After saying our goodbyes to Jake's family we headed west for New Mexico and its wonders. Our first stop: Carlsbad Caverns. This was really fun and the first time I've ever done a completely self guided tour through such a big cave. We went in the Natural Entrance and cam out the elevator (believe it or not they put one in here!). I think it was about 2.5 or 3 miles and Pace walked it all himself. What a sport. He was a little nervous at first being in the cave. We also went off-roading (one last time in our escape) and went to the bat viewing as they exited the cave at dusk. I have never seen so many bats!
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| Top of the natural entrance |
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| In the cave |
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| A watering hole in the desert of Carlsbad |
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| Excitedly awaiting the bats |
The next day we loaded up and drove to Gallup, with a stop at Roswell and El Malpais National Monument (it means badlands). We did some rock hopping, sightseeing, and saw a natural arch.
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| We spotted a few UFO's and aliens in Roswell |
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| Red rock meets black volcanic rock, this picture doesn't do it justice. But it is beautiful. There was an old lava flow here and it is protected in the national monument. |
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| Our rock hopper |
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| La Ventura Natural Arch |
After a night in Gallup we entered Arizona and explored Petrified Forest National Park. Its a gem with 2 different landscapes in 1 park. We had a blast exploring, hiking, and we got to do everything we wanted to do while we were there.
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| A petroglyph that was once removed from the park, but luckily has made it back to the park. |
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| Painted Desert (the first landscape). Again my pictures don't do it justice. |
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| An old car by old Rt 66 (we move away from rt 66, and keep finding it on our trip). |
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| Ruins of a pueblo that house around 100 people |
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| Petroglyphs |
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| Our huge raven friend (Pace loved chasing them) |
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| A pile of fire wood (just kidding, its petrified wood) |
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| Check out this perfectly sliced log behind Pace, nature does it best. |
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| Admiring the views |
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| Digging for fossils, not dinosaurs (these fossils predated the dinosaurs). |
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| Old Faithful of Petrified Forest (a huge in tact petrified log) |
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| These beautiful cacti were all over |
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| An old pueblo constructed out of petrified wood (there was so much petrified wood on the hike out here, no wonder they used it for building). |
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