We tend to hang out in the State Parks because they are so economical and have all of the amenities that we love. We are often near a lake or a river, which makes me one happy old dog, (except for that cold thing!) I celebrated my 10th birthday in January, (Gad! That’s 70 human years!) and we continue to be very cozy together in our blessed Pod House. We plan on heading out for Texas and parts east about the middle of February. We haven’t traveled much to see very many things but what we have seen we are happy to share with each of you.Carlsbad Caverns NP was the biggest adventure we have had in NM so far this winter. We went to the Caverns with our two friends from Shingle Springs, CA – Margaret and Anita, plus my buddies, Jake and Mikey, the Corgi Boys. We took the two self-guided tours in order to go at our own pace and take as many pictures as we wanted. The first day we took the Big Room Tour reached by an elevator from the surface. You plunge over 750 feet straight down to one of the world’s largest underground chambers. Then you hike for over a mile around the perimeter of this 14 acre wonder of colossal formations and weird structures.
We went back the next day to take the Natural Entrance Tour. We hiked along a trail of incredible switchbacks, railings and stairways descending 750 feet along the original explorers’ route. Just the construction of this walkway is a feat of engineering worth seeing! Again the sheer size of the formations, boulders and caverns along the Main Corridor are awe inspiring. This may not be the most beautiful cave from the stand point of crystalline formations or colors, but it is certainly the most breath-taking for sheer size and volume.
Here are a few interesting fact about Carlsbad Caverns National Park:
There are over 100 known caves within the park all carved out of a 250 to 280 million year old fossil reef formed in the Permian Era. It became a National Monument in 1923, a National Park in 1930 and a World Heritage Site in 1995. The main cavern was discovered by Jim White at the turn of the twentieth century as he was following what he thought was a plume of smoke out in the desert. Turned out the plume was actually the evening feeding flight of hundreds of thousands of Mexican free-tail bats. This colony has been in residence for more than 5,000 years and has left guano hills as deep as 40 feet in some sections of the cavern. Guano harvesting was a big business in the cave up until the 1950’s. No, we didn’t get to see any of the little guys as they were all wintering in the warmth of Mexico and won’t return until sometime in April or May.
We also want to share our fun news with you. We have created an on-line store where we can share photos of the fun things we have seen. We have chosen to feature, as our opening projects, some of those remarkable Barn Quilts we photographed in Iowa plus special shots in Yellowstone and photos of fascinating flowers we have seen in diverse locales. It is our hope that you will want to have a few momentos in your world. We have created a variety of products ranging from calendars and mouse pads to aprons and note cards. Come visit us at our new shop and ‘nose’ around. We will be adding lots of new images as we travel, so check in for new products. We will love hearing back from any of you on what you like or don’t like or even what you would like for us to find to add. We think this is such a fun way to continue to share our adventures with you and hope you agree. Happy traveling and shopping with us!
