Day Two: From Carlsbad to Tucson

After our first day on the road, we slept in sleeping bags in a tent on a dirt parking lot/KOA campground. I don't regret it, though. The KOA facilities game is strong, and the price is right. At 3:30 in the morning, it suddenly got very windy, and when Mari looked out the window she saw a neighbor's tent flying off into the night. We don't think their were any human beings inside. That innocent looking tree behind our tent was actually an alarm clock factory, where a full staff of hard-working fine-feathered employees were up early trying out various human-wake-up sounds. Almost all of them worked quite well.


From the KOA Campground, we headed to Carlsbad Caverns, which I had last visited more than 40 years ago. Because Nina and Pablo are 4th graders, we didn't have to pay to get in. Woo hoo!


Carlsbad Caverns was impressive then, but I've seen a lot since then and wasn't sure it would live up to my memory of it.


The Caverns did not disappoint. The long walk-in into the hole with singing cave swallows flying above was a highlight. The other large caverns I've been in (Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, Jewel Cave in South Dakota, and Blanchard Springs Caverns in Arkansas) are accessed via elevator, which is not as dramatic.


I have never seen a photo that captures the magnificent vastness of a large cavern, so I didn't even try to take any photos like that.

After a long day on the road, crossing the Chihuahua Desert, we had a tasty dinner at Pita Jungle in Tucson.