Carlsbad Caverns

There are two ways into the caverns, the natural entrance and the elevator. We took the natural entrance in. It was a big black hole in the earth.

It was quite a hike down into the cave.

750ft down. 1 mile down the natural entrance.

This picture is looking up back to the entrance after we had done down a ways.

The formations in side the cave were awesome.

there were crystal clear pools of water all around the cave.

This one is called the lion's tail.

This one's called the...well, you can use your imagination.

This is an entrance down to another cave under the big room cave.

The caverns are pretty inactive nowadays, but this is the most active part of the cavern. This stalagmite is still actively being formed. It looked all wet and shiny.

Overall it was a really great trip and the caverns were really beautiful and awesome. I'm so glad we went. It was worth the wait.

Roadtrip part 2

I've put almost 2000 miles on my rental car in just about 10 days. That's more than I normally put on my truck all year long driving around Bethel.

We finally got to see Carlsbad Caverns (i'll post pics later). We went this morning. I'm glad we decided to stick it out and wait for the caverns to open the next day because IT WAS AMAZING. I've been down in plenty of caves and seen a fair share of stalactites and stalagmites, but Carlsbad Caverns topped anything I've ever seen...BY FAR.

I got pulled over on the way home. Avery and I were goofin' off and I crossed over the white line on the right several times and onto the rumble strips. Well, apparently someone called me in as a drunk driver. The officer asked me several times if I had been drinking, then asked if I was tired from driving for a long time. Then he made me follow his pen with my eyes while he shined a flashlight in my face. I hadnt done anything wrong and he let me go on my way, but, man, my hands were shakin' and my heart was pumpin'! It's been a long time since I was pulled over.

We're back in Fort Worth now at my cousins again. Only three more days of vacation left. It sure goes fast. Tomorrow we're going to 6 flags amusement park. Fun!

Roadtrip

Number 28 on my birthday list is complete. Avery and I drove over to Carlsbad, New Mexico to visit my friend Kathie and the Carlsbad Caverns. We were originally planning to drive over to Carlsbad to visit the caverns (this was a trip that I was supposed to make this summer, but then didnt because of a family emergency), but then we had decided to just stay in Fort Worth to do all of the things there that we hadnt done yet.
Just after we had decided to NOT go to Carlsbad, my friend Kathie who I havent seen for about 5 years, called and told me she was in Carlsbad visiting family. So, we changed our plans again and decided to go ahead and drive over to Carlsbad. It was almost an 8 hour drive, but we made it yesterday without incident. We hung out with Kathie and her family all day yesterday. It was sooooooo fun catching up with her after all these years.
Kathie and I were best friends growing up in elementary school. We've known each other for at least 20 years...at least 2/3rds of our lives. I dont get to see her very often because she lives in Texas. We've been having a blast hanging out. I love seeing her kids, especially the new baby that I havent met yet. Avery had fun hanging out with her oldest. They are just a year apart in age and got along very well.
Below is Kathie with her husband and their 3 kids. They are a great family. I enjoy spending time with them. Here's the interesting kick....it snowed here last night. 4 inches. Everywhere I go it snows. Went to Oklahoma, it snowed. Went to New Mexico, it snowed. In Bethel, Alaska, however, where there SHOULD be snow, there is none. None. No snow in Alaska. But Oklahoma and New Mexico there's been snow. What the heck?
People keep saying that I've brought the snow with me. Yeah. Carlsbad Caverns was actually closed today due to the snow. So, we got a room with an indoor pool and all the kids went swimming and got worn out. Then all the adults played catch phrase and laughed and joked for hours. We're hoping the caverns will be open tomorrow, then we'll drive back to Texas.

Famous people

We got to see all of these famous people (and more) in Arlington, Texas yesterday. It was fun!

If you havent figured it out yet, we went to a wax museum. My favorite part was that they had all of the presidents of the US all lined up next to each other. It was really neat to stare into all of the "faces" of the leaders of our country. It was also neat to see how their clothing changed over time.

Some more pictures from the farm

Avery, cousin Hannah, me and Uncle Dick on Christmas eve.

Avery got an Oklahoma Sooners t-shirt for Christmas. I got an Oklahoma calendar and we both got gift cards to Barnes and Noble, which we already spent (and then some).

Every farm needs a broken down tractor.

Avery chasing the guineas into the tree. Still acts like a kid.

Dogs rompin' around the pond. The water is red because the soil where they live is red.

Avery building an igloo. It ended up just being a big pile of snow.

The house and bird coops.

Hannah giving the dog some love. I absolutely loved this dog. Her name was Kyro (but I thought it should have been Kyra...more girly sounding). She reminded me so much of Taboo. I tried to convince my uncle to let me take her home with me, but he wasnt havin' it.

Annie is the dog on the right. She's their older dog that they've had for a really long time...even when Taboo lived there for the summer when I went to Spain.

Dinnertime for the goats. They walked out their all together in a line with the donkey bringing up the rear. Kinda funny.

Hannah takes good care of all of her fathers animals.

Good times!

New Audience

My uncle is a big goof ball. He is the jokester of the family. He's always got something goofy to say and most of us know his jokes. He cant get us because we know his jokes. But Avery doesnt have alot of Uncle Dick joke experience. So, Uncle Dick busted out all of the jokes for his new audience. And being the goof ball that Avery is, they are a pair.

We had a great day for Christmas, although we were feeling cooped up all day. We ended up with quite a bit of snow after yesterday's blizzard, so we just stayed in the house all day because the roads were terrible. Aunt Chris got stuck in the snow first thing this morning. And cousin Andrew had a drive that should have taken 4 hours actually took 8 hours. Then, when Andrew FINALLY got here, he got stuck in the drive way. At least he got here!So we stayed in the house all day and played board games and read books and laughed and joked and had a lazy day. It was fun! But it was annoying being cooped in the house. We did go out and walk around the property and feed the animals. They have goats, a donkey, chickens, guinea's, dogs, and cats.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

OK blizzard

Gotta go to Oklahoma for the good blizzards...

Norman, Oklahoma (PWS)

Updated: 8 sec ago

24.9 °F Heavy Snow Windchill: 25 °F Humidity: 83% Dew Point: 20 °F Wind: 0.0 mph Wind Gust: 0.0 mph Pressure: 29.60 in (Steady) Visibility: 0.2 miles UV: 0 out of 16 Clouds: Overcast 200 ft (Above Ground Level) Elevation: 1141 ft Rapid Fire Updates: Enable Disable Source for Current Conditions: PWS & Airport Airport Only » Weather History for This Location