So we decided to go down to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico yesterday. It is a little drive-- over 3 hours each way. We left in the morning and made it to the town of Carlsbad for lunch. We then drove the rest of the way to the caverns. We stopped by the visitor's center first to buy our tickets and look at some of the exhibits. Ethan liked playing in the mock cave that they have!
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| Ethan in the mock cave in the visitor's center |
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| Ethan looks like he's ready to go caving! |
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| Adalyn too! |
There are two different ways to get down to the cave. You can either go through the natural entrance
and walk in through cave passages for an hour until you get to the main cavern. The other option is to take an elevator ride straight from the visitor's center down to the main cavern! Since we had two little kids, we decided to take the easier way! The elevator takes you 750 feet down into a side cavern that has been converted to a below ground rest area, complete with gift shop, restrooms, and drinking fountains.
The main cavern is HUGE. They have built a paved walking path with hand railings so you can walk around it. The walk takes about 1 1/2 to 2 hours! We were probably about 2 hours since we were slow and took a few breaks. They have also put some lights throughout the caverns, but trust me, it is still mostly black and dark. The pictures I have are some of the most well lit parts and I tried to take lots more that were too dark to see. I can only imagine being an early cave explorer with only hand lanterns. It would be very difficult to figure out where you are and how massive it truly is.
It seemed like we were some of the only ones crazy enough to bring such young kids into the cave! It was a lot of work since you can't take strollers. Ethan insisted on being carried a good portion of the trip too... However, it was worth it to see this natural wonder.
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| These stalactites looked like crystals on the ceiling |
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| You can see the hand railings lining the trail |
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| A column in the cave they call "Rock of Ages" |
2 comments:
Looks like a very interesting visit. I agree that it looks too difficult to bring kids along and carry them. You two are tough.
Congratulations on finishing the exams
Looks like it was a fun day trip. Ethan was telling me about it on the phone today. He said it was far away and really big!
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