Let's call the whole thing off".
...with apologies to George and Ira Gershwin
Well...I made it through last night's storm. Rolling out of bed at 7:00AM, I walk around the campground to survey the damage. I'm OK, but others have not fared as well. A group of tent campers from Germany decided to re-stake their tent in the middle of the storm...big mistake. Off it went...sailing into the dark. They ended up sleeping in their car. This morning, they found their tent...a few hundred yards away in a field. They salvaged their sleeping bags, but they're going to need a new tent.
I brew coffee, post to the blog, and plan out the day. I'll be driving into Carlsbad...get gas...have lunch...spend the day at the caverns.
Upload speeds over the Wi-Fi here at the KOA are maddeningly slow. By the time that I've completed a single post (with six photos), it's after 11:00AM.
I make the twenty-five mile drive into Carlsbad and get gas (price is reasonable at $3.49/gallon). There's a little local burger place, so I stop in there for a bacon cheeseburger (pretty good). Then I'm off on the twenty mile drive to the Park.
There are two ways to get down to the "caverns" at Carlsbad Caverns National Park...you can hike a one and a half mile tunnel from the outside or you can take an elevator straight down from the Visitor's Center. I'm debating this choice in my mind when an announcement is made that the "tunnel" is temporarily closed...they're hauling out an injured hiker. So...the decision is made for me...I'm taking the elevator.
750 feet below is the "Big Room". How big? About the size of six football fields. The hike around the perimeter takes almost two hours.
It's very impressive...huge ceilings, unusual rock formations, huge stalactites hanging from above and equally-large stalagmites growing up from the floor. The only drawback is the lighting...it's very dim which does not make for good photographs. When I shoot without a flash, the shutter speed is so slow that the photo is blurred. And, when I shoot with the flash, it only illuminates about fifteen feet, and the lighting is "harsh". So...while I took many photos, none of them really do this place justice.
Around 4:00PM, I'm back to the surface and heading back into Carlsbad. I stop for ice, and then head to "Danny's Place", a local barbecue place that has been recommended.
I figure that I can pick up dinner on the way back to my camp, thereby avoiding an eighteen or twenty-five mile drive later.
My experience at Danny's does not start out well. They're not that busy, but I'm ignored by the staff. After twenty minutes, I haven't even placed my order, so I leave. But, out in the parking lot, I reconsider. My dining options are extremely limited and, if it's not Danny's, it's going to be fast food for dinner. So...I head back in and, fifteen minutes later, I'm back on the road with a chopped beef sandwich and potato salad.
Back at camp, I relax with a few margaritas on the rocks while I wait for the sun to go down. It's been overcast here today, and that's a good thing. For most of the day, the temperatures have been in the 80's...which sure beats the 106 degrees from yesterday.
As the temperature drops into the 70's, I have my sandwich with a few beers...the sandwich is pretty good. A little chocolate cake for dessert, and I'm a happy guy.
When the sun sets, I haul out the netbook to post the day's photos to my blog. Alas, this was not to be. Tonight, I can not get any photos to upload...no matter how long I wait, nothing happens. Plus, I keep getting disconnected from the Wi-Fi here. After three hours, I have accomplished nothing.
Better to call it a night and head for bed.
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