Nundarground

I think I survived the night without being abducted by aliens or the locals. First thing I headed over to the local UFO museum for a quick walkthrough of the exhibits there. Not really too much I hadn't already seen on any number of Discovery channel shows but still pretty cool to see it firsthand. From there I hopped back in the weather balloon and headed south towards Carlsbad and the caverns below. I must mention that Roswell holds the record for worst gas of the drive, even with several thousand miles left I don't think anyone else will top $3.60/gallon for 90 octane :(
The drive south on 285 was pretty short and I rolled into the park around 1:30. I grabbed a ticket for the King's Palace tour and hopped on the elevator for the 750ft descent. The caves are incredible and I'm so glad Danielle talked me into going (and reminded me to take the tripod). The King's Palace tour is guided so you get to hear some of the history of how the caves were found and how the park has evolved over the years (no elevators back at the beginning). They also turn all the lights out to give you and idea of what Jim White had to deal with when he was first exploring the caves. After the King's Palace I did the hike through the Big Room eventually spending about 4hrs underground. I didn't take too many pictures since I had to do 15-20 second exposures due to the limited light.
From the caverns I headed back north into the town of Carlsbad for the Best Western I had booked. A pretty short day and early to bed for the long day scheduled tomorrow.

Carlsbad Caverns pics

Trip Stats:

130 miles

2.5hrs of driving

55mph average speed

30mpg

2900 ft climbed

one gas stop