Love from the Border: A trip to Carlsbad Caverns! ("Carl's BAD," as Erika says :))

The entrance/gaping hole that is Carlsbad Caverns

For those of you who truly know me, y'all know that I'm one who is ALWAYS up for adventure, a new place, and meeting new people. You also know that I adore road trips with friends, music, and beautiful, scenic routes. This post is just about all of that and much much more!

We had community day this past Sunday (July 7), and we had the option of going to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. It ended up not even being an option because we obviously, impulsively said with jubilation "OMG LET'S GO." For those of you who have not been to Carlsbad, I highly encourage you to adventure down here and check it out. It's absolutely beautiful and a really amazing view. The road trip to the caverns isn't that shabby either!

Hannah picked us up around 7:30 a.m., and it's a little over 3 hr drive out there. Although I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before due all of the inner excitement, I woke up ridiculously fast and could not wait to get on the road. One of the most moving components of this summer in El Paso has been the trips we've experienced together. These trips and experiences have been very spiritual in the sense that it's incredible to see all the natural beauty. They have also been very moving in the sense that they're places I haven't seen overall. Anyways, back to the trip. I couldn't stop staring out the window the whole drive. Part of me wanted to sleep very badly, but the other part of me just wanted to stare and soak in all of the beauty! I am going to miss the southwest so so much. Everywhere I looked there were mountains, hills, and the beautiful desert scene. The air was warm (obviously) and the wind was gentle. It was perfect road trip weather. The drive took us past White Sands, which instantly reminded me of June 23, 2013 (the June full moon). I wanted very much to stop and get out and jump off white sand dunes again. It's funny how memories have such a strong impact on us. I would definitely relive that night in a heartbeat.

We stopped at a rest stop that had the prettiest mountains surrounding all sides. Not to sound weird, but I've never seen such a pretty rest stop ground. We still had about an hour left before we arrived, and I was totally ok with that. I took in everything around me and listened to my ipod blast Mumford and Sons. I thought about all of the friends I've met here, and how much of an impact they've made in my life during our brief time together. I also thought about the kids, and the other incredible experiences that have happened. Everything has left a deep impression in me. It was just what I needed.

When we were getting closer to Carlsbad, we had to take a path that went up mountains. It swerved in and out of them, and it was the sweetest view. It was wicked awesome being able to look down and see the winding path that took us higher and higher. We arrived to Carlsbad and luckily it wasn't too terribly busy. It was a little after 10:30, so the sun was still not quite at its warmest. Off to the left there was an overlook area that had mountains and hills in the distance. We had our call to focus at that location. It was moving being able to focus while staring out at New Mexico. Before we ventured into the caverns, a park ranger told us that the cave was 65 degrees F, and 55% humidity. We all just stared at each other with shock and horror when she mentioned the 55% humidity. After all, it did not take us very long to adjust to the dry heat and to ditch the humidity. I mean, our bodies freak out here when it's only 2% humidity. Still, that did not kill my excitement or make me feel terribly worried that I would feel claustrophobic in a fishbowl. My only thought, "Bring it on."

The path to the cavern itself was winding and gorgeous. It looked like we were entering the point of no return slash a bottomless pit. The park rangers said that there were sometimes bats in the cave, which scared me more than the fact that it was cold, dark, and damp. I hate bats with a passion. Luckily, none were chilling in there that day! *Whew*. The path down Carlsbad was steep and not nearly wide enough. We all walked in a line on our way down. I looked up at the hole that acted as the entrance when I reached the last bit of sunlight. The hole shrank, and eventually disappeared. That's when it began to feel cooler. We saw many giant speleothems and gaping holds inside the cavern walls. There were also interior rocks that were once stuck to the sides of the cavern. Water dripped down periodically as well. It was almost frightening to have water strike your head because you already couldn't see very well.

As we continued down the cavern, we were left feeling stunned by the beauty that and intricate speleothems. It took us about an hour before we reached the very bottom. We continued to walk around the bottom of the cavern. This pathway was leveled and not nearly as slippery. It was definitely cold, and we could hear people speaking in all different languages, accents, and dialects around us. Our hair was also looking more like midwest hair...frizzy and gross. Ha. We took a group picture once we reached the bottom, right before we headed back to the top.

It was very humorous walking outside because we all immediately proclaimed, "Oh my gosh it feels so great out here!!" Keep in mind it was about 98 degrees outside...HOWEVER, it was not humid, so to us it really did feel amazing! ;) In other words, we are screwed when we get home. The five of us had a picnic outside. We sat at a picnic table that was on top of an overlook. It was a gorgeous view! We had many great discussions about how Border Servant has impacted us and what new perspectives it brought to us over the summer. We were all able to contribute to these questions and be open and present in the conversation.

The ride home was a relaxing 3.5 hour drive. I basically listened to my ipod the whole time, and fell asleep here and there. I kept thinking about how thankful I was to be able to experience these amazing trips and see all of these new places that I had never ever heard of before coming down. I began to relive all of these trips and experiences in my head, and felt so very happy thinking about them all. How I felt at that moment, what I was wearing, who I was with, what the sounds were, what the smells were, and how much we laughed and smiled during those trips. White Sands especially stood out to me. It's wonderful being able to add Carlsbad Caverns to the list of trips and experiences. Carlsbad was so stunning, and the freeway that swerved all around the mountain sides provided a breathtakingly beautiful view. It was the perfect view to take as we departed from an impressionable trip.