Day 13 would take us from Texas into New Mexico, another new state for me. This part of the country is pretty barren for amusement parks but it had been agreed very early on in the planning that we would include Western Playland. A park in El Paso, which like the last few parks was open late in the evening.
To fill the day we tried to consider White Sands Park, but we would find ourselves arriving too late and didn't fancy doubling back so far to visit it during the day. In researching UNESCO sites we discovered Carlsbad Caverns was on the route so decided to include that to break the long drive up as an alternative.
A pano from the car park, showing that there really wasn't too much to see here.
(Photo is Tal's)
Christof rocking out in the desert.
But, spin 180 degrees and there's this place, Carlsbad Caverns.
(Photo is Tal's)
I'm all ready for the descent
From a brief museum tour explaining the history of the discovery of this cave you can hike down or take the elevator. We decided to do the latter as we had heard you could easily spend a couple of hours walking around the cave once you reached it. This cavern had to be pretty big!
and it was pretty massive. Apparently it's the 5th largest in the US and according to wikipedia is a kilometer long by 191 metres wide. At it's highest it is 78 metres. So very big indeed.
Due to the low light throughout, photography was tricky, and it was difficult to appreciate the scale of the place from the photos that did come out ok.
As you walk the big circuit there are a number of plaques explaining the different types of stalactites and stalagmites that are in abundance down here.
It's not overly cold down here but do bring a sweater in case you find it chilly. It would be a shame to give up walking around this just because you didn't prepare properly.
Some of the stalagmites forming large totems
A huge expanse of open cavern.
Tal, taking a photo of the cave.
Proof of the UNESCO status which I spotted on the way out.
If you are ever looking to fill a day when on holiday it's always worth checking if these sites are in the area. As I reduce the amount of theme parks I visit each year I do research these, and I've yet to be disappointed with them.
Carlsbad was excellent, the scale of the cavern just can't be appreciated from the photos I took, and they've done a great job with the keeping the history museum piece away from the spectacle of the cavern itself.
We emerge into the daylight, ready to continue our journey.
That's El Capitan, a famous peak as you approach El Paso.
Another famous El Paso landmark is Chico's Tacos which we stopped at for a quick lunch.
Their tacos are acquired being crunchier than usual, and they're very sauce heavy but I can say I've been there.
We also killed a little bit of time visiting the Cielo Vista Mall, which wasn't amazing but did include a little 4D ride and a cinema where I watched Finding Dory. It was alright, not as strong as Nemo but they did a great job finding the cutest voice of Baby Dory, and the Octopus animation was cool.
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