Carlsbad Caverns, Southern New Mexico
The first visit was some 20 years ago on a family trip. To be honest, the memory is a fog. Recalling the drive: as a child I’d get car sick and so no one’s forgetting ralphed bananas complementing Ray Lynch’s dippy, winding road.
About a month ago, Erica and I went to Carlesbad and it was mind-blowing. There is no way to describe the scale, the smells, just how small it made us feel. We arrived in the afternoon and spent a long time together just holding hands, jaws agape in awe.
That night, I couldn’t stop thinking about it: the early explorers, how no one really knows how far they stretch — it was all the talk over BBQ dinner and the nearby honeymoon suite. (Hunter was loving the tub :
)
I decided that I was going to get up the next morning early and return to the caves alone with hopes of making a photograph. I was the first person to enter that morning and the silence was overwhelming once I decended, set my camera, and opened the lens. It made me sit down.
One last thing: there is now an elevator that takes you back to the surface in under a minute. Amazing to think of climbing out of there. We think they should have a super low-key martini bar down there too.