Our ride to Carlsbad Caverns took us through the west Texas oil country. The terrain throughout the ride was flat and scrubby. We did see some tumbleweed.
The economy of west Texas is clearly heavily dependent on the oil and gas industry. Everywhere we rode we saw pumpjacks rocking away, pumping crude out of the ground. Exploration derricks were common. Practically every vehicle (overwhelmingly pickups) was adorned with the logo of an oil and gas industry company.
We arrived at Carlsbad Caverns National Park by mid-afternoon. The parking lot was surprisingly full for a late April midweek day.
Carlsbad Caverns was incredible. Gigantic in scope, it contains over 119 known caves (they are still exploring for more). Formed by sulfuric acid eating into limestone, the caves are home to nearly 400,000 Brazilian bats.
We took the elevator down from the park's visitor center to the Big Room - to 750 feet underground.
The major attraction on our tour was the Big Room, a natural limestone chamber that is 4,000 feet long, 625 feet wide and 225 high.
Further down are photos we took in the cave. Photography in the caves is difficult since it is so big that flash photography only works well when shooting close ups. Longer shots would require tripods and other stuff we did not have.
Bill, a speck in the distance, riding down Texas Highway XXX
Drilling for oil north of Fort Stockton, Texas
Today's photo of Jim and Bill standing by their bikes.
The entrance to Carlsbad Caverns National Park.
View from Carlsbad Caverns to valley below.
We spent the night in Roswell, New Mexico, a city famous for a reported UFO sighting in 1947. On Thursday we visit the International UFO Museum and Research Center in Roswell. That should be interesting.
