White Sands Desert was first. It felt like a special place, just like the city of rocks. Sometimes you weren&#8217;t allowed in or even on the highway nearby due to military missile tests. Yep, the desert was in the middle of a missile range, just like rifle ranges except sometimes they use jets to drop the missiles and other experimental weapons! Also, not far away was the area ...

Après une journée plus qu'ordinaire à El Paso hier, nous nous sommes dirigés vers le parc national de Carlsbad.  Par un 38°C, nous nous sommes donc réfugiés 750 pieds sous terre dans les cavernes du parc.  Le décor était à couper le souffle.  En tout, les deux visites prennent un bon 3 heures ...

... sounds you can hear, if you&#8217;re not near other tourists, is the occasional drip, drip, dripping of water droplets. The air is also completely still and much cooler than the surface (a constant 57 degrees or so). The cave is dimly lit by a series of lights that only shine their light onto the unique cave features. We stop every now and again to try to take a picture but feel almost evil for disturbing the stillness. When we ...

... of the tents already pitched had rocks anchoring down the stakes. While searching for a site, we came across two travelers who knew each other and unknowingly had both reserved and pre-paid for individual sites. Since they'd decided to camp together, one offered his site to us for free, which we gratefully accepted. It got cold as the sun went down, and then the 75+ mile per hour winds began to broadsided ...

... was delicious but we just couldn't seem to get the black beans r right (we didn't soak them), even after nuking them for an estimated half hour. Anyways dinner was the best thing since sliced bread after our adventure. After getting bellies we decided to retire and watch some quality Lost in our still freezing tent. Again, we didn't warm up and all slept just enough to function in the morning, which was made early due to the temperature. Three young girls waking up ...

... motel room to head over to the caves for some spelunking, American style. When I say 'American style', I mean with a parking lot, elevators, paved paths and a gift shop. Perhaps not the most authentic spelunking experience, but it was at least partially wheelchair accessible so I got to see my first cave. We spent about an hour exploring the absolutely massive 'big room', taking in all the stalactites and stalagmites and trying not to think about how deep underground we were.

... this was a pilot project for the isolation of mid-grade military nuclear waste underground, and the guy giving the talk was the Principal Engineer/Geologist. We learned a lot of interesting facts and a lot of scary statistics, not just regarding this project but about other nuclear tests that had been conducted in New Mexico and also in Colorado. Maybe we'll be glowing in the dark soon! <br><br>The talk lasted about two hours by which time ...

... stroll around the perimeter of this 8.2 acre cavern. Others are constantly passing me by. The over-whelming beauty of the Big Room impinges on my soul. It strikes a chord on my very being. I have a hard time absorbing it all. The significance of what I am seeing. At one point a couple ahead of me stop a passing Ranger and asks them about the "dirty" look of the cavern. In the low lighting conditions the cavern looks grey. The man indicates that ...

... beer and a lot less pot. And the next day, when the weekend was over - it was quiet, green, and peaceful. (I've attached a picture.) I'd have probably spent more time there, or maybe even valued it more, if I weren't home. And that's what I love about traveling. Normally, I perceive things through the filter of what I know. When you're on the road, though, that filter is gone. I see with my eyes instead of my brain. Love to all.