Carlsbad Caverns

Woke up to a deer in the campsite next to us. I will take deer anyday over a mountain lion! Packed up camp and made our way to our next destination: Carlsbad Caverns National Park. In case I didn't emphasize enough just how hot it was in the desert, I forgot to mention that unpopped kernels in the truck popped off.

Nice drive to New Mexico although Donnie's description would be more like "A whole lot of nothing for hours." We rolled into White City, picked out a really sweet camp spot under a tree and went up the 7 mile drive to the visitor's center. I have been talking about bats coming out of the caverns for weeks. It was time...finally. After an informative but babbling ranger talk we waited....AND waited....AND WAITED. We fidgited, we stood up, we laid down, we napped.....no bats. We finally had to leave because it was too dark to see anything. What we DID see was a mountain lion walking/slinking over a rock ledge....across the other side of the caverns...nowhere near us. WHEW!!!!!

Drive back down the mountain to camp and ready to spulunk the caverns in the morning.

As a side note: I am extremely impressed with our national park service. The roads and facilities are well maintained, stocked, and extremely clean. We haven't seen so much as a stray poptop or bottle cap on any of the trails or along the sides of the roads. The rangers make their presence well known and have all been friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. They really love their jobs.