Tucson to Carlsbad

This trip starts in Tucson and ends in Tucson, with stops along the way to Destin, FL, where my granddaughter is to be married June 5. She and her fiance live in Indianapolis, but decided they really like this beach town on the Gulf. So off we go on the 1,800 miles to Destin.

Today's journey took us to Carlsbad, NM. Tomorrow we'll visit the Caverns, which we've been to before, but not for quite a few years. I don't suppose it's changed all that much!

The drive along I-10 was uneventful, thank you very much! We stopped for lunch in El Paso, where the newspaper said they had gone without rain for 114 days. I thought we had it bad in Tucson, but southern New Mexico and that little corner of Texas are brown all over, except where a river is flowing or was some time ago.

Carlbad, NM is a town of motels and gas stations. Surprisingly, the motels have rather high prices, at least the ones we usually stay at. Construction on the main drag through town is at a fever pitch, probably one of the few available jobs other than the Caverns.

The gas prices are lower than Tucson, to my amazement, at $3.44 (plus the ubiquitous 99 cents, of course).The first station I saw with that price had to be cash/debit, I thought, but as we continued driving, almost all stations were charging the same price. We had filled up in El Paso at $3.69, so I wished I had waited. With Carol's car, we get 45 mpg, so the difference in price isn't for all that many gallons.

The first time I came to the Caverns was with my parents, on a 3-week vacation trip. At that time, the cave was not electrified. There was a ranger at the head of the tourists with a flashlight, who would turn on electric lights for a portion of the trail and the ranger at the end of the pack would turn them on as we passed through. The second time here, the cave had been completely electrified and the tour was self-conducted - no rangers needed.

That visit also involved visiting another cave nearby that then was called New Cave. The entry was at a level on the mountain that required making a steep, strenuous climb to the opening. The cave had no lighting and everyone had to bring a large flashlight.

National Geographic has written about a third, more extensive cave called Lechiguilla, which has the most wonderful formations. In order to preserve the formations, the cave has never been open to the public, and probably never will be.

That's all from Carlsbad.