It was a short, at least for us, 1.5 hour drive to Carlsbad Caverns in NM. It was a lovely sunny morning with little traffic. However, there was just enough truck traffic (on a macadam road) to throw up a stone and damage the windshield. Happily, it is on the passenger side so we don’t need to fix it immediately. How ironic that during our first cross-country trip, we traveled 18,000 miles to Alaska and the Yukon Territory on some rough gravel roads and returned with an intact windshield! If that’s our only hiccup on this trip that will be excellent.

Visiting Carlsbad Caverns has been a “must do” on every road trip that has taken us across the southern states, and this trip is no exception. We have done this so many times I have lost count, but we never tire of it. It is so spectacular, the formations never cease to amaze us. We always see something new for us or possibly we have already forgotten what we saw. We thoroughly enjoyed walking the 2.5 mile self guided tour. The 1.5 mile trail down to the Big Room, which has a 20% grade and takes you down 750 feet below the surface, is filled with wonderful sights. You can take the elevator down, but then you miss so much. (But we do take the elevator back up.)

About halfway through, Peggy thought that the combination of no exercise for the last 5 days and a breakfast of only a cup of tea and a chocolate croissant was not the smartest idea. Fortunately, the snack bar was open, and we had a couple of ham and cheese sandwiches to fortify us for the remainder of the tour.

After our fun tour of the Caverns we headed to El Paso TX for the night. On our way, we drove through a part of Guadalupe National Park. We have never taken this road before, so it was a new adventure. (It’s always fun to go someplace new.) The geological formations above ground are as fascinating as those below. Unfortunately, we don’t have the Miata with us on this trip and we have to take the photos through the windshield, so they don’t come out as well.

The traffic on I 10 west of El Paso came to a standstill. Apparently, the left two lanes were closed for construction and the right lane was closed due to a major accident. We pulled off the freeway at the first opportunity and found lodging for the night. Following a delightful supper on the patio of the Salt Grass restaurant which was next door to our motel, we returned to our room to write up the blog and rest up for tomorrow’s adventure.

Interesting road name for today: Higby Hole Rd.