Spelunking and Sledding?!?!
The Saturday after Drury and MSU finished finals (May 16), my friends Erica and Kate drove down to El Paso to spend a week with me! They drove straight through from Springfield and decided that it wasn't actually that bad split between the 2 of them, but neither one of them ever wants to live in West Texas. They both agreed though, that it suits me perfectly and that this is definitely where God wants me to be serving right now.
The week was a good mix of exploration and relaxation. We ate lots of yummy Chris food, saw some sights around El Paso, crossed the border a few times, and even put them to work in the thrift store one morning. One place we went in El Paso was the Border Patrol Museum--who knew there was one of those?!? Even though it was small, when you get the 3 of us together (+ Kristine, the summer volunteer who got here a week ago today), we managed to entertain ourselves ;) It actually all started when we drove up and there were a bunch of guys standing in a circle in the middle of the driveway holding big guns (they were practicing for some kind of memorial service they were having the next day--I didn't realize that many CBP agents lost their lives in the line of duty)! I think it's safe to say though, that the highlight of the week was our 2-day camping adventure to Carlsbad Caverns National Park and White Sands National Monument. Here's some pictures I took of the week:
We got to Carlsbad around noon on Wednesday. First we took the self-guided and aptly named "Big Room" tour (it's the size of 14 football fields!) and then we took the "Lower Cave" guided tour, for which we had to have tennis shoes, batteries for the helmets they gave us, and gloves! It was soooo cool!
A stalactite and a stalagmite. C for ceiling--they cling tightly to the ceiling--and G for ground--you might trip on one if you're not careful!
The original ladder from a 1925 National Geographic expedition into Lower Cave. That's not how we got down there, though (I'm not actually allowed to tell you...they seriously warned us not to before the tour because if someone did without a guide it could be dangerous).
The "Rock of Ages." It makes me think of the hymn but it probably has more to do with the fact that it's really old!
Ocotillo cacti were everywhere and they were almost all in bloom! I just realized that this picture looks kind of out of place, but this was right next to the parking lot...I took it at lunch in between our 2 tours.
"On rope!"
Erica almost at the bottom of the final ladder.
The spelunkers!
Water! Some of the water had these amazing creatures in it called horsehair worms. Their eggs are eaten by cave crickets, who then go someplace else in the cave and throw the eggs up so they can hatch. Or something like that...God had fun when he made that one up!
I did the "optional crawl" on our tour...made it!
Erica's favorite part of the cave was the crystals coming off the cave formation called "popcorn"...here's a pretty decent close-up shot of it.
Historic graffiti. Yup, anything in the park over 50 years old (from buildings to beer bottles) becomes "historic." Thusly, that is no ordinary graffiti you are looking at...it's from 1925 so it's "historic graffiti!"
The "Texas toothpick!"
Cave pearls!
Our campsite for Wednesday night! Everyone at the desk in the visitors' center was very concerned about us camping in the desert, but finally we found someone incredibly helpful who laid out our options for us (staying in the park itself with a backcountry permit, finding a nearby campground, or parking on the side of the road and camping wherever we felt like it on Bureau of Land Services land) along with all the pros and cons. We wound up staying in the park: we parked at a trailhead, hiked about a half hour, and found a flat, cactus-free spot to pitch our tent!
Good morning desert!
I see white sand! Pretty much, there is an 8 mile drive into the heart of the dunes and you can do whatever you want b/c it's just sand and you can't mess it up. Most people, including us, just kinda treat it like snow, only better because it's not cold and wet. We went sledding, made sand angels, and sunbathed mostly. I even took my shoes off!
Those rain clouds make the sand look really white!
Not a bad footprint picture...
The edge of the dunes.
Erica running down a big sand dune.
It got WAY windy while we were waiting for the Sunset Stroll on Thursday night. We waited in the car for awhile and then attempted to cook out, but decided to abandon ship when we couldn't avoid the rain any longer. Good choice!
To Hueco Tanks on Friday morning...it's a lot greener in May than February!
Can you spot the Texas horned lizard?
The 4 of us: Kristine, Erica, Kate, and I (we wound up getting a private tour b/c nobody else showed up!)
We went to Andale the Friday night before they left. It's Erica's birthday on the 27th so with Chris around you know what that means...
Until next time, blessings!
The week was a good mix of exploration and relaxation. We ate lots of yummy Chris food, saw some sights around El Paso, crossed the border a few times, and even put them to work in the thrift store one morning. One place we went in El Paso was the Border Patrol Museum--who knew there was one of those?!? Even though it was small, when you get the 3 of us together (+ Kristine, the summer volunteer who got here a week ago today), we managed to entertain ourselves ;) It actually all started when we drove up and there were a bunch of guys standing in a circle in the middle of the driveway holding big guns (they were practicing for some kind of memorial service they were having the next day--I didn't realize that many CBP agents lost their lives in the line of duty)! I think it's safe to say though, that the highlight of the week was our 2-day camping adventure to Carlsbad Caverns National Park and White Sands National Monument. Here's some pictures I took of the week:
We got to Carlsbad around noon on Wednesday. First we took the self-guided and aptly named "Big Room" tour (it's the size of 14 football fields!) and then we took the "Lower Cave" guided tour, for which we had to have tennis shoes, batteries for the helmets they gave us, and gloves! It was soooo cool!
A stalactite and a stalagmite. C for ceiling--they cling tightly to the ceiling--and G for ground--you might trip on one if you're not careful!
The original ladder from a 1925 National Geographic expedition into Lower Cave. That's not how we got down there, though (I'm not actually allowed to tell you...they seriously warned us not to before the tour because if someone did without a guide it could be dangerous).
The "Rock of Ages." It makes me think of the hymn but it probably has more to do with the fact that it's really old!
Ocotillo cacti were everywhere and they were almost all in bloom! I just realized that this picture looks kind of out of place, but this was right next to the parking lot...I took it at lunch in between our 2 tours.
"On rope!"
Erica almost at the bottom of the final ladder.
The spelunkers!
Water! Some of the water had these amazing creatures in it called horsehair worms. Their eggs are eaten by cave crickets, who then go someplace else in the cave and throw the eggs up so they can hatch. Or something like that...God had fun when he made that one up!
I did the "optional crawl" on our tour...made it!
Erica's favorite part of the cave was the crystals coming off the cave formation called "popcorn"...here's a pretty decent close-up shot of it.
Historic graffiti. Yup, anything in the park over 50 years old (from buildings to beer bottles) becomes "historic." Thusly, that is no ordinary graffiti you are looking at...it's from 1925 so it's "historic graffiti!"
The "Texas toothpick!"
Cave pearls!
Our campsite for Wednesday night! Everyone at the desk in the visitors' center was very concerned about us camping in the desert, but finally we found someone incredibly helpful who laid out our options for us (staying in the park itself with a backcountry permit, finding a nearby campground, or parking on the side of the road and camping wherever we felt like it on Bureau of Land Services land) along with all the pros and cons. We wound up staying in the park: we parked at a trailhead, hiked about a half hour, and found a flat, cactus-free spot to pitch our tent!
Good morning desert!
I see white sand! Pretty much, there is an 8 mile drive into the heart of the dunes and you can do whatever you want b/c it's just sand and you can't mess it up. Most people, including us, just kinda treat it like snow, only better because it's not cold and wet. We went sledding, made sand angels, and sunbathed mostly. I even took my shoes off!
Those rain clouds make the sand look really white!
Not a bad footprint picture...
The edge of the dunes.
Erica running down a big sand dune.
It got WAY windy while we were waiting for the Sunset Stroll on Thursday night. We waited in the car for awhile and then attempted to cook out, but decided to abandon ship when we couldn't avoid the rain any longer. Good choice!
To Hueco Tanks on Friday morning...it's a lot greener in May than February!
Can you spot the Texas horned lizard?
The 4 of us: Kristine, Erica, Kate, and I (we wound up getting a private tour b/c nobody else showed up!)
We went to Andale the Friday night before they left. It's Erica's birthday on the 27th so with Chris around you know what that means...
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