Hi friends!
Needless to say, I’m still not in OKC nor did I fall off the face of the earth! The last five months have been a whirlwind — actually more like a good ole’ Oklahoma tornado or Florida hurricane.
I vastly underestimated the amount of time it was going to take to drive, explore, work and write. Turns out, I only had enough time and energy to do three. It was extremely important to me to continue and then eventually finish out this trip by living in the moment, staying safe on the road, and also staying employed so I could continue funding this whacky excursion. Just one of many learning lessons I discovered along the way I suppose. But I think that revisiting my trip now that I’ve had a chance to catch my breath and reflect will give me so much more retrospect and make the story even better for my extremely patient readers — a silver lining. Thank you in advance for understanding and I hope this explains my radio silence!
So before I continue on, just a quick life update. I’m back on Florida’s Gulf Coast, just a short 5-6 blocks from where I used to live. My city and zip code are different but how ironic that I drove over 11,000 miles all over the damn country and wound up right back where I started. Guess all roads really do lead back home. I’m the proud new owner of an awesome townhouse that I’ve been settling into since late July. I’ll share more about that story later on but I absolutely love my new place and finally have a home to call my own.
Amarillo, TX was where I last left you. I honestly can’t comprehend just how huge the state of Texas is — and I drove through the smallest part! My next stop was Carlsbad, NM where I’d be visiting Carlsbad Caverns National Park. The hours and hours of driving through west Texas and countless miles of brownfields and oil rigs definitely numbed the brain a bit.
But I finally made it to Carlsbad — not a lot going on in the town with the exception of the national park crowd (that I became an official part of) and oil field workers. My great-grandfather was born in Carlsbad in the late 1800s, before New Mexico was even a state, so it was kinda cool to go back and see the place where he was born. His father and uncles were merchants in Binghamton, NY and ended up out in Eddy Co., NM because his father contracted tuberculosis and needed to be in a more arid climate. From what we understand, they set up their businesses out in Carlsbad but eventually returned back to NY at the turn of the century.
So if you haven’t heard about the Carlsbad Caverns, it consists of around 119 caves—formed 265 million years ago when sulfuric acid dissolved limestone leaving behind caverns of all sizes. After getting some info from a local bartender the night before (best travels sources ever), I had two options to get down to the caverns. I could either take an elevator down 750 feet to the bottom or take a steep, 1.25-mile hike down through the cave’s natural entrance.
Since I was visiting Guadalupe Mountains National Park that same day (only 20 minutes away), I opted to save some time and my legs and take the elevator.
I guess I really didn’t know what to expect but this place absolutely blew me away! Safe to say, it was the most unique park I visited on my entire trip. It was like a hidden underworld, with stunning rock formations, pools of cave water and a very walkable trail that went on for miles. And my photos simply do not do it justice.
So you can image how pissed I was to read that some dipshit dumped a bag of Cheetos and damaged the cave’s ecosystem. If Cheeto-gate doesn’t ruin it for everyone, please add this park to your travel list — it’s a must-see and made my top 5 of favorite places!
It’s also worth noting that I made a travel bucket list back in 2013 — and New Mexico was on the list. The feeling of checking it off list was really cool. Come to find out, I’d check off three more bucket list places before my trip would conclude. I hope I never stop surprising myself. :)
Until next time in the very near future and definitely not five months later…grateful for your patience and willingness to still learn about my travels!
Love and light,
MW
I really enjoy hearing about your travels. You have a very engaging writing style. Probably not as spectacular as Carlsbad caverns but Louvre (spelling) Caverns in Virginia are very nice, also. They are in the Shenandoah Valley.