Holiday Festivities In Carlsbad New Mexico

(Carlsbad New Mexico) 42 degrees, chilly

We traveled with another volunteer (Judy) from White Sands to Carlsbad New Mexico last weekend.  It was a fun filled trip that we planned to experience some of the area attractions.  One of the highlights of the trip was a special candlelight Rock of Ages tour at Carlsbad Caverns National Park.  Twice a year the park turns off all lights in the Big Room and participants experience a popular tour from the 1930's.  Several park rangers reenacted key figures of the time such as a very colorful Superintendent and an early explorer.  At the end of the tour we extinguished all the lanterns and stood in the complete darkness as a ranger sang Rock of Ages.  Her voice echoed through the cave.  We were not allowed to take pictures but it will always be a wonderful memory. 

Afterwards, we drove into town and floated down the Pecos river in a pontoon boat navigated by Carlsbad Navy officer.  The Chamber of Commerce sponsors the Christmas on the Pecos event and homeowners along the river decorate their homes with lights and very creative displays.  It was lots of fun. 

We stayed at a hotel for the night and the next morning went back to Carlsbad Caverns.  We had made reservations for a ranger led tour called the Kings Palace.  If you plan to visit, be sure to make reservations for the cave tours in advance.  They almost always sell out in advance.  There are lots of choices but we decided to not take one that involved crawling and climbing ladders.  :)

It was a great tour of one of the magnificent caves. Our ranger explained the caves were formed by around 4 million years ago by sulfuric acid dissolving the limestone.  Over time the cave formations began to grow.  The caves were discovered by an 16 year old cowhand in the 1893.  He explored many of the caves by lantern and eventually a photograph from the New York Times spread the word and in 1923 Calvin Coolidge proclaimed it a monument. 

As you can probably tell, I've been experimenting with Picassa's new features.  Have you tried it yet?

One our way back we stopped at Guadalupe National Park.  This Texas park is just an hour away.  It features lots of trails and has a nice campground. 

We took the dogs for a walk on the nature trail.  There is a very nice visitors center and the ranger really tried to recruit us as volunteers. Anyone interested? 

We really enjoyed our visit.  I liked caving much more than expected.  Maybe we'll have to explore some more in the future. 

A new header has been added to our blog.  We have now started our second year as full timers.  Our theme is "Our Trip Around The Sun" and we are now starting a new rotation.  Life is good.