Sorry I haven't blogged in a while, we have been running all day, drinking lots of red wine while hanging out with Bill and Kathy and totally crashing at night! What a great past couple of days - or maybe it was a week?
When the festival was over we headed to meet them. It was our turn to drive all day, but it was worth it. They are so much fun to be with. We met up in Carlsbad, NM. From Albuquerque we had to pass through the Guadalupe mountains. They were pretty. I did not realize that El Paso, TX is a border town and when we passed through it - it was crazy!!! the main highway is less than 1/2 mile from Mexico. Very very dangerous city with gangs and kidnappings. We couldnt get out there fast enough. Just outside of El Paso we were searched, again, for illegal immigrants...HA, I laughed out loud when they asked if we had anyone hiding in the back. (Not live ones, I wanted to say so badly).
We were a day behind their schedule so the day we explored the caverns they were back on the road.They did the caverns and the bats the day before us. But the first day together we all went on a hike. It was called Sitting Bull Falls. It was an easy trail until the boys decided to take us off path. (What a surprise!) We walked though the river and saw snakes and tarantulas and lots of bugs. The boys had a great time, me and Kathy, not so much. Oh, and I fell in the river too! Funny right? NOT!!! I was covered with mosquito larvae and man those baby little things can really suck your blood!!! All over my arms. I looked diseased. We walked by some fossils and Tommy was sure to point out a stink bug to me.
I honestly cant remember exactly how it went but I'm sure we had dinner and wine together. All the days and weeks seem to meld together. Its so hard to believe it has been 5 months. Moab, our first stop seems as if it were 2 yrs ago.
The next day we headed over to the caverns and they hit the road. The caverns were not even close to comparison to the other caves we have explored. These are HUGE!!! We arrived after 2:00 and one part of the cave was closed because it was the end with the bat cave. They start to stir around 2-3pm and you cannot disturb them. They, the National Park Service, is extremely aware of the needs of the bats and are insistent on their rules of no cameras, no cell phone, no talking. They reiterate these rules 4 to 5 times during the show of bats. But that was later on in the day.
The first thing we did when we arrived, was stamp my passport with yet another National Park cancellation. I think I have 18 now. After getting tickets to enter the cave we purchased these 'talking sticks'. It is the best way to do a tour. It looks like a Police Baton with #'s on it. You set your own pace and as you progress you come up to #'s marked on a post. You punch the said # in the stick to hear all about what your standing in front of. The last time we toured like this was in Pearl Harbor. Every museum should have this system.
Once we were all set to go, we took an elevator down into the depths of the earth 754 feet. Under the surface more than a 75 storied sky scrapper. Can you imagine? What if there was an Earthquake? We would undoubtedly be buried alive, never to be found! (When are we ever going to learn to stop taking these crazy risks?)
Once inside, its a cool 54 degrees. The ceilings are extreme and the spires, hoodoos and pinnacles are amazing. The walkway is 2.3 miles of pure astonishment. To think you are over 700 feet below the surface and it is so open and so beautiful and so natural, it is hard to grasp in your mind.
I'm sure the pictures will do no justice but I will post them anyway. There is alot of water in this cave, which ultimately creates all the stalactites and stalagmites. The colors are beautiful.
Back up at the surface, we then headed over to an outdoor amphitheater. It is terraced so everyone has a clear view of the natural opening of the cave where the bats enter every morning an leave at night. They have a Ranger that talks to the crowd to educate you all about their bats, and other species that do not live in their cave. She was very informative and was more than happy to answer any questions asked by the audience. And there were plenty. The ranger explained to us that the time the bats vacate the cave is predictable but not 100% accurate,. As the days get shorter the bats leave later. They fly all night, eating mosquitoes and moths and return at sunrise. They truly hang from the ceiling and are so close together that 200 bats can fit in a space that is the size of our Rangers hat, the inside of the hat.
We learned about mating and territories and babies. It was captivating, even though we were talking about bats. They finally flew at 6:55pm. Three hundred thousand of them! YES!!! 300,000!!! It was the coolest thing the way they swirl around and fly off in groups. It looked like a cloud of smoke as they left your sight. They are very little mammals. If you take your 2 thumbs and place them side by side and open/spread your fingers - that is the fully extended size of them. When closed up and hanging for the night they are the width of your 4 fingers.
We were not permitted to take photos AT ALL! They site you with a fine if caught. They want the bats to come back time after time and for it to be as natural as possible. Its natural alright - they stink!!! We didn't stay for the entire flight because it takes over 2 hrs for all of them to leave the cave and once the sky is dark you can longer see them leaving.
We slept well that night and hit the road again the next morning to once again meet up with Kathy and Bill. This time it was in Junction, TX. They stopped in Sonora to explore more caves while we were traveling. We both stayed one night at this beautiful Pecan Farm RV Park. The next day they headed toward Gruene (pronounced Green), TX for the October fest and we headed to San Antonio.
Thanks for reading and I hope the pictures give you some idea of our adventure.
