An Alien World

Carlsbad, NM

March 20-25, 2022

Aliens are even at the Carlsbad KOA!

I’ve always heard March winds bring April showers which, in turn, bring May flowers. Well, the winds that blow in these deserts surely must bring some mighty good flowers!  Along the roads there are signs alerting you to zero visibility, to pull over, have your lights off, and keep your foot off the brake when the dust storms start blowing!  Well, the afternoon of our arrival, the winds started blowing!  We were so thankful we had gotten an earlier-than-normal start and were off the road before we encountered the fierce winds!  

The wind storm continued into our first full day in Carlsbad, so we stayed hunkered in the RV and got some “real life” chores accomplished.  To keep the camper lighter in weight, they use lighter weight materials in construction.  This includes the base of a storage compartment we use as our “library”.  I’m certain the base would have easily supported a blanket or some other lightweight item.  Using it to store our books challenged it more than what it was intended to be used.  They describe the RV experiencing magnitude 3-4 earthquakes each time you take it on the road!  Dick managed to repair the collapsed base, even with his limited tools and supplies!   Our library is once again fully functional and is now built to last!  

This certainly is an alien world around here!  An hour north of Carlsbad is Roswell, NM, so we spent an afternoon doing our own investigation of the 1947 Roswell UFO Incident.  Sure enough, we found strong evidence of an alien invasion along the roadside, just inside the city limits!  The aliens’ flying saucer needed a jump, so Dick volunteered to help provide a connection from the truck’s battery to their ship.  Before we knew it, they were off and flying!

At the International UFO Museum and Research Center, we read and listened to recorded testimony of witnesses encountering the incident that was certainly compelling!  

                                        

The shops in the area have also embraced the alien theme.  Across the street from the museum is El Toro Bravo Bakery, featuring goodies that are guaranteed to be from out of this world!  I can certainly speak for their empanadas!  The pumpkin and sweet potato treats certainly transport you to someplace you’ve never experienced before!  Yummy!

Located 40 miles south of the Carlsbad KOA is Carlsbad Caverns National Park, another out of this world experience!

Natural Entrance

As claustrophobic as I am, it took me two tries before I could convince myself that going 800 feet below the surface of the earth was a good decision!  The park offers two ways to reach the “Big Room”.  You can hike down the 1.25-mile Natural Entrance or take a one-minute elevator ride.  I had mentally prepared for the hike, but when the park ranger informed me the elevator was the only choice for exiting the cavern, I went into freak-out mode!  Later in the afternoon, I was talking to another park ranger who corrected the misinformation, telling me it is a strenuous hike out; however, very doable.  Unfortunately, it was too late in the day to be able to hike in, take in the cavern and still have time to hike out before the park closed.  As magnificent as the cavern is, I’m glad we made a second trip to the park, enabling me to experience it!  Irrational fears are so ridiculous!  

The Natural Entrance route follows the traditional explorers’ route through the Main Corridor.  This in itself is enormous!  Once you reach the Big Room, there is a well-lit, paved, 1.25 mile path that guides you around the perimeter of the cave!  I had read about the formation of the cavern and the millions of years it took for the cave to be created and “decorated”.  I had never thought about stalactites and stalagmites as decorations before, but when you add in soda straws, draperies, flowstone, columns, lily pads, pearls, popcorn, helictites, aragonite crystals, and rimstone dams, you have an unbelievable party for your eyes to take in!  Photos simply do not do this splendor justice!  Around every curve, there was something new to take in and learn about.  My favorite was the Chinese Theatre.  Dick’s was the Lion's Tail -- a close second for me, to my favorite!

ChineseTheatre

Can you find the two Lion's Tails?

As typical, we will have to make yet another visit to this Chamber of Wonders.  For our next go at this park, we want to come a few weeks later.  Experiencing the exit of thousands of bats from the Natural Entrance at dusk sounds like yet another out-of-this-world thing!  Right now, the bats are still in Mexico, where it is warm enough at night for there to be plenty of bugs for the bats to feast on.  This viewing is so popular that the park has built an amphitheater for visitors to sit and enjoy the swarm of bats leaving their home in hunt of dinner!

Cholla in bloom outside the cavern!

Our final destination was Sitting Bull Falls Recreational Area located inside of Lincoln National Forest.  It was pretty incredible to find water actually flowing!  As pretty as it was, I can only imagine the beauty when there is not a drought!

Our next stop will be a quick one in Fort Stockton, TX where we plan to stock up!  We are running a little low on groceries and need to get laundry done before heading to Big Bend National Park!