Yeehaw

It's another busybusy day. Last night we saw the bats flying from Carlsbad Caverns. It was an impressive sight. This morning we went back to Carlsbad Cavern National Park -- we never pass an opportunity to explore a cave, even if our exploration is relegated to the very beaten path.



I found the park beautiful, but not in the glorious way Yosemite is beautiful, or with Yellowstone's eerie beauty, or the Grand Canyons... well... grandeur.

The land seemed inhospitable -- like a hotel in the nasty little town of Belen, New Mexico. Even the plants were literally prickly.





Here Eric is in a short outcropping of rock that was home to many people over time, from prehistoric people to the Mescalero Apache. We spent some time there thinking about what that life might have been like, and reading about the uses of the native plants.



It was impossible to take good pictures inside the caverns. The formations were awesome.

Tonight we're in the small west Texas town of Pecos. We happened upon a festival this evening, where I ate the absolute best funnel cake ever (too hot to eat when first purchased). Eric and I each bought a 50 cent ticket for a cake walk, and of course Eric won!

Here's our homemade lemon pound cake:



It was nice to see the happy families: grandparents, parents, and children together having fun, listening to music, eating corn-on-the-cob and buying tickets for the dunking tank.

The sign at the border read "Welcome to Texas! Proud home of George W. Bush"

Trying not to hold it against 'em, seeing as they gave us a cake, and all.