http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/Carlsbad/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from North America , United States , New Mexico , Carlsbad en-us Fri, 05 Dec 2008 02:12:25 UTC Fri, 05 Dec 2008 02:12:25 UTC Wow Today went by really quickly too as I got up around 630am crawled off my bed that I had sunk into during the night and drug myself over to the KOA bathroom to put in my contacts and freshen up. I hit the road by 700am only to find that right when I hit I30 a big accident had just occurred and traffic was pretty backed up for about 40 miles. It was bumper to bumper traffic even after I http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/Carlsbad/blog-309579.html We got up early today because we had reservations for the 900 a.m. Left Hand Tunnel tour of Carlsbad Caverns. Our tour guide took us down into a less frequently used area with lanterns and answered a bunch of questions for us. Sam and Rece were more interested in this than most of the things on the trip. Sam asked lots of questions about the caves and what it was like to be a ranger.We spent a http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/Carlsbad/blog-304973.html After a few hours sleep it was time to get up and get ready for another drive. It was quite a long drive but most of us were asleep the entire drive I donrsquot know how Jon does all this driving. We went straight to Carlsbad Caverns National Park and arrived in the middle of the afternoon. None of us were brave enough to take the stairs so we all took the lift down to these amazing caves far u http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/Carlsbad/blog-267573.html Carlsbad Caverns National Park and World Heritage Site Carlsbad Caverns are located in the Chihuahuan Desert of the Guadalupe Mountains. The caves were first entered over 1000 years ago by American Indians. The brochure states that there are drawings on the cave walls near the natural entrance but no signs that they entered further into the dark areas. In the 1800rsquos the settlers discovered http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/Carlsbad/blog-257240.html Obfuscator writes The sheltery thing at Fort Sumner Lake State Park worked nicely though it didn't really matter at all since it wasn't raining and the wind died down a lot. We both slept pretty well and woke up at a decently early hour. We hit the road and headed for our first planned stop Roswell NM. Roswell as you may recall is home of one of the biggest alien coverup conspiracy sto http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/Carlsbad/blog-256905.html Hello EveryoneWe spent some beautiful days in Big Bend National Park in the heart of the Chihuahan desert. We learned alot from the rangers there about the raptors the invasive species and the Rio Grande. We had to be careful with Jenny the Dog because of the Javelinas which came around in packs at night. We are now in Carlsbad New Mexico where we visited the cavern. Max says The cavern wa http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/Carlsbad/blog-254175.html HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENNA From Ft. Stockton through Pecos to the New Mexico state line we travelled on Highway 285 through flat desert as far as you can see. The monotony was only broken by the occasional oil well or a few head of cattle or horses. Once we crossed the state line into New Mexico it started becoming more hilly. The drive up to the visitor center at Carlsbad Caverns National Park http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/Carlsbad/blog-243295.html In 1898 in the Guadalupe Mountains of Southeastern New Mexico a cowboy named Jim White saw what he thought was smoke rising in the distance. When he went closer he found that the ldquosmokerdquo was literally millions of bats coming from a large hole in the ground. White and other locals knew of the hole but no one had explored it. Concluding from the number of bats he saw that this must b http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/Carlsbad/blog-150859.html