Day 40

Day 40 - Friday, July 31st, 2009

Las Cruces, NM to Carlsbad, NM

The night before we had looked at the National Park Service website for Carlsbad Caverns National Park and learned of a 3 hour expedition through the lower level of cave that left at 1 pm. Even though the website said the spelunking tour was fully booked, we set off in time to make it to the park with time to spare in case they could squeeze in a couple of people. Our travels were going great until we encountered a border patrol stop on RT - 375 W 20 miles outside of El Paso. The Border Patrol agents appeared to be doing a thorough job and we were mentally preparing to unpack the car in needed. As we waited in line to be passed through, Tara admonished me for wanting to ask if I could pet the patrol dog. I ultimately opted not to ask. I also did not respond to the query of if we were American citizens with "Que?" despite a nearly overwhelming desire. We were passed through with no problems, but the delay pushed us past our target time.

We discarded our hopes of a three hour tour and stopped at the Guadalupe Mountains National Park Visitor Center. While continuing on to the caverns, traveling at 60 mph on a flat surface no less, our car shuddered, coughed, and the Service Engine Soon flared back to life. Fearing the worst, but not daring to stop, we made it to the National Park and purchased tickets for the King's Cavern tour.

Neither of us were aware that most of the cave could be explored for free (with our Annual Pass), until we were on the tour. After the hour long venture with an informative and only mildly annoying guide, we struck out on our own to explore the Great Room. The Great Room is a 1.3 mile hike through the largest cavern I have ever seen. The formations were huge, outstanding, and everywhere.

We spent over 3 hours underground and emerged hungry, so with soothing whispers to the dashboard, we headed to Carlsbad, NM to check into America's Best Value Inn. The name is misleading. This "Inn" was by no means a "Value", being one of the more expensive beds we have rented on this trip. It definitely was no where near being one of the "Best" either, coming close to rivaling the Budget Host Inn in Interior, SD as the worst place that we stayed for a night. It was though in "America," but that still doesn't even meet Meatloaf's standard of "two out of three ain't bad." For dinner we went to Lucy's Mexicali Restaurant and enjoyed some outstanding food. We reluctantly returned to our "Inn" and listened to people splash around in the pool well past pool closing time.

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