Carlsbad and Texas Hill Country Ride - Day 7

To every good trip must come an end and today is the start of the end of this trip.  We've ridden 600 miles of road in the Hill Country, and we have 200 more miles of riding to do today, but all of those miles will be toward home.

The temperature is 46 degrees which is 10 degrees higher than yesterday, so that's a good trend but a little late for this ride.

We were washed up, fed up, and loaded up by 8:30.  After gassing up the bikes, we headed West on highway 39.  I wanted to stop by a store called BC Broncos just outside of Kerrville because I've bought a lot of parts for my bronco from them over the years.

We pulled up to BC Broncos and I went in.  It turns out they don't have a showroom or really anything to see except the broncos parked around the building.  So I came back out and we headed down the road.

We chose to take highway 39 out.  It's one of the 2 roads that criss crosses a river. I really enjoyed the beautiful scenery around the river.  There are several picnic areas right on the river's edge that I would love to stop at but neither of us are sure whether they are public or private.  Most have a gate of some sort on them suggesting they are private.

Once we left the river bottom and climbed up onto a ridge, the wind hit us.  It came in from the left side very hard and forced us to lean the bikes into it.  We stopped at a little grocery store to warm up and get a snack before starting another road.  I grabbed a spicy V8 and doritos to munch on.  The wind continued blowing while we ate and reminisced about roads we had ridden and what roads we would ride today.

We started by riding highway 336.  We rode it on Monday and wanted to ride it again before we left.  We've ridding all of the best roads at least twice now, and a couple of roads 3 times.  This was a great ride under clear skies and much warmer than Monday.  I love how 336 winds along the top of some long hills, then dips and twist down one and up onto the top of the next with wide views of the valleys to either side and the the hillsaround.  It was a great road.

We came out the bottom of 336 into Leakey, but for once we didn't stop, we turned right and headed straight West on 337.  It's not as good as 336, but still pretty fun.

At the end of 337 we turned North on 55 and stayed on that until we reached Rock Springs.    Highway 55 wasn't as twisty as the twisted sisters, but it was fast with big sweeping turns that you could take without slowing down.  It's a different kind of awesome and was fun to ride.  The 30 miles seemed to fly by, and at 70mph it really did fly by.

By now we'd ridden 150 miles and needed gas and lunch.  There was a cafe across from the gas station with several cars out front, so rather than wander town looking for somewhere else to eat, we just rode over there.  It turned out to be the local hangout because everyone inside was laughing and talking to each other, except for us.

We were the obvious outsiders that everyone looked at with suspicion.  John said one elderly man openly stared at us while he ate.

But the waitress took our order for a couple of hamburgers and fries without any antagonism.  The burgers were only $3.00 and we wondered if they'd be nasty, but they were quite good.

With our bellies and gas tanks full, we headed north on the last of twisty roads.  We turned off of highway 55 even though it would take John closer to home.  Instead we took highway 377 which has allot more twists and turns to it.  Our last hurrah of good riding roads.

It was like the lower portion of 55, high speed sweeping turns that were very fun, except for one random river crossing with a sudden 90 degree entry and another 90 degree exit.  We wondered how many people had missed the turn and wound up in the river.

We turned and burned our last 50 miles of riding together all the way up to the town of Junction and Interstate 10.  John gassed up his bike and we said our goodbyes.  I always get melancholy at the end of rides and John ribbed me about it.  It's just so much fun riding together that I hate to see it end.

John left and headed for the freeway and 800 miles of high speed but boring riding home.  The last time we were here, John did the whole ride in one day.  But that day he started riding at 4:00 am and that just wasn't possible today.

I took an extra 20 minutes to look at roads and routes up to San Angelo where my Niece and her family live.  I've visited them several times including just 3 months ago, but it's always fun to visit, plus free room and board is great on trips like this.

I found a few back roads that looked good and headed off to find them.  I didn't even have to get on the freeway at all.  The trees were thinning compared to the hill country, and the hills were gone.  These were just minor roads out through the scrub brush, but still better than the freeway.

I eventually ran out of side roads and hopped onto a big wide highway for the last 40 miles to San Angelo.  When I arrived, my niece welcomed me and we chatted for an hour as I wound down from the ride.  Then I offered to give all the kids rides on the motorcycle.  I gave them rides last time, but I was on my VTX with a small backseat and no arm rests.  The goldwing I ride now has a big comfy seat and arm rests and fold down and offer allot more security to kids riding on the back.  I took the bigger kids out of the neighborhood and down the frontage road of the freeway and back. But the little kids I just idled around the block.  They all hooted and waved at everyone.

Another niece and her kids dropped by in the middle of the ride, so I gave her older girl a ride as well.

After the rides, we grabbed BBQ from a local restaurant and I described my rides and listened to what all the various kids are up to.  It's always great to catch up with family and see the kids.  It made me miss my own grandkids.

As with all young families, there was much going on tonight, so I sat and wrote this blog while the kids headed off to various activities.

John texted that he'd ridden 350 miles toward home and stopped in Van Horn for the night.

I checked the weather at home.  It's snowing all night, so I don't think I'll be able to ride all the way home tomorrow.  I don't think the snow will have melted completely in 1 day, but I'll keep checking throughout the day.  It's a long ride to do in 1 day but I could do it if I need to.

Visiting BC Broncos in Ingram Texas


John made friends with a wild rooster


Riding the hill tops


Views off the highway


More hilltops


Giving rides


Giving rides


Giving rides


Giving rides



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Carlsbad and Texas Hill Country Ride - Day 6

This morning the sun was shining with nary a cloud in the sky,  unlike yesterday when we had a major hail storm. BUT, it was 10 degrees colder than yesterday.  It was 36 degrees.

So we decided to wait a while to let it warm up.  I took the time to wash a load of laundry. And yes, I washed whites and colors together in cold water.

I showered, then moved the clothes to the dryer.  After I ate some breakfast I grabbed the clothes.  By the time everything was done the temperature had risen to a balmy 40 degrees, so we put on the warm gear, loaded up bikes,and hit the road.

We  headed south on highway 16 towards the town of Bandera. There was a lot more traffic today than yesterday and we were a little upset to have to share our wonderful roads with others.  But we dealt with life and continued riding the roads.

The road to Bandera was fun but it was cold.  After 10 miles, most of the traffic had turned off and we were left to ourselves when the real twists and turns began.  There were a couple of steep twisty sections that caught me by surprise.  I wound up in 4th gear trying to climb a steep road with a tight turn.  The bike  managed to climb through the first turn though it chugged a lot.   I managed to get down shifted to handle the rest of the climb.

Before we reached Bandera we turned off onto highway 337E, it's the eastern half of one of the Twisted Sisters highways, and it's one of the best.  The temperature continued climbing slowly and by the time we reached Leakey, it was 50 degrees.  We stopped for gas and a quick snack before continuing a great big loop south and east back to Bandera.

Once in Bandera I asked John what he wanted for lunch, he said he wasn't hungry and for me to just pick a place.  I spotted a little hole in the wall BBQ place and pulled in.  The ribs I got were pretty good.

After lunch we continued north and once again turned west on highway 337E.  It was that good that we wanted to do it again.  The second time through was just as good as the first.

When we reached Leakey we gassed up again, then continued east on 337.  When we reached the end we turned north on 335 which we'd ridden yesterday.  It was another road well worth riding a 2nd time.  In fact, we repeated the rest of the ride just like yesterday.

When we reached the hotel we unloaded and started thinking about tomorrow's ride and where to eat for dinner.  Nothing was jumping out at us in Kerrville, so we decided to ride to Fredericksburg to see what was good there.

It's 22 miles between the two towns, and half way there I was thinking to myself that it wasn't worth it.  Turns out John was thinking the same thing, but neither of us stopped the insanity, so we rode to Fredericksburg.  Once there, it appeared that most places were closed.  We consulted Yelp and decided on West End Pizza.  It was ok pizza, but we could have ordered just a good from Pizza Hut and not have had to ride 45 miles.

Tomorrow will be the last day of riding together so we're trying to pick some good roads that we haven't already ridden.

Highway 337E


Highway 337E


Highway 337E


Highway 335


View off of Highway 335


The Roller Coaster portion of Highway 335


Following John on Highway 41


Highway 1350 crossing the Guadalupe River


Another river crossing

Carlsbad and Texas Hill Country Ride - Day 5

Woke up this morning to a dreary sky and distant sounds of thunder.  It was very cold for what I expect from Texas, in the low 40s.  I was a bit slow getting going because we wanted to let the temperature come up a bit.  After a good hot shower, I went to the lobby for breakfast.

Several other riders were there and we were comparing notes about where to ride, when a massive flash of lightning struct nearby, followed by a boom of thunder.  It had been sprinkling for a few minutes, but now it started to come down in bucket loads with lightning and thunder almost constantly striking.

About this time John came running around the corner and into the lobby as the wind started to whip up.  We heard the first solid pings of hail hitting the roof of the building and it quickly went from a scattered pattern to a solid roar of hailstones hitting.  Everyone in the lobby got quiet as the noise built louder and louder.

Several cars pulled off the road and under the overhang to avoid the hail as well.  It lasted for about 15 minutes, then began to taper off until it was once again a good heavy rain.

I was watching weather radar maps and trying to figure out if this was a day long storm or a fast moving storm.  It seemed like it would move on fairly soon, but the cold temperature would last all day.  We talked about just hanging out in Kerville for the day, but neither of us wanted to do that.

The roads we want to ride are 30 miles to the west of us, and the storm is moving north east, so if we can get out from under the storm I think it will be clear riding all day.

So as one storm cell moved off, and before the next storm cell could move in, we headed out.  We had to go due west out of town.  Any where south and the next cell would catch us.  We must have eluded it ok, because we didn't get any rain as we left the area.  When we left the hotel, the temperature was 45 degrees.  John had on thermals, chaps, balaclava, and his heavy jacket.  I had on my heated gear and my heavy jacket.

We rode out of Kerville on highway 27, then turned onto hwy 39, our first destination road.  Hwy 39 follows the Guadalupe river.  The road twists and turns along the river bank with trees forming a canopy over us.  It's a great way to start a day if only it was a bit warmer and not so cloudy.  After 30 miles of bliss, we intersected major highway 83 and turned north for a few miles until we could turn west again on highway 41.

Just a few miles down 41 we suddenly rode out into sunlight.  We had completely escaped the storm.  The ground along the roads was completely dry, so rain hadn't even touched the area (which is bad for Texas, but good for riding).  With the sun out, the temperature also started to rise.  It quickly warmed up to 50 degrees which might not sound like much, but made a difference.  Another few miles brought us to highway 336, our second destination road.

Highway 336 is one of a group of roads known as "The Twisted Sisters", and I'm not referring to Nancy, Nina, Nola, or Nita, my sisters in law.  The Twisted Sisters are part of the old farm to market highway system that Texas built to help farmers move their goods around.  They connected various towns together, but they were build with a minimum of heavy construction, so they tend to follow the terrain rather than blast through it the way modern highways do.  This means they twist and turn and rise and fall with the landscape, and that's very fun on a motorcycle.

We stopped for a picture at the start of 336, then began the ride that we'd come nearly a thousand miles to make.

John and I rode this same area 2 years ago and enjoyed it so much we're back for more.  But last time, the shoulders of the highways were filled with wild flowers.  This year the rains haven't come as heavy and the shoulders are bare.  The trees, bushes, and grass is also brown compare to the vibrant green last trip.  But the roads themselves were still a blast to ride.  I stopped a couple of times to take panoramas, but mostly we just enjoyed the road.

When we reached the town of Leakey, we stopped at the Frio Canyon Motorcycle Shop to buy T shirts and eat some lunch.  The last time we were here 2 years ago, the parking lot was packed with bikes, but this time it was completely empty.  The lady, inside, told us the reason it was so empty was because it was Monday, cold, and rain in the area.  She said they were very busy over the weekend, but Mondays are always slow, and the weather makes it worse. She was very sad that the rains hadn't come farther west to give them some moisture.  (I wasn't)

We ordered lunch and ate in their little lunch area where it was warmer.  The sun might be out, but it was still in the low 50s.  Another group of 3 riders came in just as we finished eating.  They didn't seem interested in chatting, so we left them to their meals and went out to the bikes.

By now it was over 60 degrees and I shucked off the heated gear and the heavy coat for my mesh jacket and gloves.  We gassed up the bikes, then headed west on highway 337, the second of the Twisted Sisters roads.

As we rode 337 we chatted on the CB radio about the GoPro camera that John has been using.  He mounts it low on the front of his bike and has been taking some video of me riding ahead of him.  I suggested that we try to mount it on the back of my bike, pointed back at him, so we stopped to try it. We wound up zip tying it to my luggage rack, then continued down the road.  He said it seemed to be working, but we couldn't check the quality until we got back tonight.

At the end of 337, we turned north on 335, the third and last of the Twisted Sisters roads, and as it turns out, the best of the 3.

The road feels like it's carved into the sides of the canyon walls.  Not canyons like Colorado with thousand foot drops, but 80 foot high Texas walls with the road going up and down and around like a big roller coaster.  In fact, several places really give you that roller coaster zero G feeling as you come up one side, over the top and immediately drop down another big dip.

The roller coaster ride went on and on as we followed the road north along whatever river ran along the bottom of the walls.  About half way long, John called over the radio to say that the camera had run out of battery.  We hope it caught some good footage, but there's no way to know right now.

When we finally reached the end of the 335 I pulled over to get pictures by the sign, and to give my throttle hand a rest.  You can't put it on cruise control on roads like this, and you constantly have to adjust to the varying road conditions so my write can get very tired after a while.  In fact my whole body was shaking a little from the constant shifting and turning.  It was a great ride, but it leaves you feeling wrung out, but in a good way.

We stood around for a while talking and figuring out what else to do. It was nearly 4:00 by now, and we had a couple hour ride back to the hotel, so we decided to head back via highway 41 and 27.  Highway 27 is almost like highway 39 that we took this morning.  It follows a river with beautiful views all along the way.  By the time we got back to the hotel we were both ready for a good break.

For dinner we figured,1) we're in Texas, 2) we've been riding hard all day, 3) we're tough motorcycle riders, so of course, we decided to go have Korean BBQ.

Actually, John served a Mormon Mission to Korea some 30 years ago, so it wasn't that odd.  The food was great, except for the aged Kimchi that John hogged to himself (because I wouldn't touch it).  The Bulgogi was great with the fresh kimchi and other condiments.

By the end of dinner, it was 8:30.  We walked over to a cool deck overlooking yet another river.  John's wife called and hey began chatting, so I just hopped on my bike and headed back to the hotel to get a few things done, including this ride report.


The morning started with a nasty storm, probably bad Karma from me being glad I missed a Colorado snow storm yesterday


This didn't look like it was going to be a fun riding day


The bikes sat out in the hail and rain with no protection


There was still dime size hail on the bike 20 minutes later


Clear skies, sunshine, and lollypops as we start the Twisted Sisters


Still happy and sunny


Nice roads, but a little dry, and no wild flowers.


Highway 337 along the tops of the hills


Stopped for pictures


More of 337


At the end of 335. It's hard to get pictures of a road, so twisty you can't take your hands off the handlebars.


Korean food for dinner




Twisted Sisters hwy 336 1 in world



Twisted Sisters hwy 336 2 in world



Leakey Texas Freo Canyon Motorcycle Shop in usa

Carlsbad and Texas Hill Country Ride - Day 4

This was mostly a travelling day.  After a cheap Super 8 breakfast, we hopped on the freeway and set the cruise control on 80mph heading East.  The skies were overcast and rain threatened through the whole ride.  We occasionally passed wet sections of highway, but the rain never did come down on us.

We only got a little spatter just as we entered Kerville.  We stopped at Cracker Barrel for lunch, and as we waited for a table and talked, we realized that although we'd emailed back and forth about hotels, neither John, nor I had actually booked a hotel room.  So I sat in a nice comfy rocking chair and booked a room at the Super 8 hotel.

After lunch we checked into the room.  As we were unloading bikes, another biker walked over to chat. We exchanged the usual "where ya from" and "where you headed" comments, then he started talking about his love of guns and shooting.  After a minute, John turned and walked into the room and I was stuck there listening as the guy spewed bullet velocities, drop, and grouping.  He talked for about 30 minutes with me saying nothing in reply but a few head nods.  His riding buddies were over by their bikes and kept looking my way with knowing grins on their faces.  The rotters.

Eventually he paused for more than 2 seconds and I said "Sounds great" and ran into the room.  We watched out the peep hole till he went in his room, then quickly unloaded the bikes.

Once the bikes were unloaded, we headed back out on the road.  John and I had heard that Luckenbach was nearby and we decided to go see what it was all about.

We headed North West up highway 16 toward the tourist town of Fredericksburg.   Highway 16 is one of the great roads in the area, so we were also crossing one of the destination roads off of our list.

In Fredericksburg we turned right on main street and found ourselves in the middle of the touristy shopping area.  There were little shops along both sides of the road and people everywhere.  We rode through without stopping, knowing that we'd be coming back this same way.

A few miles out of town we turned South West onto a smaller road.  We soon saw a sign that said "Luckenbach town loop turn right", so we turned off onto a little one lane road.  There was a very large parking lot beside the road, but we kept going straight and soon found ourselves in the middle of about 6 buildings and several hundred people. I missed the turnoff to the motorcycle parking, so we had to follow the road back out to the highway and loop back around again.  This time I pulled in with about 10 other motorcycles and parked.

As soon as I turned the bike off I could hear country music coming from the large gathering of people across the road.  The singer and his band weren't bad, but they weren't great.  He sang a song I didn't know and could barely understand. In between songs he cracked crude jokes.  I wasn't a fan.

We took pictures in front of the Luckenbach Post Office, then pictures of the bikes and the band.

We walked around a bit looking at the store, snacks, and beer stands.  It was pretty small.

Once we'd seen enough, we got on the bikes and headed back to Fredericksburg.  We parked the bikes and walked up one side of the street and down the other.  I really didn't see much of interest, but I'm sure my wife would have loved it.

We rode back to the hotel and took a break.  John wasn't hungry at all, so I started looking through Yelp for someplace to eat.  Allot of the places listed were either shut down or closed on Sunday.  I wound up at a Japenese Sushi place, but instead of Sushi, I just got a bento box. It was very good.

Back at the room I met another biker. I cringed as he introduced himself, but he just wanted to chat about bikes, rides, and destinations.  He was normal and we had a good chat.

I woke up to a winter storm warning for Colorado....BUT I'M NOT IN COLORADO!!!!


Here's where we parked the bikes. Yes, we are THOSE guys.


Parked in the Motorcycle Corral in Luckenbach


Live music in Luckenbach


In Luckenbach


Parked in Fredericksburg


Downtown Fredericksburg




Luckenbach Texas on a Sunday in usa

Carlsbad and Texas Hill Country Ride - Day 3

This has been a great day, except that it was way too short.

I felt like a little kid at Christmas, I was so excited to go into Carlsbad Caverns.  I woke up at 5:00 and couldn't get back to sleep.  I showered, packed, read more about the caverns, washed bugs off the bike, read more about the caverns, and stalled until it was finally time to check out and drive up to the caverns.

I didn't have the time to hike down through the natural entrance.  It's over a mile long and takes nearly an hour and a half to hike in.  Instead, I just took the elevator down and took my time walking around the Big Cavern.  I was in the very first group of the day to go down the elevators.

It's hard to describe how great it was to wander around this beautiful cave.  I've never been here before, but I've looked at allot of pictures and read several other travel logs, and still I was completely un-prepared for how BIG it was.

Exiting the elevators I saw a very big room with some trinkets and water for sale.  I thought to myself that they must have hollowed out this big space just for the"landing zone" and bathrooms and I figured the rest of the cave would be similar to other caves I've been in.

I looked around for a minute, then followed the signs toward the "Big Room".  As I rounded the corner, I suddenly understood how silly I was for thinking they'd created that first room.  The big room stretched out and away from me for hundreds of feet and the roof reached above me 30 or 40 feet above.  The room was HUGE.

There was lighting spread here and there through the room.  They'd positioned all of the lights so they were always blocked and you could only see the light reflected off of the walls or rock formations.  It left the room in a constant state of twilight.  Never really dark and never really bright, but light enough to safely move around and see the rock formations.

I came off the elevator with 8 other people and they quickly left me behind because I was gawking at everything.and taking pictures. Once the others walked off it became very quiet.  All I could hear was dripping water all around me and occasionally the hum of a transformer for the lights.  It was very quiet and I didn't see another soul for over an hour.

Before coming, I'd read several comments from people saying that it was cold in the caves and they recommended wearing a light jacket.  So I did.  And I sweated the whole time.  I really wish I'd left my jacket on the bike.  Especially near the end, you climb a small hill to get a beautiful view over a large section of the room and I had to take the jacket off for a while to cool down.

After nearly 2 hours I made it back to the elevators.  I really wish I had the time to just turn around and do the whole thing backwards.  I'm sure it would all look different going the other way.  But I didn't have the time.  Reluctantly I got back on the elevator for the 1 minute ride back to the surface.

I drank some water, finished off my mini donuts, and climbed on the bike.  I had a little over 300 miles to go today and it was nearly 11:00.  I stopped for pictures as I crossed into Texas, then stopped for gas and lunch in Van Horn Texas.

After Van Horn I was on Interstate 10, but I only stayed on I-10 for about 30 miles.  When I planned this ride, I'd spotted a couple of roads that looked really good for riding.  I was worried this morning that it would be so hot that I'd just want to get the ride over.  But cloud cover has kept the temperatures down and I have allot of time to kill.  So I turned south on highway 118 toward Ft Davis.

Highway 118 was as empty as Carlsbad Cavern was.  There were no cars at all.  I stopped for a few minutes to take a panoramic picture and didn't see a car in the 5 minutes I was stopped.

The road headed towards a few big hills (mountains in Texas) and climbed a thousand foot.  The temperature dropped down to 72 degrees and felt wonderful.  The road wound through the hills and trees.  There weren't any hairpin turns, just nice sweeping turns through the hills.  I was really glad I decided to ride the extra 50 miles down that detour.

Once I got back to I-10 I turned toward Ft Stockton cruised at 80 miles per hour all the way in.

John arrived 90 minutes later.  Where I'd had one great experience after another all day, John had 1 tough ride.  He pulled off the road to take a picture at the Texas border and got stuck in some soft sand.  Digging the bike out left him hot and tired.

Looking for a place for dinner was pretty slim pickings.  Among the 5 steak houses we spotted a little mexican cafe which was pretty good.

Tomorrow we'll head for Kerville and the Texas Hill country.


The Visitor center had the great 3d map of the cave


3d Model showing the visitor center and elevator


Entry way to the Big Room


My first picture using iPhone and the slow shutter app


Elevated view of the Big Room. Those rock formations behind me a couple hundred feet away


Visitor center sign


Welcome to Texas where even small roads are 75 mph


Highway 118


Highway 118




Texas highway 118 in USA


360 degree panorama of Carlsbad Caverns.  I didn't shoot this, but it is beautiful.

Carsbad Caverns 3 in Carlsbad Caverns. New Mexico

Carlsbad and Texas Hill Country Ride - Day 2

Yesterday I only rode 180 miles South to Raton New Mexico.  I like getting up early to ride, but if I'd stayed in Colorado Springs, I would have been riding in 28 degrees.  Since I made it down off the Colorado Plateau, I was only going to be riding in 38 derees.

I was up and out the door of the hotel this morning by 6:30.  After a quick breakfast at McDonalds I put on my warm weather gear.

QUICK FLASHBACK!! - 2 years ago I did a very similar ride to what I'm doing now (Read it here).  When I did the ride from Pueblo down to Raton, I nearly froze my hands off.  Right after that I bought some heated riding gear and I always keep that gear on the bike, even in the summer (You'd be surprised how cold it can get in Colorado in the Summer).  END FLASHBACK

So here I am on a chilly morning in Raton, but it's not un bearably cold.  In fact, with my heated gear on I was really pretty warm.  I headed South with the sun rising off to my left.

I had my camera on a lanyard hanging around my neck and I kept looking around for anything (ANYTHING) worth taking a picture of.  Nothing.  New Mexico has some long boring sections in it.

Finally when the sun had risen higher, I noticed my shadow off to my right and took a picture of my silhouette.

All day I just meandered South.  I wasn't pushing hard at all.  As it turned out, maybe I should have pushed a little bit.  I stopped every couple of hours for water, gas, and sometimes a snack.

I stopped for lunch in Roswell.  I figured that I should get some good Mexican food while I was in New Mexico.  It's not that we don't have great mexican food in Colorado Springs, but, . . . we don't.  It was very good except the chilli-relleno was filled with american cheese.

Someone told me everything in Roswell was about aliens, but I didn't see it.  Other than a few billboards, it looked like any other small city. I was surprised to see just how large the Roswell was, because it took nearly half an hour to ride through town.

After lunch the temperatures really climbed.  I'd started the day at 35, and now it was approaching 90.  I twisted a bit more on the throttle and made it through Carlsbad at 3:00 and was out to Carlsbad Caverns National Park around 3:20.  As I entered the park, I stopped to get pictures by the sign out front, then rode the 7 miles up to the visitors center for the cave.  As I walked in, the ladies at the desk said "You missed the last elevator by 5 minutes".  I guess I should have hurried a bit more through the day or skipped the picture.

I looked through the visitor's center, then headed back out.  I stopped for a few pictures on the way, including a panoramic view of the road coming in.  I've been playing with 360 degree panoramas lately, especially since I found a simple app for the iPhone to make them, and bought a cheap mount to hold the iPhone on a tripod.  I figure if it's really easy to do, I'll actually do them.

Back where the National Park road meets the highway is a small town called Whites City.  It looks like it only exists for the sake of tourism.  And it looks like tourism isn't that great anymore.  Most of the buildings are vacant, and there are only 2 hotels left running and 1 cafe.  It feels like those route 66 towns that close down.  I wonder if tourism is really that bad for the caverns.


My shadow on the highway


Lunch


Carlsbad National Park


A picture on the road into the park







Carlsbad Caverns New Mexico. Entry Drive in new-mexico