Brief Texas Interlude

Arrived in El Paso late and took off early so I could hit both Guadalupe National Park and Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

Guadalupe is a large mountain range that pops out of the Texas range. Minimal road access and primarily back country hiking. Pretty but nothing compared to my later stop. The Texas road portion reminded me of Kansas. Straight, horizon to horizon, and go FAST! WooHoo!

In addition to the a couple pictures of the Guadalupe Mountains, I heard a thump, thump, thump on a tree and found a Ladderback Woodpecker working on a tree. Those pictures are attached.

The next stop was Carlsbad Caverns. My first disappointment was that all guided tours (except 1) scheduled for Sunday and Monday were already booked Saturday afternoon. So I headed off on the self guided tour. I expected a big hole in the ground but this was a really big hole in the ground. Today's quiz: can you identify the pictures with people in them?

This thing goes on and on for about two miles. Well worth the tour but enough is enough so tomorrow I will head to White Sands rather than wait around until Monday for a guided tour. After all a hole in the ground is just a hole in the ground right? Check out this hole in the ground.

This was a long day. So looking forward to a soft warm bed I headed to the City of Carlsbad. The days sights were nothing compared to my stay at the local Best Western (supposedly 2 diamonds) and dinner at Chilis, the local biker bar. Six, big women Harley riders enjoying their suds. I am sure one was Jolee Turner and another was surely Rosanne Barr from TV.

Finally the sun sets on the day.