Day Three

Now, between El Paso and Plano (where we are staying till our house is ready for us), there is a whooooole lot of NOTHING. So we decided to mix it up a bit by springing up back into New Mexico [shudder] to visit the Carlsbad Caverns.

To get to the caverns, you head east out of El Paso, drive up into some hills, get stopped by Border Patrol, and then come out the other side of the hills to be greeted by a vista of beautiful desert prairie, at least 100 miles in each direction. Stunning. But make sure you gas up before you leave El Paso. There's pretty much nothing between it and the caverns, service-wise.

By and by we got closer to the mountains we could see from 100 miles away, and came to learn they were the Gaudalupe Mountains, wherein lie the caverns. These mountains, despite the major setback of being located in New Mexico, are really quite lovely. Then we got up to the Carlsbad Caverns National Park. The first thing we noticed whe we got out of the car was the quiet. Up there, a thousand feet above the highway, it was just so so quiet. The visitor center is clean and well-kept, with bathrooms that are actually usable and guides or rangers or whatever that are really, really friendly and helpful and engaging. We took the elevator down to The Big Room, which in itself was a cool ride. 754 feet in nothing flat (moving something like 9 mph). The cave itself was totally awe-inspiring, and the kids were fantastic. They even followed the rule about talking quietly, although I think that would have happened naturally with or without the pep talk from the ranger. Joseph kept intoning this sweet awestruck "Wooooow," which was usually followed by a little stream of babble that seemed to be his telling us about what he was seeing. Ben was a trooper staving off a fit of the frights about being in big underground dark place. Josh is still telling us "That cave was so great." Ben declared it "beautiful and creepy." Matt and I can't wait to go back. Once back up top we hit the visitor center restaurant and got great service, being the only ones there. Love the off-season! Good food, too.

Then we drove and drove and drove and drove and drove and drove and drove and drove and drove and drove and drove and now we're in Big Spring, Texas, preparing for the final leg of our trip. The clock says 11:52, but it sure doesn't feel like it. The kids aren't even yawning yet. Then again, they were just so happy to be out of the car that I think they're loathe to settle in just yet. But it's time. Wish me luck!