... and the adventure continues..... As we once again packed up our luggage into the car we looked forward to our plans for the next couple of days.... to hike to the oldest virtual cache in New Mexico, visit some aliens, descend into the depths of a cavern and anything else that might catch our eye.
First stop of the day was to find the oldest virtual cache in New Mexico. It was placed in 2/2/2001 and is still an active cache. So many of the older caches get archived so these older caches are a treasure to find. It was a perfect morning to embark on the short hike to the site as the air was crisp and the flowers were blooming. Once at the location the ritual Happy Dance was performed as we took in the views. It definitely was a good way to start our day.
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| Happy Dance at the oldest virtual geocache in New Mexico |
Roswell, New Mexico
Roswell's claim to fame is for the alien encounters in the area. The town has embraced the alien theme with alien statutes practically at every business corner or signage. However, as we drove around we also noticed impressive artwork depicting the Cattle King of Pecos and the Father of Modern Rocketry, along with the Art Center and Museum.
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| Made a friend - take me to your leader.... |
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Dr. Robert Hutchings Goddard (the Father of Modern Rocketry, created and built the world's first liquid-fueled rocket here). He began the era of space flight and innovation.
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Carlsbad, New Mexico
Carlsbad Caverns National Park - A Really, Really big room underground!
The formation history of the cavern system is unique and expansive in its own right and the final result is breathtaking. We hiked deep underground and discovered a world of amazing speleothems (cave formations) such as stalactites, stalagmites, soda straws, draperies, cave popcorn and more.
Briefly, Carlsbad Caverns were developed millions of year ago. There are petroglyphs near the natural cave opening confirming that the area was inhabited by Native American tribes. However, the first documented entry into the caverns was by a local cowboy in 1898 named Jim White. His name is remembered forever as part of the family that founded nearby White's City. After many years of of the Whites attempting to create a business of offering tours to show off the unknown underground world of the cave, some publicity about the wonders of the caverns made it to the U.S. Congress and it became a National Monument in 1923 and then a National Park.
Upon checking in at the visitor center, we chose to explore the caverns via the Natural Entrance Route. This route is compared to walking down 75 stories of the Empire State Building. It is a steep switchback paved path with a length of 1.25 miles to the "Big Room" in the Caverns where those that do not partake in the walk-in entrance would start their journey after riding the elevator for 755 feet to the same 'Big Room'.
The Big Room is well-named because it covers 357,480 SF - 8.2 acres. We were in amazement of spectacular views, cave formations of all shapes and sizes, and history of the 'rope ladder' (made of barb-wire and sticks) used by explorers in 1924 and even helium balloons to explore the upper levels of the caves.
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| Beginning of the Natural Entrance |
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| When a Stalactite and Stalagmite touch a Column is created. |
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| "Whales Mouth" - Drapery and Flagstone Speleothems |
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| An alien looking Stalagmite |
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| A Stalagmite reaching high for the ceiling |
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| We see an Angel - do you? |
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| You can see the Stalactites and Stalagmites in this photo |
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| "Dolls Theater" is a collection of soda straw stalactites and columns. They are very small and very fragile. |
Upon check-in at visitor center we were lucky enough to be informed that there was an opening on the most popular ranger-guided King's Palace Tour. So we signed up for the tour immediately. The tour goes through additional chambers not open on the self guided tour plus the tour descends to the deepest portion of the cavern that is accessible to the public. The ranger told us about the history, cave animals, geology and even turned out the lights where we could experience total darkness. The tour gets a thumbs up from us.
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| This beautiful thin drapery speleothems that looks like bacon when backlight shines through it. |
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| More 'drapery', 'Soda Straws', 'Popcorn' and Stalactites clinging to the ceiling. |
Our cavern adventure lasted about 5 hours. The photos do not reflect the beauty of all the formations and the massiveness of the caverns. We definitely recommend you visit the caverns.
So now we start our trek back home while stopping along the way to visit various roadside oddities, interesting history, memorials plus many geocaching stops.
Las Cruces, New Mexico
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| The roadrunner is the official state bird of New Mexico. Outside of Las Cruces a geo-cache brought us to a piece of artwork known for the materials it is made from - garbage/recycled items. It stands about 20 feet tall and 40 feet long. As we viewed it we could see crutches, computers, lots of shoes and paintbrushes and so much more. |
Deming, New Mexico
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| Beautiful mural in Deming, NM depicting the spirit of the Mimbres culture. |
Lordsburg, New Mexico
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| Memorial Park honoring Veterans in Lordsburg, NM (lots of hiding places on this tank for a geo-cache) |
Willcox, Arizona
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| Home of Rex Allen and tribute in the Historic Railroad Avenue Park in Willcox, AZ |
Dragoon, Arizona
A geocaching adventure lab brought us to some unique and neat artwork. This was definitely off the beaten path.
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| We were greeted by Mr. Rattlesnake. We proceeded with caution. |
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| We were attacked by Indians |
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| Then we were chased out of the area by dinosaurs |
It seems that this trip has taken us to many different dimensions of adventure. We enjoy traveling and sharing our adventures. Thank you for coming along.
Happy Travels,
Jack and Deb
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