Day 1.
Today started out kind of down the wire. We left home at two and managed to finally get to the terminal JUST as they were calling us to go get seated.
The flight was 3 hours long and I think I slept through the last hour or so, Uneventful except for the bitchy flight attendant. She was stressin out way too much and was taking it out on the passengers.
Getting our stuff back was a breeze, they slapped a fragile label on my bag of sharp pointies, lol.
After we get the rental car and get out of there, we get lost looking for a best buy to buy our own GPS, since it would cost more, to rent the one provided.
The first place we went to was Garden of the Gods. We wandered the giftshop for a while and when we meandered out I realized I’d lost my wallet. Cue freak out. Well we call the best buy people, apparently it’s there, lol. But the drive through thing was fun. Took lotsa pics. I gathered up some samples, and got a picture of a fine grained quartz sandstone with ripples . It was pink-ish purple. :3 Oh! And when I went to knock a few pieces of this rock off, someone stopped and thought I was trying to steal it.
…
It was like, 200 pounds. xD I said, “I’m not doing anything wrong, I’m a Geology major, I just want a few pieces!” And then he left us alone, lol.
Then we Get to the Cave of the Winds…
Cave of the winds is a MONSTER. I am in so much pain after up the stairs, down the stairs, down a ramp, up more steps. But it too was breathtakingly beautiful. I recommend it to anyone… looking to lose weight.
Then we head to the cliff dwellings where it takes me 20 minutes to find the bathroom and a water fountain after desperately needing drink, and then Dad and Michele are finishing up the dwellings. So I sit and wander and take pics and video of the rocks xD
After this we had a cold frothy mug of A&W root beer. <3 And then dad accidentally turned the hazard lights on and spent five minutes looking for the button before he gave up and said, "Any suggestions?" which cued more howls of laughter. After another 5 minutes he finally found the button rofl.
And then we piled in the car to get my wallet back. After wrestling with Dave the GPS… don’t ask. We managed to get back and get it. After that I had to help the technologically challenged people that I’m on the trip with (ILU Dad and Michele) and get the GPS to take us to the Motel 6 in Raton. And since it didn’t cancel the previous trip for some reason Dad almost got us into a wreck and started screaming at the GPS. I think he’s too tired to drive to Raton. And he isn’t going to, Michele is. Whoo.
Anyway we’ve all been grumpy a little today, and seeing as we started today… yesterday, I think it’s understandable.
But anyway, more news at it comes…
Dad made the brilliant decision to stay at a Motel 6 last night… Sorry I forgot sarcasm doesn’t translate well over text. That was the worst place I have ever stayed. EVER. Beds like sleeping on the floor, urine smell everywhere except the bathroom, no coffee maker and in the shadiest part of Raton. I thought we were gonna get killed. Not to mention that the shower was weird as all get out. Michele and Dad said they’d stayed at worse, because at least here there was no gunfire.
Finally we started out shortly after 12, and went to Denny’s for breakfast. After that we headed to the volcano s in Capulin. The ranger gave me some info packets and I grabbed some scoria and a few pieces of Basalt. Then we went up the volcano and Dad and I did the rim walk. I got some pics, and we saw some Mule deer too. We were 2 miles and some change above sea level. It was rough. Like… I felt like I was drowning… Thin air + 1 mile hike = not efficient. Anyway, I did it. I beat that damn mountain and got Michele some Pinon sprigs.
Oh our way out we saw some more Mule deer and I got some video.
Other then that we’ve been driving pretty much nonstop to get to Roswell. I saw some Antelope, lotsa cows, more deer, and beautiful rock beds. So, that’s it until we get to Roswell <3
Holy crap, lotsa windmills in the distance with blinkie red lights :O
And here we’ve arrived in Roswell, I’m using free intrawebs to do some checking up on things, and then off to bed to explore alien town tomorrow
Day3
So last night was a great stay. The beds at the Best Western in Roswell was nice <3 However, the night before when we were booking the room in the parking lot of a Holiday inn, Michele was… insane. She was babbling about her headless friend that got into hotels free and took her with them wherever she went… “Did you get the headless discount?”
“What?”
“My friend at work, she gets a headless discount…”
…
Yeah. I know.
Anyway, we got up and went to the alien ufo museum thing. It was pretty cool. I took a lotta pics and saw some stuff that was clearly hoaxes and then some things that I wasn’t sure about. I know they exist, because really, how arrogant do we have to be to assume that we are alone in the universe. I just think we’re used as an intergalactic pitstop for water.
Then we piled in the car and drove to Carlsbad, and um… acquired some rocks from the road. Right. Legally. Totally outside of the Park. We got there too late for the cave tours, however we watched the bats fly from the mouth of the cave. And we learned that an endangered bat pollinates the plant that makes tequila. We must save this bat at all costs.
Then we went to Chili’s, I had a doubleshot Whiskey Sour, and some not so good shrimp alfredo. I was so giggly, omg, and still am. And my Gaydar was beeping at one of the waiters too xD he was so fabulous. Also, our waiter was really cute and we said we’d take him with us. It’ll be funny if he shows up over here tomorrow with some bags xD
And here at the hotel Michele was looking at something called Elephant Butte, but she thought it said Elephant Butt xD
AND, That Verizon commercial, with the sprinkles? I said, “I’d like some whipped cream with my ten friends.”
Anyway, this bed is comfy. I’m passing out now.
Day4+5
So, we got to Carlsbad at 9ish, and got the books and stuff we needed for the tour. My god, the girl that worked in the bookstore was a b***h, she totally did not want to be there.
Anyway, the first leg of the tour went well, it was amazing to see all of the formations coming in at the natural entrance. Not one inch of this cave was bare, not even the rocks that had suffered breakdown. Nearly every surface was covered with what they call cave popcorn. And I was good for about ten minutes in, but after that I had to pee and I nearly ran the rest of the way. Oh, and the entrance is where all the birds stay, and it smelled awful.
The next leg was the big room, and was just plain amazing. Probably more so because I didn’t have to pee the whole way xD
We saw so many huge formations, and so many active places in the cave. Though there were also many dead places from people rubbing their hands on the formations. Your hands have oil on them and you leave that oil behind when you rub it, and since oil repels water… The formation repels water, and then can’t grow anymore.
And afterward we piled in the car and came to Gallup, got here at 4AM and haven’t done a single thing all day long xD I have quite enjoyed my day, and I’m thinking of going to take a bath tonight and shaving so I can do some swimming. The beds suck but we’re only here to see Mesa Verde and then we’re off to Arizona. I can’t wait :3
Kara Darkholm Community Member 
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