Carlsbad Caverns

After spending another $15 in WalMart (seems like about the standard camping fee) in the morning, we set off for a short 15 minute drive to Carlsbad Caverns National Park:

  The area we have been traveling for the last couple of days is really flat, but once you enter the park the road goes up hill for 7 miles, and there is a view of all that flat land from the top.  We got into the Caverns for free on Doreen's seniors pass.  We got this pass several years ago for $10 at a National Park in California because she is a US citizen.  It lets us into any US National Park for free, and allows us to camp in these parks for half price.  And it is a lifetime pass.  I can understand when you enter a park in the motorhome that they would let us all in free, but I was surprised that in the admission place at these caverns they let me in free as well as Doreen.

After descending 750 feet in an elevator, we toured the "Big Room" for a couple of hours.  I took lots of pictures, but most of them didn't turn out too well.  Here's a sample of what we saw (especially for the benefit of Alex who likes caves):

I thought the rock formations in this last picture really interesting.

A cold front has come through, and it is really chilly out.  They warn you to wear fairly warm cloths for the caverns because of the temperature down there, but it was actually warmer in the caverns than outside.  Then, as we set off down US180, it was so windy that I could hardly keep the motorhome on the road.  And when the road was oriented so that we had a headwind, the motorhome went into second gear for even the slightest upgrade.  We re-entered Texas, and passed through El Paso, and back into New Mexico this afternoon.  We stopped for the night at Siesta RV Park (N32 16 59.4, W106 47 40.0), a private campground in Las Cruces.  It was a really cool and blustery day with lots of dark clouds, sunshine, showers, and beautiful rainbows all day.  It is noticeably cooler being at higher altitudes.  We have gradually gained altitude during our travels of the last couple of days, and we are near 4000 feet here in Las Cruces.