BT 4.0: G.W. Was On To Something

The bats take flight. Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico. No photography was allowed . This picture is compliments of google images. No bats were irritated in the production of this blog.

We left Texas yesterday. It wasn't so bad saying good-bye. I mean, we clearly relate to all things Texan...it's grandiosity, politics, obnoxious devotion to all things related to ruthless self-promotion but it was time to part ways. We'll meet again someday...maybe. We drove through west Texas yesterday and I spent the better part of the afternoon saying, "I'm from Texas, West Texas." It just rolls right off the tongue. No wonder G.W. loved saying it. Try it. Seriously. Say it. It's fun. Judging from Mark's lack of response each time I said it, I don't think it was as fun to hear. We arrived in Carlsbad, NM last night in time to see the bats fly at Carlsbad Cavern. As we sat and waited for the bats to arrive Odelia played the "I'm 3" card and was a holy terror. They had a lot of "bat viewing" rules. No pictures (she was fine with that one). No leaning over the ledges (again, fine with that one). Remain seated (not so much). Whispers (definitely not). Meanwhile, Milo was uber-focused on the bats and was greatly anticipating their arrival. We were caught. Leave and avoid further humiliation but crush Milo. Stay and risk getting rotten tomatoes thrown at us when Odelia decides to ramp it up full throttle. We stayed. She climbed, squealed, whined, talked too loudly, pinched my cheeks, laughed, sat on daddy's lap, got off daddy's lap, sat on my lap, got off my lap, whacked Milo but the bats came and then she was mesmerized (true, it was like 45 seconds) and sat peacefully while we enjoyed the bats. Ok, so the bats. Our friendly park ranger told us that the bats circle and leave the cave for anywhere from 20 minutes to three hours. That's a lot of bats. The bats smelled of poop and urine. The smell, albeit disgusting, added to the experience. Those darned mammals didn't fail to impress. We watched them swoop and pour out of the cave for over 20 minutes and as we left they were still exiting. When you looked towards their path it was so thick with bats it looked like smoke pouring out of the cave. Pretty cool. Upon exiting the bat viewing area, Odelia says, "I want to see butterflies." So, alas, we are on a quest to see butterflies with our baby girl.

We stayed at the Motel 6 last night in Carlsbad. It was icky. It had the polyester bedspreads. Adding a little touch of special, they managed to find polyester bedspreads that had horses and stables...very southwestern.

Today we went back to Carlsbad Caverns and went on a self-guided tour of the caves. Big, deep caves. Tonight (and for the next five nights) we're staying in Santa Fe, New Mexico. We boast that VRBO.COM has never failed us. Well folks, tonight we sleep without air conditioning. It's supposed to get down to 50 degrees but our condo still registers 83 on the thermostat. EIGHTY-THREE and it's 10pm!

Odelia wanted to see a cactus on this trip. This is her first up close encounter with a cactus. She was delighted.

Heading towards the bats.

Just before the trek down to the Bat Amphitheater.

The term "weak knees" makes me think of swooning which then made me think of the bats flirting with the on-lookers. Then I got freaked out by the paths my mind took. Does that ever happen to you? Now, I'm seeing bats holding roses and wearing bow ties.

You are in the middle of nowhere. You've come to see the bats. I do wonder how many people accurately assess their hiking fitness and then go sit in the car while their friends watch the bats.