Hey noodle what did you do today?

Well I woke up a couple times in the night, and once even went outside to enjoy the night air. A few times I woke up to roll over, and a few times I felt like I wasn't getting enough air. Nevertheless I slept really well, waking up when my alarm went off (6:30 local time...I'd entered Mountain Time yesterday!), then again an hour later. The day was already beginning to grow warm, so I quickly packed my stuff and headed off.

I wanted to hike a really nice trail, so I opted for the Smith Spring trail. It was about 2.3 miles round trip, and I gotta say the walk up there was a little bit of a slog. Mostly the elevation was getting to me, as was the Sun's heat.

However I persevered, and made it to the spring. It was wonderful! The whole thing was in a shaded, wooden oasis at the foot of some sandstone cliffs, and little pools of the cool water collected in the spring's creek. I crossed over the hand rail, took off my socks and shoes, and immersed myself in the water...And holy crap was it cold!

Cold, and invigorating! I could feel my joints coming back to life, I could feel my flesh becoming refreshed, and I could breathe again! Salvation! I never got in the water fully, but between the splashing, dunking of my shirt, and scrubbing, my whole body was drenched.

The trip back down was far more pleasant. I tried calling mum, but she didn't answer. I called grandma instead, and told her of my morning's adventure. She was still trying to get the boat back, and was crocheting when I called. I'm excited to show her all my photos!

After hanging up I passed by 4 people walking to the spring, and told them it was only about another quarter mile, and well worth it.

The trek back down was far easier, though the water I got from the ranger station tasted highly chlorinated. Ignoring its foulness and the occasional fly, the walk back down was much better!

As I drove mum called back, but because I was cutting in and out I parked on the side of the road. They'd seen 'It: Part2: Electric Boogaloo' and I told them of my adventures. Such fun!

After, I drove north to Carlsbad. I passed into New Mexico and grabbed a cache just before the park's entrance. However instead of heading to the park directly, I continued on for about another 20 miles to the city of Carlsbad. Once there I found a Walmart and got to the auto section. They said it was about a 2 hour wait for oil+tire rotation, but I was willing to do so. I gave them my keys and walked to a nearby Dragon Buffet restaurant. I got a plate of Azn food, then one of salad...After that I felt kinda bleh, so I paid and went to the bathroom and walked back through the harsh New Mexico heat to Walmart.

I rested in the waiting room with a mum and her daughter and her son and let my computer charge. They eventually left, and I nodded on and off a bit, waking up every so often. I was conscious when my keys were passed through the window, so I paid and then did a little shopping, where I got toothpaste, some Febreeze, and some ice. After filling the cooler and settling things into my car, I drove south to Carlsbad National Park!

When I got there I did a little shopping, then used my pass to take an elevator down to the caverns. I thought I would have missed the elevator (Some dude bro was occupying the only ranger's attention), but apparently the elevator just take 90 seconds to make a trip. Ohhhh...I thought it would have been much longer!

I got down there and saw the cafeteria and gift shop existing beneath a massive sheet of rock. I got a couple waters and asked if I needed a light (The worker said nuh, they're just souvenirs), then took a self-guided tour of the caverns.

Amazing! I saw so many formations, and they were all incredible! Stalactites, stalagmites, popcorn...I got super excited when I saw draperies, because I remember an episode of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood where he pointed those out. I'd never seen them in Mammoth Cave, but Carlsbad had 'em! The walk lasted about an hour and a half, and after getting back to the surface I grabbed my stamp book for a stamp (Forgot to do that when I arrived) and then listened to a smol 15 minute presentation about cave animals. The ranger was a bit monotone, but he had a dry wit and drew pics of the animals!

After, I did a little walk-around of the museum, then headed out to my car to browse the net, let my phone charge, and try and figure out where I wanted to stay for the night. After a few google searches I decided my goal would be a smol state park called “Rockhound”...It didn't look like it had too high an elevation, and was en route...But was about 4 hours away.

At about 6:15ish I went to the bathroom then headed to the amphitheater for a bat show! I walked behind this couple who saw the birds flying above the cave and they thought they were missing it, but aha! I told them those were birbs.

We got to the amphitheater and it was really neat, because it was built around the entrance of a cave! The ranger gave us a chance to take photos and use our electronics, but then at 6:45 she told us to shut them off, because the bats dun want bright lights. She then told us a bit of evolutionary history of the bats, and also some Indian stories about them! The first Indian story was about how the Sun got caught in a tree, and all the animals searched for it. The squirrel ultimately found him, then bit away the branches, but being so close to the Sun caused his fur to burn and turn black, his skin to stretch, his tail to scorch off, and his eyes to go blind. After, the Sun gave him a wish and the squirrel wanted to fly, so the Sun told him it was granted, but he could only go out at night because of his eyes.

Another Indian story was about how the Rival of Enemies was a boy who wound up slaying a Great Eagle monster. He killed a deer, dressed in his entrails, then when the eagle flew him to the nest, he shed his disguise and slew the beast...But then he realized he was trapped. Grandmother Bat walked by and he called for help. She told him to get in her burden basket and close his eyes. She said that if he opened his eyes once during the descent, they'd both likely die. So he closed his eyes and he hears the bat singing and dancing and swaying, and eventually she's rocking so hard back and forth that he panics and opens his eyes. They both plummet to the ground, but were not that high up so they lived, however the Rival of Enemies landed on the bat and broke her legs, and that is why bats have short, stubby, silly legs.

The last story was about how Coyote wanted to get married, so bat told him that Mrs. Hawk would be a good wife, since Mr. Hawk had been gone for months and was likely dead. Coyote decided that was probably true, but then Chief Hawk got back and was mad. When he found out Bat told Coyote to date his wife, he went to Bat, grabbed him by the ears, swung him around...

...And at this point the bats started emerging. Just like in Austin. It was a constant stream of little flappers (Fun fact: Bats are incapable of gliding like birbs, so if you see something gliding in the dusk sky, it's a birb). I watched for about 10 minutes, then headed to the top of the amphitheater. I asked the ranger how the story ended, and she said Hawk threw Bat into a branch in a tree, and that's why he's an upside down boi.

Satisfied, I headed back up to the parking lot. I wanted to get a selfie with this “Radiation Warning: Radon” sign, but the ranger that did the draws earlier in the day told me that I needed to keep my phone off until I got to the parking lot. Hecc...Sorry guy!

I got to the lot, plugged in the cords for Rockhound, and began my loooong journey. The first stretch was a bunch of open roads twisting around mountains, and I actually wound up passing by Guadalupe again. Cars passed me when passing lanes were made available, and I just wanted not to have to deal with cars behind me. The mountains gave way to flat and straight roads, and I saw a distant storm raging. Loads of lightning, some of it as red as the back lights of a car, streaked through the sky.

I continued driving, stopping in El Paso for some gas and food. I grabbed some pretzels, Mountain Dew Deus Vult (Voltage...Needed the caffeine), some Wild Berry Skittles, and a chicken ranch sammich. I ate the pretzels as I maneuvered around a super dangerous mountain road (Think I even passed a drunk driver), then when the roads calmed down some, I tried the sammich...But it fell apart and was otherwise gross tasting. Skittles then!

As I drove the storm's lightning was much closer and more frightening, with one streak striking so close it made the area bright as day. Rains came, and I continued driving...Sooooooo many milessssss...I considered pulling off on a Trucker stop section of road, but decided that I'd sleep much better in the park, since it was just 50 more minutes away.

On I went. I turned off on a smol side road, then a Frontage road, passed through a strange little neighborhood made of a bunch of unincorporated county roads...A car pulled out of one of those roads and followed me alllll the way to the park's entrance. When I got there I saw cones in front of our lane, so I stopped on the side of the road and waited. The car drove ahead, then turned around a little past the cones. Good! Go back you jabronie!

I waited there until they disappeared, then passed into the park and made my way to the campground. I parked, put my seat back, and slept in my car...And honestly? It was super comfy! I woke up a couple times and replaced my makeshift towel pillow with the sleeping bag, then largely slept through the whole night! I did wake up a couple times, but only to shift my pillow around a bit.

I hope everyone has a Carlsbad Cavern kinda day! <333