Finally, the caverns

Tim's been talking about Carlsbad Caverns since we started planning this journey, so he was pretty excited to arrive.  He picked a state park outside of town as it is Karen's preference to be out in nature rather than a city.  When we arrived Lake Brantley State Park was quite desolate with so little in sight it made Karen giggle.  Karen wondered how they could have a lake in the middle of NM, but we soon saw the dam that slowed the Pecos River.

At first, the landscape seemed disappointing to Karen, but then she started to appreciate the beauty.  The blooming plants created a fragrant scent everywhere and there were lots of different kinds of cacti.

And we saw different wildlife like rabbits, jack-rabbits, prairie dogs and Tim swears he saw road runners.

We hung our flags for the first time after we received our ordered Union Jack at Bob's house.

The next day, we set out for Carlsbad Caverns.  It was a beautiful ascent up the Chihuahua Mountains to the park.

Our national park pass came in handy for the second time.  As Georgia was too young to go on the guided tour, we took the self guided tour.  We descended the switch-back trail down the equivalent of 80 stories.

There were drop-offs from the path and touching the formations was not allowed, so we took turns carrying Georgia.

The stalactites, stalagmites, columns, curtains, drinking straws, popcorn and other formations were stunning and it is a truly magical place.  Even though it was over 100 degrees outside, the caverns are a refreshing 56 degrees with 90 percent humidity year round.  We finally figured out how to get good pictures at the end of our 4 hour tour.  

After that experience, we figured we could be rangers at the caverns.