Road trip

DAY THREE

Wednesday we left Lamesa and continued on to Bedford TX in the DFW area.

Actually, it wasn’t quite as simple as that. The driving directions I’d printed out from Mapquest turned out to be completely fictional for this leg of the journey; I finally resorted to asking the locals how to get back to the I20. Everyone I asked gave me the same directions, which I was hesitant to follow because they bore no resemblance to my printed ones, but finally I bowed to the majority and, as it turned out, found my way with no trouble. Freaking Mapquest.

We spent Wednesday night at the home of my friend Aaron Murphy and his family. The plan had been to get together with him and some other TX friends the following day for dinner, but due to the local outbreak of a vile plague of illness that had to be rescheduled for my return trip.

I wish the whole Murphy clan could have been in the pic, but Rochelle and Mandi were in school when it was taken, and Kris was still a little under the weather and opted for camera-wielding duty instead.

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Little Brendan is at that wonderful age (not quite two) where he has an opinion about everything, and makes up in enthusiastic volume what he lacks in scope of vocabulary. I remember it fondly from Luke’s toddler years. ;^)

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DAY TWO

Tuesday morning we left Lordsburg, drove through New Mexico and into Texas to El Paso, then veered northeast and headed back into New Mexico to visit the Carlsbad Caverns. Once we moved up north a little, New Mexico got very green and pretty.

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I’ve always wanted to see the Carlsbad Caverns, but I was blown away by how far they exceeded my expectations. The hardest part of putting this page together was limiting myself to a reasonable number of photos so the page size wouldn’t get out of hand.

Here’s the seating area where you can come to watch gazillions of bats swarm from the mouth of the cavern at dusk:

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We didn’t have time to stay for the Bat Exodus, but next time I definitely plan on seeing that.

On a sidenote, they have a fund-raising thingie there where you can “Adopt Your Very Own Bat!” You get a certificate and you can name your bat and everything. Elizabeth was *frantic* to Adopt Her Very Own Bat, and I’m all for the noble cause, but this just wasn’t an expense I wanted to deal with right then. She kept bringing it up though, and wouldn’t let it drop. Finally the lightbulb went on over my head, and I explained to her that even if she did Adopt Her Very Own Bat, she wouldn’t get to bring it home with her; it would go on living in the cave with its brethren. Elizabeth received this news with disbelief, then bemused exasperation. Then she lost all interest in adopting her very own bat. When you’re nine years old sometimes the ways of grups don’t make any sense at all.

Moving on…it’s a strange feeling, climbing down into a big gaping hole in the earth. Much suspense was felt!

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Luke brought along his canteen, just in case we got lost down there.

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And then the wonder:

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…And a chuckle or two to break up the awe. I particularly like The Giant Boob:

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The sheer size of these caverns is incredible. They just go on and on.

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All in all, a very satisfying day.

After we left Carlsbad we continued east and back into Texas, stopping for the night in a dismal little town called Lamesa. The less said of that place the better. But at least we had our memories of the Caverns to sweeten our dreams!

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DAY ONE

We left Anza CA on the morning of October 1st, 2007, and arrived in Lordsburg NM that evening.

Halfway through the day’s drive we stopped in Phoenix AZ to get some lunch and stretch our legs in a city park.

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The park was a hit, but the kids were disappointed to learn that there are no high-rise hotels in Lordsburg.

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