The road more traveled

How anyone could be bored in this life is beyond me. There are so many amazing things to explore, places to visit, cultures to study, mountains to climb, some of them in our own back yard, how does have time to do it all? Slowly but surely. For the last couple of years my sister Amy has invited me to tag-a-long with her and her two kids on their annual road trip. Last year we went to the Redwoods in California with stops at the Salt Flats and Crater Lake along the way. This year she decided to go to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, a whopping 15 hr drive from Provo. My adventurous heart accepted immediately, and it helped that I was allowed to bring a plus one, my cutie pie husband. We researched and planned it out so that we could get the most out of our 4 day road trip. We started at 6:00 Friday morning left Springville, and drove to a place called Mesa Verde National Park. Mind blown. I applaud those who lived in the ancient days, I for one couldn't have done it, this is how I know that God knows us individually, I was born in the age of plumbing and drive-thru's. It was amazing to see their dwellings, and get a glimpse of what life would have been like thousands of years ago, and what it was like literally living under a rock. Scroll here. 

After a few hours of playing in the park we made our way to Albuquerque, NM to stop for some much needed nourishment (as if we hadn't been snacking all day because like duh, it's a road trip.) However it was time for real food. We stopped at Whataburger. A popular joint for many southerners. Along the way we saw knock-off's like that'saburger and lotaburger. So many burgers.

 After a 14 hour drive on Friday, with a few stops we made it to our hotel in Roswell, a hop, skip and jump from Carlsbad. We thought the caverns were located just outside of Carlsbad so when we saw the city sign Saturday morning welcoming us we jumped for joy, only to learn that the caverns we still about 20 miles from the city....on the road again...but then WE MADE IT!!! Keep scrolling.

 The National Parks were celebrating earth day/their birthday or something, all I know is we got in for FRRRRREEEEEE! If you are wondering what the heck the Carlsbad Caverns are, google is a great place to start, but in a nutshell, they are big caverns located 700 ft. below ground level. Magnificent. It's truly remarkable what treasures the Earth holds. The structures we so cool. Nate wasn't having it, but like I get it, there wasn't a whole lot of natural light, it smelled like bat poop, and we kept commenting on how cool the rocks looked, not the coolest thing to a 6 year old, but over all he did great, and we saw all we wanted to see before we surfaced again. The elevator ride gave me anxiety....700 ft of rock on all four sides, gave me the creeps.

 This is the Natural Entrance where you descend into the depths of the caverns, we decided against climbing out, hence the anxiety ridden elevator ride. 

 Cactus Candy

There is a bat show at dusk where 40,000 bats fly out to hunt at night at the caverns but until then we had a few hours to kill so we drove to Texas and stopped at some ranch that was on one of the maps the forest ranger gave to us.

 Kody loves Texas.

 The bats we really cool, you are not allowed to have your phones on because the sound and light scare the bats off and they don't want the bats to leave the colony so I don't have any pictures or videos of it, but it truly is a sight to behold, them rushing out of the cavern by the thousands ready to hunt for the night. Afterwards we went to our hotel in Artesia, just a short drive from the caverns. On Sunday morning we woke up bright and early, ate some free (paid for with your room) breakfast, and set off to White Sand National Monument. All I can say is, sledding in April is my new favorite thing. Below are some of our activities from the day.

 We stayed and played for a few hours, but eventually the wind became too much to handle threatening to blow us away so we jumped in the car and started the journey home. 

 We love being in the car! 

We stayed at a hotel in Farmington that night, and since we arrived a little earlier than normal we were able to swim, and feast on pizza, then we were out like lights. Monday was the last leg of our trip. One of our stops was the Four Corners Monument, I'd like to give a shout out to whoever told me I couldn't be in two places at once...I was in four. Then we headed to Arches National Park. I'll let the pictures do the talking.  

I'm so happy for this world we live in and it's outrageous beauty, and I'm so glad that Kody was able to join me on this adventure. Thanks Amy for taking us, we will be your travel companions any time.

Sincerely,

The Suter's