The Caverns

We are "borrowing" wifi from the Best Western next door, so thought we'd have time to do another quick post. After leaving Big Bend and Marathon, Carlsbad Caverns were the next stopping point. The Davis Mountains are along the way, and a wonderful part of Texas that I hadn't been through. Dancer, Texas was filmed around the Davis Mountains; if you haven't seen it, rent it sometime. Unexpectedly, there were a group of 6 to 8 elk standing on the side of the road outside of Fort Davis. As you come out of the mountains, the springs at Balmorhea are worth stopping to look at. This kid didn't come close to landing his flip.

After this, Texas got real ugly for awhile. The next major town was Pecos. It is typically a bad indicator when the welcome sign is missing half its letters. Google said it would take 5 hours 20 minutes from Marathon to Carlsbad; we made it in 3 hrs 45 minutes.

It was 103 degrees standing in the parking lot of the Caverns. After a 750 foot ride down the elevator, it was 65ish. Heather and I had taken about 10 steps off the elevator when all but a couple lights went out. We thought it was part of a presentation, but after seeing a few rangers go scrambling, we realized it was a power outage. So sad for the people that just got on our elevator. After 10 minutes or so, they got the backup generator going, and this cute ranger nerd took us on a tour. In general this lady was overly excited about caves, but, after the tour, I could understand her excitement better.


And, apparently, the cavern is a her. Heather just gave me a look of disapproval.


Once out of the caves, we hooked it for Santa Fe to see Heather's family.