Van Horn, TX 3/11 - 3/12
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| We stopped at Van Horn, TX (pop 3000), and stayed at the Van Horn KOA. Tomorrow we want to drive to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. As you can see from the picture, West Texas is a very wide-open and desolate area. |
 3/12
Sunday - We drove to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, a trip of about 115
miles one way. The trip was well worth it. This is a magnificent experience.
This is like the Grand Canyon, you can see pictures of it but you cannot
appreciate it unless you experience it. Unfortunately, I wasn't successful
in getting decent pictures inside the cave. |
 .
This is the natural entrance to the caverns. It is 90 feet wide and 40 feet
high. This is one of two ways to enter them. You can take an elevator 750
feet to the main level or you can go through the natural entrance and walk
about a mile to get to the bottom. The path is all black topped but it is
steep. You drop 750 feet in one mile. We had radio activated CDs that gave
us a wonderful guided tour. They would active at selected areas and give
us an explanation of what we were seeing. It was like having your own personal
tour guide. |
 This
is the best picture I was able to take inside the cavern. The Big Room was
the main attraction. It is at the 750 foot level and is fairly level. The
room is approximately 1800 feet long and 1100 feet wide with a ceiling that
arches 255 feet in one area. Among the most interesting features are clear
pools lined with masses of limestone resembling lily pads and graceful stalagmites
reminiscent of totem poles. Other formations evoke an atmosphere of snow-banked
forests, adding to the tranquil beauty of the caverns. With some imagination
you may be able to visualize some of the formations by their names: the
lions tail, the chandelier, the caveman, etc.
We highly recommend a trip to Carlsbad Caverns if you find yourself anywhere in the area. The entrance fee is $6.00 and the self-guiding CD player was $3.00. Truly one of the best entertainment values we have experienced on our trip so far.
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