Wind, Wind and now even More Wind?

Wind - the most consistent part of this April trip in the Southwest (and probably some other places too).  Some wind is fine, but 35-40 mph starts to get a little old when you are camping  - OK, I admit it is not really camping but more like living in an RV
but we do like to do as much as possible outside, and that wind does seem to limit most of our favorite activities (sitting outside under the awning that you either can't put up or definitely can't leave up, cooking outside on the grill, even walking the dog without blowing away.)  I do have to admit that right now, in Alamogordo, NM we are both sitting under the referenced awing (staked well of course) enoying a slight afternoon breeze- but that will not last.  Enough of my complaining- that is the weather in Spring so get used to it!

I ended my last entry while we were traveling to Carlsbad, NM and as indicated the trip was uneventful to that point. When we got to Carlsbad we decided not to take the Relief Road (By-Pass in NM speak) towards Artesia and instead drive through Carlsbad itself.  We had never come from that direction and wanted to see what the city looked like., how much more trouble could it be? Much More - they have ripped up all along both sides of main street for water pipe replacement, every corner for several miles is a 4 way stop -  even when both side roads are closed,  and you have several miles of one lane traffic.  We did get through quicker than anticipated because we arrived before rush hour but we have since tried that same route during rush hour and that was a disaster.  Note to self - in future always use the Relief Road. 

So, why are we back in Carlsbad and what did we do?  First - it is on the way to our next stop - Alamogordo and was a convenient stopping point for the 4 hours on Wednesday driving we let people think we do.  And of course we went back to the Caverns because, as Bruce is so fond of telling everyone, I reformatted all of the pictures I took in 2009 before getting them uploaded to the computer, so we had to return for more.  Well- this time my excuse is the camera battery went kaput just as we drove into the park for our King's Throne Room Tour so you are left with the pictures I got the first day as we walked down the natural entrance and drove into the park.  There are much better views of the wonderful cavern formations online  wayanyso if you really have never been (shame on you) and want to see what Carlsbad is all about , take a look at the ones on the National Park Site. In the meantime - here are my 2 pictures of the natural entrance route we traversed the first day. (Click on the picture to make it lager)  The Natural Entrance is a 11/4 mile steep path that takes you down 750 feet in elevation .  The picture on the left is from above before we entered the cavern itself and the picture on the right is looking up towards the opening from several switchbacks below.  Yes - I did walk down that twisty long path- although once we reached the bottom we decided to come back the next day and do a Ranger led tour - The King's Throne Room since I wasn't up to another 1 1/2 hour walk and we had done The Big Room in 2009. 

Did you know that the Park Service (before anyone really realized the damage we do just by wearing clothes in the caverns, let alone touching the formations) used the King's Throne Room to hold dances in the 30s for the chosen few politicians, actors, etc.   They were lowered in guano baskets right through the bat cave.  There were no paths down like today.  Additionally, during the Depression the Park Service published ads that said come to Carlsbad Caverns and take home a piece - and the Park Service employees would break off the tips of the stalactites to give for souvenirs. So the Park Service itself has probably fostered or even done most of the damage to the Caverns in the name of progress and publicity to get attendance up.  Guess that whole publicity thing worked though because during those Depression years when people had no money and travel was long and arduous Carlsbad Caverns had 1.5M visitors on average- equal to Yellowstone .  Now - with better and easier travel and Americans having more disposal income,  the park only gets about .5M visitors. a year- what a tragedy.  Seems there must not be enough glitz for today's Americans - no wonder we will have to fight so hard to save these for the future.   Where do you think budget cuts will end up being made first?

While in Carlsbad we also visited the New Mexico Living Desert Zoo and Gardens State Park .  The visitor center takes you through all the phases of how we got from underwater to the current Chihuahuan Desert.  It has an indoor/outdoor living museum that displays more than 40 native animal species and hundreds of succulents of the world and also includes a 1.3 mile self-guided tour that takes you first through the different aspects of the Chiuahuan Desert - the sand hills, the arroyo, the gypsum hills and the desert uplands  and then on to the zoo itself which includes a walk-through aviary  This zoo takes in animals that can no longer take care of themselves in the desert- and works with other zoos to find them homes, as applicable.  They also particpate in the American Zoo and Aquarium Association’s Mexican gray wolf Species Survival Program where they exchange wolves with other zoos to ensure the survival of the species. We really enjoyed ourselves and learned quite a bit about the desert.

We stayed outside Carlsbad at the Brantley Lake State Park and though the winds never ceased, we did try to make the best of it with a make shift wind screen so we could at least spend some time out of The Beast during the daytime.  The winds would pretty much subside at dusk and the views were lovely then as you can see here. The site turned out very level and had a nice view. You can never tell just what obstacles might be around the spot when you arrive or even how level it will be when you make your reservations, but to date I have done OK (both on site selection and views) so I am still holding myself out as an expert planner. This was our view in the evenings from our camp site.  Another of my artsy pictures.  The album has even more- oh no!

Thursday (today is Saturday) we moved on to Alamogordo, NM and have been enjoying our time here but that is for tomorrow's update.  In the meantime -  the Album  - 2011 Trip has new pictures .

Drive Safely and Retire Early!