Van Horn & 1st visit to Carlsbad…

Enjoyed my visit to Van Horn.  Super fast WiFi, fast enough that I could watch a complete HBO or Amazon movie without a glitch. Nice flat countryside for bike riding. A store right next to the RV park. And several highly recommended resturants that the owners of the RV park had personally visited in the 5 months since they’d bought the RV park. Decided to try what I was told was a very good steak house just a block away. With a bar. Cool. So my first night here I bike over to the Cattle Company and find that they do indeed have an incredible steak. The Flat Iron. Tender like a filet mignon, but with the flavor of prime rib. Yum. Bad part was here I’m getting an expensive steak, and they only have those damned sweet rolls. Like Hawaiian type bread. Comes with honey butter cups. Gah! So I ask for just toast. I mean, really, who doesn’t eat their steak with garlic bread? Nope, they don’t have regular bread. So I ask for a couple pads of butter. They charge $0.50 for them even though I don’t even remove the lids from the honey butter cups. Order the salad, and typically, it’s not a salad. Two kinds of lettuce and 3 cherry tomatoes. That’s not a salad. OK, I try again for some veggies and order corn on the cob. I find out that they cook the cobs in hot salted water, then keep them warm in melted honey butter! Damnit! What the fuck is wrong with restaurants these days that they won’t even attempt to provide a decent, healthy, dinner??? No vegetables in the salads, mass quantities of sugar on everything. Well, the steak was good.

Three days later, I check the weather up at Carlsbad Caverns (CC) and it’s a little dicey but not too bad, so next morning off I go. Forty minutes later, and I’m heading into this. Looks pretty. But ominous.

You climb from Van Horn at 4,000 feet, to CC at 6,000 feet. So you’re bound to run into some bad weather. Or have to drive through some interesting clouds.

When I arrive at the visitors center and park, I find the wind is rather annoying. Too blustery to be hiking around in it much. I didn’t get any pictures as I was hurrying indoors but here’s a shot from my next visit a month later. Much better weather.

  What I did after enjoying a nice coffee and a look-see in the center’s Gift Shop and Restaurant, was get my ticket for the Carlsbad Cavern self guided tour, board the elevator and zoom, I’m down inside the cavern. Since I have the NP’s gold card, my ticket was free.

Much better weather here than up topside. No bothersome wind to speak of. Quite the setup down here too. Nice cement floors in this cafe area, paved pathway, subdued lighting, the whole 9 yards. I’d brought my jacket, camera, hat, and flashlight like a good tourist and I was ready to see this thing!

Here’s a shot of the pathway that’s typical throughout the cavern system. I did take the first few shots with the flash, but soon found that the available light made most of my pictures much more interesting without flash.

Here’s where I switched to ‘no flash’. This cavern is freaking huge! Wow. There’s enough artificial light that you can see the entire thing from here or there on the trail. This next picture might look like a bulbous rock hovering over the ground, but actually, it’s a cave that goes back a ways. Oh, the natural entrance. I was hoping I would have the time today to make that hike today too. But from up above down to here. It’s not a very long hike, but steep.

This cave was really neat…too bad the picture isn’t. The trail is dark here and there so that adds a bit of mystery to the hike, which is 1.25 miles in length. Takes around 1.5 hours to wander the trail. I took 2 hours because there’s lots to see and enjoy. Temperature is around 58°F today, so happy I had my light jacket, long pants, and hiking shoes. It feels dry here. The smell is a delicate, earthy smell with a hint of water. No mold, fungus or animal smells are evident. The cave has been lifted over geologic time by geologic forces and the water that once filled it drained away as it lifted above the water table, but a little water still makes it’s way down here through the overlying rock. Which accounts for the occasional puddles and the one small shower of water droplets I walked through on the trail.

Looking up at a ceiling detail. These columns are cool. And you don’t really see them from the trail until you’re right on top of them. Here’s one of the several ponds I passed by. No aquatic life in them. Yes, some areas are really dark. So dark you can’t really see where your feet are landing as you walk. But the trail is fairly level, and the guard rails keep you situated so you don’t need too much light. That old ladder is what, 100 years old or something. Can’t use it today though, I don’t think. Even with a flash, can’t see the bottom. This is the bottomless pit. Which really is only 125 feet deep. See how nice the trail is?Many of the various colors along the trail are natural. All the lighting down here is white light. This green color is due to copper inclusion in the rock.Now you may be asking yourself at this point, “Jim, we know you’re smart and sexy, but how did you get those clear pictures in semi-darkness without using a flash?” Well, it’s simple, I put the camera on the handrail to steady it and then carefully pressed the shutter as delicately as possible. And thanks for asking.

Than after a 2 hour leisurely stroll through the cavern, you see something off in the distance that appears to be man made.  Why yes, I’ve returned to my starting point. And here it’s time for a coffee break. Nice place to rest after that hike. Then I took the elevator back up and again wandered around the gift shop, bookstore, and cafe. Took a look outside and whoa! What the hell. Wind is hurricaning. Sheets of rain, being blown horizontally. The hike to the outdoor entrance to the caverns is out in that stuff and it’s a 15 minute walk. Well, screw that. I’ll come back and do that hike some other day. After a small lunch at the cafe, I struggle out to my RV and the wind is hitting it full on the passenger side, rocking it quite vigorously. I estimate it’s 60 MPH. I really have to keep a death grip on my door to keep it from slamming into the side of the rig as I clamber inside. I drive over to the side of a small hill just further on in the parking lot to lessen the wind and attend to seeing that the awning is all lashed and clamped down, then head off down off this nightmarishly windy hilltop into a valley where the wind finally lessens. Blocked somewhat by the hills, but still persistent. And a short stop at one of the roadside attractions.  I’d hide in there myself if the weather got any worse today. Normally I would have walked down there but the rain was pretty steady. I passed by the RV park just outside the National Park and kept on going as the weather wasn’t getting better. Decided to stay in Van Horn a few more days. And an hour later, I’m dropping out of the Guadalupe Mountains into the valley where Van Horn is.

After signing up for another 3 days at the RV park, and with nice sunshine, I’m riding my bike around town and stop at a thrift (junk) store. I ask the owner if he knows any RV mechanics. And sitting right there is a guy who’s between jobs as a hydraulic mechanic. Not a RV mechanic, but just too good of a coincidence to pass up. My parking brake is a hydraulic system! So I make arrangements with him, he drives over to the RV park and checks it out. Within a hour he’s got it fixed. Yeah!

And then I ask him, since I need to do the regular maintenance and all, but can’t do it myself because of my shoulder, would he be interested in doing it for me? It’s been 20,000 miles since the last oil change, and it needs one. Wouldn’t hurt to have all the fluids checked, topped off, and the chassis lubed. Yes, he’d be happy too. So, soon after paying small town prices for oil and filter, I’m at his ranch and he gets all my fluids and the oil filter changed and the chassis lubed. Also topped off the gear oil in the differential. Glad to have gotten all that done and out of the way. Than I ask him if he knows someone who’ll clean my RV for me? Why yes, his brother does that sort of thing. Mostly houses though.

But the brother accepts the job and soon I’ve got my RV all clean! I can see out of the windows! Even had the carpets power washed. I over paid, but, hell, I don’t give a crap. Those guys did a good job, and helped me out when I wasn’t physically able to do it myself without pain. I’m not complaining about it being expensive the least little bit.

And here it is May 10th. I’ve been extending my stay here in Van Horn because every time I am ready to leave, and check the weather up north, it’s still bad. As an example, I want to go to CC’s again and hike the outside entrance down into the cavern but there is an alert, today, that there’s no backcountry camping allowed in the park because of heavy rainfall. Gah! And then last week, when I’d planned on leaving but decided at the last minute to wait a week, in a town I was planning on passing through at about the time I would have passed through there was a tornado. If I’d left that day I would have ran into it perhaps. Whew. What a crazy year for weather. Expected though, since the scientists have been telling us for years to be ready for it. And here’s what the weather was looking like on April 24th.

I’ve decided that it’s mild enough weather now that I’ll attempt to head up north day after tomorrow. Stop at Carlsbad Cavern again. Spend the night, then, who knows where. Due north though.

Here’s a couple pictures I took today outside the RV park of the main drag through town. So many business closed. Especially on the north side. But, they have a very nice Cattle Company restaurant and bar practically right next door that I’ve visited several times. Had a very nice ‘Chicken fried Chicken’ dinner there last night. Then there’s a Mexican place 1/2 mile down the road that’s both economical and good. Named Chey’s. Seems it was one of John Madden’s favorite spots to stop at when he traveled (he’s afraid of flying) in his RV across country. Sadly the owners are ignorant and put on their menus a big ol’ obvious “Thanks Jeebus” blurb because of Madden merely stopping there occasionally. Guess Jesus can’t be bothered saving starving or abused kids all over the world but helps out this restaurant in Van Horn with some publicity. Seems legit.

About the only thing left open in town are a few motels and a couple of the better restaurants. And one nice old hotel. There are many restaurants in town that are closed. Though the fuel stops and fast food joints nearer the freeway are doing OK it seems. I went over there the other day to have a frosty in the Wendy’s joint. Yum.

While I have been staying here in Van Horn, the not-that-old gas station with recently remodeled grocery/convenience store and hot food deli right next to the RV park closed it’s doors. Big ol’ for sale sign on it now. It was pretty handy while it was open, being right next door and all. I guess I’m starting to worry that small towns in the US seem to be dying for some reason. If you drive through as many as I have, you’ll start to notice that their downtown buildings are 50’s to 70’s style and not many newer than that. Everyone seems to be heading for the big cities to survive and the small towns are dying all over the place. Nothing and no one to sustain them.

Well, that’s all I have until I travel again. I’m all caught up with my blog. Thanks for visiting and hope you enjoyed some of the pictures and my musings.

Here it is May 13th, and I’ve paid for another week in Van Horn. Once again, my departure date has been pushed back because of uncomfortable weather due north of here. They’re getting hammered up where I wanted to be by now if I hadn’t delayed again. Yesterday afternoon the weather closed in on Van Horn and the rain started. Stayed pretty heavy for several hours and past my bed time too. This morning is coolish but we’re getting sunshine. Starting to get itchy feet…