Day 10, Carlsbad, NM

On June 24th, we explored the Carlsbad Caverns. We headed out early to hopefully beat the crowds, which turned out to be a good decision.  Rather than take the elevator down, we hiked in through the natural entrance.  This was a descent of about 750 feet.  The outside temperature hovered in the upper 90s so we were happy to go underground to the comfort of mid-50 degree temperature!

This was an incredible experience... we saw some amazing formations and the size of the main room is hard to imagine... I think the sign said 14 football fields.  We learned about columns and limestone and bats, etc.  The boys told me today that touring these caverns has been their favorite of the trip so far:)  We spent several hours walking all of the trails that we could access without taking a specific tour.  We debated hiking back out vs. taking the elevator but in the end, due to time constraints, we took the easy way out...

After grabbing lunch, we headed over to the Living Desert Zoo.  I was particularly interested in seeing this since many of the animals have been rescued.  My sister had joked, asking us if we'd seen a roadrunner in the desert yet so we were happy to oblige her... they had a roadrunner at this zoo... along with elk, buffalo, a bald eagle, owls, and a bobcat... unfortunately the bear and mountain lion were hiding... probably napping in the shade somewhere. Due to the heat, it was a quick trip through this zoo, but very enjoyable.