New Mexico critters

John has caught a few images of critters in the NM desert. Thought I'd share a few of them with you all..


Mexican squirrels living near us at the RV Park:

Momma carrying baby:


Learning about the birds that inhabit the area. This Black Neck Stilt was taken near Lake Brantley, north of Carlsbad, NM:



Here is a Painted Redstart. This photo taken at The Grotto at McKittrick Canyon in Guadalupe National Park. This part is just south of Carlsbad, NM in Western Texas.


Have to add in one creepy crawly... we are in the desert you know... A tarantula John saw under he RV!

Caving

Yesterday, I had my first real caving experience. The 'Hall of the White Giant' is one of the tours where you belly crawl, chimney, squeeze and climb your way around. At first I was a little nervous, but it was really a blast. Although this type of a tour is definitely not for everyone. You need to be in decent shape, and not afraid of tight spaces. There are a variety of challenges including climbing a knotted rope, where you need both upper body strength and good foot holds to get up the slippery flow stone. Several places where you squeeze yourself through tight tunnels.

The goal in this tour is to see the White Giant. It is a beautiful stalagmite, and worth the time to get there. There are not a lot of other spectacular formations, but you get to see crevices that drop off into what appears to be nothingness. This tour allows you plenty of time to look around and see the rocks sometimes only inches from you, other times your helmet light can barely reach the ceiling.

John would like this tour, although I'm not entirely convinced if his shoulders would make it though the tight spots. For once, being petite has a definite advantage! Regardless of your size, if you're adventurous and really want a true caving experience, this is an awesome tour. Make reservations. It's only offered to the public once a week!

That's it for now. More soon.

Val

Water

Been busy learning so much about geology, bats, and the caverns. Too many details to discuss here in the blog. If you have any specific questions, just ask. Thought I'd talk about a very basic subject: water.

The water out here in Carlsbad is, well... awful. As many of you know, my favorite drink is plain old tap water. I'll drink Florida water from the tap, New Jersey water from the tap, both of which isn't always tasty. However, Carlsbad, New Mexico water from the tap - ugh! It's terrible.

Of course, one of the reasons that the water tastes so badly is the reason the caverns exist in the first place. The caverns were formed when sulfur mixed with water forming a weak solution of sulfuric acid. When that comes in contact with limestone (the prevalent type of rock out here), it creates awesome formations in Carlsbad Caverns.

The general area is a hot spot for both natural gas and oil, which makes sense. Sulfur, that smell of rotten eggs is often the odor in the air. Some mornings, if the wind is blowing in a certain direction, it's smell like a refinery. Once the wind blows, it dissipates quickly, and trust me the wind here blows hard and often!

In preparation for our trip, we bought a water filtration system, which does help - some. Even with that, and then running it through our Brita filter still wasn't enough when you drank it. We've turned to the other alternative, buying bottled water (not from this area) and using that to drink and cook. Even the kitties are drinking bottled water!

That's all for now.

Val & John

Wednesday

Had planned to post this last night, but I arrived back at the RV the same time as a thunderstorm. It sat on top of us for four hours pounding us with wind, rain, some hail, thunder and lightning. Quite a welcome home! I'm used to Florida storms which can be just as severe, but usually shorter in duration.

Learning lots at work everyday, and having fun. Yesterday afternoon I did the 'Lower Cave' tour which includes using a knotted rope and climbing a series of ladders. I was a bit nervous at first, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. In fact it was awesome. The various formations that you can see on the off trail tours are amazing. Wearing helmets with headlamps, it gives you a more realistic feeling of what the early explorers of the cave could (and couldn't) see on there adventures. I'd highly recommend the tour when you come out to visit. Make reservations in advance - limited number of visitors allowed on the tour and they fill up fast.

That's it for now. More in a few days...

VAL

First day

Hi Friends,

Today was my first day of work and I thought it went rather well. All right, I'll be honest, I had a lot of fun! Now I realize it was my first day, but, I'm working in a cave - one of the world's most beautiful caves. How cool is that?

First there was a quick morning meeting a few introductions, and a tour of the visitor's center. Next, I was handed an audio guide and told to take a walk down the Natural Entrance, using the audio guide. They told me to take my time, so I did. I could spend the entire day there... oh wait, I will be! I've walked the Natural Entrance trail several times in my life, and I'll admit, each time I see things I didn't see in past visits.

Later, I met with my supervisor and did all the typical new job paperwork. She confirmed one last time that they do intend to pay me to show up here. Then it was time for lunch and a quick call to John to tell him things were going well.

The afternoon was equally as fun. I shadowed the King's Palace tour, which is one of the most popular tour, and a beautiful portion of the cave. This part of the cave has been used, many years ago in various films. Awesome tour, so if you ever get the chance to go to the cave, book the tour (you can make reservations online). The day flew by rather quickly, even with some more paperwork to fill out.

There's so much to learn, but I'm really excited about it all. I'm actually looking forward to going to work tomorrow! How many people can say that? :-) That's it for tonight... More soon.

VAL

Sunday Drive

We decided to take a drive today. We headed west towards the mountains to Cloudcroft, NM. In stark contrast from the brown desert of Carlsbad, Cloudcroft is green with tall pine trees and other hardwoods. The elevation is quite a bit higher at 8600 feet. The views from certain parts of town down to White Sands and the mountain far in the distance are awesome. It was also significantly cooler there.

After the long drive, we needed a hike and ended up finding Osha Trail on the west part of town. The first 1/4 mile of the hike was all uphill, after that, it was rolling woods. Lots of flowers, butterflies, hummingbirds, views and the fragrances... wow! Wish I could share pictures, unfortunately John packed the tripod, but forgot the camera!!!!!!!!!! There were some beautiful photo ops, you'll have to trust me and hopefully a trip back there another day with the camera. Did a couple other short 'rails to trails' hikes. The views there were just as spectacular.

On the ride back to Carlsbad, we watched as the lush, green forest slowly dissipated into the shorter scrub brush and finally back to the desert. In our few hikes here (as well as the trip to the Living Desert State Park yesterday which was fun and educational) we're finding out about all the plants and animals that live in the desert. Despite appearing desolate when you look out into the pastures, upon closer study, we're learning that there's much more than the eye can see.
Keep me in your thoughts tomorrow - it'll be the first day on the new job! :-/

VAL

Good News

Hi Friends,

Finally got some good news yesterday. After having to submit a second set of fingerprint cards, I was 'cleared' to start working. Called my boss and I'll be starting work on Monday! Looking forward to the challenges and learning a lot about the caverns, bats and caving.

It's a beautiful morning - cool (for SE New Mexico) and sunny with a slight breeze. We're going to the Living Desert Zoo and State Park this morning before it gets hot. Tonight we plan to attend the Night Sky Program after the Bat Flight at the Caverns (weather permitting).

I'll keep you posted on how things go next week!

VAL & JOHN

The Caverns

Several weekends a year, the National Park Service allows free entry into parks. This past weekend was a free weekend to kick off the summer season. John and I took advantage of this and went down to Carlsbad Caverns for the morning.

If you've never been to Carlsbad Caverns, I'd highly recommend a visit. Although not an easy place to get to (the closest major airport is El Paso and that's three hours away). I've been to several other caves, but nothing compares to the vastness that Carlsbad Caverns has to offer. Hard to describe, and photographs really doesn't do it justice. John didn't bring the camera this time, instead we decided on a leisurely walk from the Natural Entrance down into the caverns. For those who prefer a quicker route, you can take an elevator down, but if you have the time, it's an interesting walk.

You enter the caverns from the same location that the bats exit at dusk from April to October. During our hike down, there were no bats, only cave swallows flying about. It's a steep walk, and I must say I'm glad you take the elevator out these days. It would be a hell of a trek back up! The temperature in the cave is a constant 56 degrees year round, so quite welcome considering the heat outside.

There are many different formations inside, each different and beautiful in their own way. I've linked some of John's old photos from a trip several years ago for those of you who are interested. LINK: http://www.angelfire.com/fl4/jigsaw/NewMexico.html

There are several tours that you can take. You need advance reservations.
Go to the website: http://www.nps.gov/cave/planyourvisit/cave_tours.htm
We've been on a couple of them, and again, I recommend if you have the time, take the tours.

That's all for now...

Val & John

Hot in the desert

Hi Friends,

It's not even summer yet, but it's really hot. The past few days in Carlsbad we have reached triple digits. In fact, according to the news last night, Carlsbad broke a record with the thermometer reaching 111 (no, my keyboard didn't stick it was - one hundred and eleven degrees)!!!! Yes, it's a dry heat, but hot is hot and trust me it's damn hot.

We got up at 5AM yesterday (my body clock seems to be on EDT) and got our chores done early in the day. At lunchtime we went for a quick dip in the pool. The water keeps getting warmer each day I swim. Used plenty of sunscreen on everything except my scap - yup, little sore when I brushed my hair out later. Next time I wear a hat IN the pool!

Living in an RV in the middle of a desert it's not easy to stay cool. Not a lot of trees out here to provide shade. Instead, we have all the windows covered with material to reflect the sun and keep the heat out. Even with that done, the AC seems to run from about 9AM until sundown. The cats don't like their windows covered, but Shadow (our long haired cat) was rather warm yesterday in the heat of the afternoon. Today it's cooler - only supposed to be 104 degrees! LOL

Think cool thoughts...
VAL & JOHN

Carlsbad

We're starting to get settled in. Spent yesterday morning hiking at Sitting Bull Falls. If you look at the photo, you'll see a face in the rocks! After walking around the falls for a while, we did about a five mile hike.



Came home a few minutes before a gully washer of a thunderstorm - even knocked out of power for a few hours (felt right at home since that happens there a lot too!). The heat is coming - expecting to be in triple digits in a few days. The nights aren't bad though, without the humidity, once the sun goes down you can open the windows up and enjoy the evening.

More soon...

V & J