Carlsbad Caverns

For about the past five years, Dale and I have been talking about taking weekend trips to explore New Mexico. There is so much to see in this state--White Sands National Monument, Taos, Mesa Verde and the Four Corners area, Carlsbad Caverns, Bandelier National Monument, the Guadalupe Mountains, and so much more--and we wanted to take advantage of the opportunities to see the area. However, in the 5 1/2 years that we've lived in New Mexico, we've really only taken one such trip, to Taos several years ago.

Our second weekend trip was two weeks ago, when we ventured down to the southeastern portion of the state. We stayed in a small town called Artesia, half-way between Roswell and Carlsbad, and visited both larger towns. The highlight of the trip was Carlsbad Caverns, a huge network of caverns with impressive, intricate stalactite and stalagmite formations.

Adelaida accompanied us and seemed to enjoy the coolness of the caverns--perfect for a little nap! We tried to point out some of the more interesting formations to her, but at six weeks old, she wasn't very interested. It was, however, an excellent opportunity for her to wear an outfit with a pointy elfin-hood!

In addition to the caverns, we spent some time walking around the Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge near Roswell. This is basically a huge salt marsh in a valley near the Pecos River. It was very windy, the trails weren't very well marked, and we didn't see much wildlife, but the walk was worthwhile for the great crystalline salt formations we saw.

Our next few trips are going to be out-of-state: Colorado in late February, Salt Lake City in March, and Indiana in April. After that, we hope to resume the weekend excursions and see more of our great state!