Carlsbad Caverns National Park

-
After breakfast, I drove east on U.S. 82 through the Lincoln National Forest through Mayhill, and then onto Hope and Artesia where the landscape was more ranch lands than mountains. After Artesia, I turned south on U.S. 285 to Carlsbad and my first "official" stop of the day, Carlsbad Caverns National Park. The park was first established as Carlsbad Cave National Monument in 1923 and then as Carlsbad Caverns National Park in 1934.

From U.S. 285, there is an eight mile park road to the Visitor Center and the entrance to the caverns. Once there, I checked in with a park ranger with my reservation (which is needed to enter the caverns) and proceeded with a self-guided tour via the Natural Entrance Route. This route leads 750 feet deep into the earth from the Natural Entrance on steep and narrow trails for 1.25 miles through the Main Corridor to the lunchroom and underground rest area. Along the way, you pass formations like Devil's Spring, the Whale's Mouth, and Iceberg Rock.

Once you arrive at the bottom of the caverns, you then take another self-guided tour in the Big Room. This route is also 1.25 miles. Needless to say, the sights were amazing and have to be seen to be believed. Actor and comedian Will Rogers called the caverns "The Grand Canyon with a roof over it." The old adage that a picture is a thousand words is so true with the caverns. So with that, I'll let my photographs do the rest of the talking.

The Natural Entrance to the Caverns
Beginning of the 1.25 mile long Natural Entrance Route


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Driskill

-
Image
My next stop, before the first "official" stop of the day - the LBJ Presidential Library - was The Driskill , an iconic hotel which opened in 1886 and is located on the corner of 6th & Brazos Streets in downtown Austin.  Colonel Jesse L. Driskill came to Texas in 1849 and became a prosperous rancher and cattle baron. He spent $400,000 to build The Driskill Hotel as "the finest hotel south of St. Louis." I parked the car and walked to the hotel and impressed to no end. It was the ultimate in luxury when it was built and it remains the ultimate in luxury today. I was tempted to stay for breakfast since my own hotel’s breakfast was crap, but I had a schedule to keep so I moved on after 10 minutes. Portrait of Colonel Driskill which presides over the opulent lobby The opulent lobby
Read more

Blanton Museum of Art

-
Image
Every guidebook I read and every website I consulted listed Blanton Museum of Art as a must-see attraction in Austin and as one of the best museums in Austin. The art museum is located on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin, and its art collections are housed in the Mari and James A. Michener Gallery Building (I didn't know that Michener, a Doylestown native son, had a connection to Texas).  I spent about an hour and a half at the museum and then called it quits. It was an early and busy day, so I headed back to the hotel to call it a night (but not until after I drove to Mount Bonnell and stopped in at  BookPeople , Texas’ largest independent bookstore and a staple in Austin’s book community since 1970). Here's some of the art I saw and liked at the Blanton Museum of Art. Plexus No. 44 , in the plaza between the museum's two main buildings An Albert Bierstadt painting (also saw one at San Antonio Museum of Art) A Fredric Remington painting
Read more

Gruene, Texas

-
Image
My Fodor's guidebook for the Texas Hill Country mentioned a little town called Gruene (pronounced "Green") and called it a "pristine portrait of Texas history" and said it was "revered as a place of Texas legends." In the center of town is Gruene Hall , a dance hall and saloon that served as the social venue before becoming a live music venue in the 1970s. The entire town has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.  I decided to stop in the town on my way to Austin as it was only a short detour off I-35. I parked the car in a large open parking lot, and did my own walking tour of the little town, which has a boutique hotel, antique stores, lots of restaurants, a river outfitter, and tons of specialty shops. For an early dinner, I decided on a burger at the Gristmill River Restaurant which is housed in the old river-powered cotton gin. For dessert, I got a scoop of sea salt caramel ice cream in a waffle cone from Rhea's Ice Cream s...
Read more