Park 3: Carlsbad Caverns, NM:  What a day at Carlsbad Caverns!  I take back my "seen one, seen them all" comment about rocks.  This pile of rocks was certainly different, readily apparent when we entered the mile and a quarter steep switchback natural walking entrance!  No elevators for John Morris.  When we entered he handed me a 3 inch flashlight, as if that would calm my fears about being underground for 6 hours!


Natural Cavern Entrance

Column in Big Room

Stalactites and Stalagmites in Kings Palace

If you haven't been here, put this on your bucket list! We took the King's Palace Tour with a veteran NPS Ranger to the deepest part of the paved trail--830 feet below ground level.  The four large chambers toured were highly decorated over millions of years by dripping sulphuric acid.  It is really impossible to describe the unusual beauty.  When the ranger turned out the lights for us to experience total darkness, she asked for volunteers to test the echo in the cave.  The familiar hymn, "For the beauty of the earth" just came out of my mouth.   
We then walked the 1.3 mile Big Room perimeter on our own with more glistening formations to see.  Awesome!  The NPS has done an incredible job making this natural wonder accessible for most people. We finally took the elevator to the surface at 4:00.  We returned at 7:00 to watch the nightly exodus of the Brazilian free-tailed bats from the natural entrance; this sighting in 1898 supposedly led to the modern day discovery of the cave by Jim White, a 16 year old ranch hand.            

Odometer: 2,686 miles 
Pedometer: Unknown, but certainly exceeding 10,000 steps!