Yesterday, Thursday, we went shopping for some riding boots for Betty at a store in Carlsbad.  Then we got a few things at Walmart and headed off to Carlsbad Caverns National Park, where we hiked down to the bottom of the cavern.  We stayed to watch the bats swarm out the entrance at 7:30 pm, then drove drove back to the RV park.  What a day!

We woke up today feeling pretty sore.  Now that we have decent Wi-Fi, I shall post photos of that day.  By the way, there are no photos of the bats, since using any electronic device (any camera, phone, tablet, etc) during their swarm out of the cave is prohibited.  It seems that bats CAN see and the lights would disturb them.

Betty photographing "Whale's Mouth" feature.

Some of these formations are about 25-30 feet across.

This is a section occupying a whole side of the cave at one level.

Notice the hand rails (lower left) where we walked the switch-back trails down the cavern.  This gives a sense of proportion for the size of these formations.

Here again, notice the hand rails from which we viewed the large room-sized formations.

This is another huge room-sized formation.

Another huge formation overhead.

Here is a unique formation unlike most of them.

This was shot in the Great Room toward the bottom of the cavern.  Note the spectators in the lower left.  This gives a sense of the scope of this cavern.  

Switch-back trail leading down to the cavern opening, out of which the bats swarm around 7:30 pm

The amphitheatre where crowds gather at 6:45 pm to hear a lecture on bats, followed by the swarm outward of the bats around 7:30 pm.  They immediately turn hard to their left (our right in this view) and head southward looking for insects to eat.

Today, Friday, we drove a long way for us (over 300 miles) to Silver City, New Mexico.   Along the way, Betty took some photos of the scenery along the road.

Scene along Rt 180 on the way to Silver City, New Mexico.

My fancy new Garmin RV GPS sent us to the wrong road for the RV park here, so we ended up wasting time on a winding country road not designed for a motorhome, but we made it here safely, though we got the motorhome and Jeep covered in a thick coating of dirt.  They call it dust here.  Then you have to get special permission from the RV park to wash a vehicle, so we drove the Jeep to a local car wash, but the motorhome still needs serious attention.  We shall see what we can do tomorrow.  See related photos.

Our Jeep Cherokee totally covered in dirt from ride to RV park in Silver City.

And here is the back of the motorhome.  To the middle left you can barely make out the Allegro logo.

Our parking slot.  Wild flowers in the foreground and an old cemetery in the background.  Note that the Jeep looks much better after passing through the car wash.

Wild flowers closeup.

Here is a plant that Betty has been trying to identify for days.

Tomorrow we shall head to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument.  Hope to have some good photos of that.