Carlsbad Caverns

Where was I today? I was 754 feet below ground in the Carlsbad Caverns. An elevator took us down and took 1 min. to get there. IT WAS INCREDIBLE! I took the self-guided tour, which is about one and a half miles long. The tour was of the Big Room. The Big Room is approx. 600,000 sq. ft. or the size of 6 football fields. I don't know what the height would be...very high and very low. One section was the Bottomless Pit. The formations are indescribable. I took 80 photos but it was impossible to record the size of the cavern because of the darkness. There were lights to highlight certain formations, but basically it was dark in there. This is a good time of year to be here. It was steady today, but in the summer months, I'll bet it is packed. It was only $6 to get in. If I had come this far just to see the caverns it would have been worth it.

At 6:15 I went to see the bat cave and the bats leave the cave. Over 1/2 million 3-tailed bats left the cave. There is an amphitheatre that you watch from. It takes approx. 4 hours for the cave to empty. I didn't stay the full 4 hrs. as darkness fell. Again, incredible. They eat approx. two and a half tons of insects a night. You could see, hear them and smell them. We were not allowed to take photos and all electronic devices had to be turned off. We were also cautioned to be very quiet. The bats migrate south about the middle of October.

I was happy to leave the Brantley State Park campground. It seems wherever I go there is a "Dave". Those of you who know where I live in Red Deer, may remember my neighbor, Dave. The parking stalls in the park were quite distant from each other compared to most campgrounds. But, at the stall next t:o mine was "Dave". He had a makeshift campsite, with tarps everywhere.He also had two big chained dogs that barked at everyone who walked by and he was constantly yelling "shut up" to the dogs. Last night while trying to sleep I could hear this booming noise and didn't know where it was coming from. It sounded like it was coming from under my MH, so at 1:30 am I went outside to check. It was "Dave", playing his music. Quiet time in the parks is from10 pm to 7 am., but he just disregarded that rule. I made ear-plugs out of kleenex and finally got some sleep. Also, the bugs were really bad and at night the lake smelled like sewer.

I was visiting with this young woman at the bat cave. She works for a company that makes the equipment that allows cable to come into your home. I forget the name. I was telling her that I have a SPOT. She said that since they came out they have saved 200 lives. Good to know. For those of you who don't know, SPOT is a satellite personal tracker. It has 4 buttons...on/off, OK, HELP and 911. You clip it onto your belt. When you register the SPOT, you list who you want to get emails or text messages. Once a day I press OK and those people get a message via email saying Anna is OK and it gives my coordinates. They can track me on google maps as well. We have an agreement that HELP means I broke down on the road and have no cell phone signal, so call AMA and give them my coordinates. If I press the 911 button my coordinates are given to the nearest police station. It cost $100/yr for the satellite subscription. It is good for people traveling alone, mountain climbing, or whatever.

I am staying 3 nights at White's City Resort the closest campsite to the caverns. I only travelled about 38 miles today. That's plenty.

Where should I go from here? Any suggestions?