Day 29, October 7, 2021

Today was mainly a travel day, 457 miles from Albuquerque to Carlsbad, New Mexico — a lot of open prairie with cattle and occasional pronghorn. But when we reached Carlsbad, we immediately went to the Carlsbad Caverns National Park — we arrived just before 2 p.m. and the entrance to the caverns was closing at 2:15. There was plenty of time to explore once inside and we took a 1.5-mile loop to the Big Room (above photo).

These caverns date back 265 million years when it was a 400-mile-long, horseshoe reef along the edge of an inland sea that covered what is now southeast New Mexico and west Texas.

The immense formations of columns, stalagmites, crystals and columns were amazing and the cave was mammoth. There was so much to see and it was imossible to take in all of the details.

It also was pleasantly cool, which was a bonus because it was 95 degrees outside. Is this October?

Just before sunset, we went back to the Caverns for the Night Flight of the Brazilian free-tailed bats. We sat in an amphitheater facing the large opening of a cave. A park ranger described what was going to happen and almost to the minute she told us they would begin exiting, swarms of bats spiraled up and out — thousands flew in formations, some directly over us, but most heading out into the valley to feast on moths and other night-flying insects. The bats remain out until just before dawn. The ranger said it is estimated that there are one-half million bats living in the cave. She also told us on some nights (but not this one), hawks and owls fly though the outward bound bats and have feasts of their own.

Sorry — no photos. Cameras and cell phones are not allowed because the electronic pulses interfere with the bats flying patterns. Everyone also was told to be absolutely quiet.

On our way to Carlsbad, we stopped in Roswell to see the International UFO Museum and Research Center. Most of the museum documented the 1947 crash near a ranch in Roswell of a U.S. Air Force weather balloon. Conspiracy theories say the balloon collided with a “flying disc” and that the Air Force recovered the disc and the government covered it up.

What was most interesting was that almost every business on Main Street had some form of alien worked into its signage.

Of course, I can’t close out this blog without one more image of the Albquerque Balloon Fiesta. This shot was taken at sunrise as we were packing up and preparing to leave the campground.

There likely will not be a blog tomorrow. We’re traveling almost 500 miles out of New Mexico into Texas to spend the weekend with my sister in San Antonio.