New Mexico, September and October 2018 Part 3 (Carlsbad)
September 22, 2018--Drive from home to to High Plains Camping,, Oakley, KS, overnight, 345 Miles
September 23, 2018--Drive from Oakley, KS to Pueblo South/Colorado City KOA, Pueblo, CO, overnight, 297 miles
September 24, 2018--Driive from Pueblo, CO to Santa Fe Skies RV Resort, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 261 miles
September 24, 2018 to October 4, 2018--Santa Fe Skies RV Resort, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 11 days
October 5, 2018--Drive from Santa Fe, New Mexico to Albuquerque KOA, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 37 miles
October 5, 2018 to October 7, 2018--Albuquerque KOA, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 3 days
October 8, 2018--Drive from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Carlsbad KOA, Carlsbad, New Mexico, 278 miles
October 8, 2018 to October 9, 2018--Carlsbad KOA, Carlsbad, New Mexico, 2 days
October 10, 2018--Drive from Carlsbad, New Mexico to Boothill RV Park, Alamagordo, New Mexico 168 miles
October 10, 2018 to October 11, 2018--Boothill RV Park, Alamagordo, New Mexico 2 days
October 12, 2018--Drive from Alamagordo, New Mexico to Butterfield RV Park, Benson, Arizona, 309 miles
October 12-13--Butterfield RV Park, Benson, Arizona 2 days
October 14, 2018--Drive from Benson, Arizona to Rincon Country West RV Resort, Tucson, Arizona for the winter! 48 miles
September 23, 2018--Drive from Oakley, KS to Pueblo South/Colorado City KOA, Pueblo, CO, overnight, 297 miles
September 24, 2018--Driive from Pueblo, CO to Santa Fe Skies RV Resort, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 261 miles
September 24, 2018 to October 4, 2018--Santa Fe Skies RV Resort, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 11 days
October 5, 2018--Drive from Santa Fe, New Mexico to Albuquerque KOA, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 37 miles
October 5, 2018 to October 7, 2018--Albuquerque KOA, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 3 days
October 8, 2018--Drive from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Carlsbad KOA, Carlsbad, New Mexico, 278 miles
October 8, 2018 to October 9, 2018--Carlsbad KOA, Carlsbad, New Mexico, 2 days
October 10, 2018--Drive from Carlsbad, New Mexico to Boothill RV Park, Alamagordo, New Mexico 168 miles
October 10, 2018 to October 11, 2018--Boothill RV Park, Alamagordo, New Mexico 2 days
October 12, 2018--Drive from Alamagordo, New Mexico to Butterfield RV Park, Benson, Arizona, 309 miles
October 12-13--Butterfield RV Park, Benson, Arizona 2 days
October 14, 2018--Drive from Benson, Arizona to Rincon Country West RV Resort, Tucson, Arizona for the winter! 48 miles
October 8, 2018, Albuquerque to Carlsbad
It took us a while to get all set up to leave this morning but at around 9 am we were ready to go. It had rained almost all night but by the time we were leaving it was a nice, sunny day. On our way out of Albuquerque we were surprised to see all kinds of hot air balloons in the sky drifting towards the RV Park. What a great send off for us as we were leaving. We wish we were staying one more day to see the balloons again.
Our destination today is Carlsbad, NM mainly to see the Caverns. However it took us longer to get here than we planned. We ran into wind and construction so we didn’t arrive at the RV Park until about 3 pm. Because we had to set up the RV it was 4 pm before we could drive to the Caverns. Originally we were hoping to have time to visit one of the caverns today but we knew we didn’t have the time.
The drive to Carlsbad Caverns NP was about 40 miles so we had time to attend the ranger led bat flight presentation at the amphitheater outside one of the caverns. Around 6 pm thousands of bats emerged from the cave to forage for insects and bugs to eat during the night. I read that in one night they eat more than twice their own weight. It was quite a show they put on for us. They just kept coming out of the cave in droves, sometimes almost looking like a twister in the way they emerged from the cave.
We kept seeing people leaving the cave while the bats were emerging. We found out from one of the rangers that the elevator broke down and so people were forced to climb the steep incline out of the cavern. Because they were caught in the cavern so late all of the bats were swarming past them to get out of the cavern. That had to be either one of the coolest things or one of the scariest things you could experience. I asked the rangers about this and they said the bats would ignore the people and wouldn’t fly into the faces, heads, or bodies of the people that were coming out of the cavern. The bats are only interested in leaving the cavern.
It started to lightly rain on us towards the end of the program so we left the amphitheater and drove home in the rain. We stopped for dinner at Danny’s in Carlsbad and had some really good BBQ. We were beat so once we got home round 8:00 pm we relaxed before bedtime.
It took us a while to get all set up to leave this morning but at around 9 am we were ready to go. It had rained almost all night but by the time we were leaving it was a nice, sunny day. On our way out of Albuquerque we were surprised to see all kinds of hot air balloons in the sky drifting towards the RV Park. What a great send off for us as we were leaving. We wish we were staying one more day to see the balloons again.
Our destination today is Carlsbad, NM mainly to see the Caverns. However it took us longer to get here than we planned. We ran into wind and construction so we didn’t arrive at the RV Park until about 3 pm. Because we had to set up the RV it was 4 pm before we could drive to the Caverns. Originally we were hoping to have time to visit one of the caverns today but we knew we didn’t have the time.
The drive to Carlsbad Caverns NP was about 40 miles so we had time to attend the ranger led bat flight presentation at the amphitheater outside one of the caverns. Around 6 pm thousands of bats emerged from the cave to forage for insects and bugs to eat during the night. I read that in one night they eat more than twice their own weight. It was quite a show they put on for us. They just kept coming out of the cave in droves, sometimes almost looking like a twister in the way they emerged from the cave.
We kept seeing people leaving the cave while the bats were emerging. We found out from one of the rangers that the elevator broke down and so people were forced to climb the steep incline out of the cavern. Because they were caught in the cavern so late all of the bats were swarming past them to get out of the cavern. That had to be either one of the coolest things or one of the scariest things you could experience. I asked the rangers about this and they said the bats would ignore the people and wouldn’t fly into the faces, heads, or bodies of the people that were coming out of the cavern. The bats are only interested in leaving the cavern.
It started to lightly rain on us towards the end of the program so we left the amphitheater and drove home in the rain. We stopped for dinner at Danny’s in Carlsbad and had some really good BBQ. We were beat so once we got home round 8:00 pm we relaxed before bedtime.
October 9, 2018, Carlsbad Caverns
At around 2 pm we started the descent from the Natural Cave Entrance which our information told us was like going down 75 stories. We met a few people who were attempting to walk it up. It is very steep but has a lot of switchbacks to make the climb back to the top easier. Mike and I didn’t try this as we were getting short on time and didn’t think our knees and feet could take it. 75 stories would be a lot to walk up!
At around 2 pm we started the descent from the Natural Cave Entrance which our information told us was like going down 75 stories. We met a few people who were attempting to walk it up. It is very steep but has a lot of switchbacks to make the climb back to the top easier. Mike and I didn’t try this as we were getting short on time and didn’t think our knees and feet could take it. 75 stories would be a lot to walk up!
We took the elevator back to the visitor’s center and bought a few t-shirts and magnets for ourselves and got back to the car intending to go back to the RV. On the way out we decided to drive a one way, nine mile gravel road, Walnut Canyon Desert Drive. It was a nice drive through the cliffs and valleys above Carlsbad Caverns. On our drive we stopped to hike a short trail on Rattlesnake Canyon Trail. It was a rocky trail that went along the side of the canyon. There really wasn’t much to see once we got to the end so we turned around and hiked back to the car.
After we finished the drive we returned to the RV and fixed a late dinner of left over BBQ. It was a long day for us so bed time came early. It reminds me of something we’ve heard , “60 is the new 40, and 9 pm is the new midnight”. We used to laugh at this but I’m beginning to be a believer now! We'll be leaving tomorrow for Alamagordo.