In the morning, we woke up broke down the tent, showered, got ready, collected free coffee and donuts, and then headed off to Cadillac Ranch. We were amazed with how windy and muddy it was at Cadillac Ranch.
After scrapping the mud off of our shoes, we got back in the car and set out for Carlsbad Caverns. Our “short” drive of four and half hours –since we have been driving so many miles and hours, four hours is nothing. Once we arrived, we quickly went to the front counter because the last opening for the Natural Entry was 2:30pm and we were pretty close to time. Luckily, we made it to the Entry point in time.
We were also thankful that we got the tickets for free because of our National Parks Annual Pass. It is a great $80 investment if you are doing a trip like ours, or if you plan to go to at least three large National Parks (since the large park’s entry fee is $30 each).
The Natural Entry area is a slow, steep walk down into the caverns. There were many switchbacks to walk down as well as it took awhile for my (Candace) eyes to adjust moving from daylight to dark. Once they did I was able to see the magnificent cavern.
Walking down into this cavern was so incredibly cool. I (Sarah) normally get a little uneasy going into dark small places, but this was exhilarating. I felt like a child on Christmas morning or a child at Disneyland for the very first time–excited to see what was in store. I was really hoping to see bats in the Caverns, unfortunately we did not. The natural entrance in which we entered from was where the potential to see bats was. We definitely heard bat noises, so I guess that was as good as we were going to get. The natural beauty of these caverns were so awe inspiring extravagant and unbelievable. The way each stalagmites are created and how many forms/shapes/sizes they come in. Let’s just say no picture could accurately capture the beauty that lies beneath the ground even professional ones. Additionally, the ambiance–the exceptionally quiet environment with addition to water dripping sound that echos adds so much to this experience. It is truly a must see in our America the Beautiful.
Much Love,
The Traveling BumbleBees 🐝
Traveling BumbleBees 