The Blog of Michael Desrosiers: 2016 USA Adventure Special!

I write a lot on this blog about my life in Thailand, and the experiences I have in places like Cambodia, Bali, or Burma, but every year when I temporarily repatriate and spend the spring back in my home country, I have the chance to go on one or two adventures that I haven't really taken the time to write much about.

In honor of my good friend James launching a travel blog of his own, I am writing this post to tell the tales of two adventures that we had earlier this year in the USA. Let's go back to April of this year...

Spider Cave - Carlsbad, New Mexico

Around graduation last year, I got a message from my old pal, James, asking if I was up for a road trip to New Mexico after I got home, and the chance to go spelunking... or, as the pros say, "caving", at Carslbad Caverns National Park. Of course I would! I hadn't been to Carlsbad since I was little, and after looking at the jungle for three years, I kind of missed seeing desert. The plan sounded great! It was National Park Week, so the entry fees were free. All we had to pay for was $20 to hire a guide to take us on the expedition. The cave tour we had signed up for, I later learned, was for a place called... "Spider Cave".

"I don't think there are really spiders" he told me, "but I'm not sure."

We left our hometown in North Texas early in the morning, setting off through the desert in James' Mustang, on a real American road trip, past small towns and miles and miles of nothing! Of course, we had an awesome playlist of some of the best classic rock songs to jam out to along the way.

desert flora

Eight hours later, we rolled into Carlsbad, a very small town in southeastern New Mexico, which to its credit has a Chili's, a Walmart, and a Hampton Inn, where we checked in, tired from the day of traveling, and wanting to be well-rested before facing the unknown adventures we had in store for us the next day.

We woke up early, and drove to the park HQ. I'll admit, I was feeling nervous, unsure of what we would be doing in Spider Cave, and about whether or not there were actually any spiders.

We met our guides, Teri (the leader) and David (definitely the follower) who showed us how to use our gear; helmets, elbow and knee pads, and gloves, and had each of us practice climbing through a shall facsimile of the tightest crawl in the cave, which fortunately was located at the cave mouth. If we could make it through that, we would be fine. Luckily, neither James nor I had any problem, and we were ready to go, soon following the park vehicle in a caravan out through the desert to the cave entrance. There, it was a steep hike down into the valley to the mouth of the tunnel leading into Spider Cave.

the desert in the Guadalupe Mountains

We made quite the odd companions. Besides me, James, Terri, and David, we were accompanied by several people whose names we don't know, but who we will never forget: Hat Guy (Mike?), Hat Guy's Wife, Australian Chick, "Grey" (because she had grey hair, and also her car was grey), and... Paul.

Nobody knew where Paul came from. He just sort of... showed up. "Is the tour full?" he asked in a British accent, then joined us. Paul was not prepared. Paul was wearing boat shoes, and carried his nice iphone with him. Paul was middle-aged, grey haired, and well dressed.

Paul was the best amateur caver of us all.

Fortunately, James and I weren't so bad ourselves, as first-time cavers go.

Spider Cave: Before and After

I don't think I'm particularly claustrophobic, but I had no idea what we would actually be doing down in Spider Cave. Would we be crawling around on our stomachs trying to squeeze through small gaps in the rock? Would we be straddling deep chasms, far below the surface?

The answer to both questions was, in fact, "yes".

The few hours we spent down in Spider Cave felt like an honest-to-goodness adventure. There were a few moments that were a little bit scary, and I was certainly glad to feel the first cool breeze on my face when we crawled back out of the cave on our hands and knees, but I had an absolute blast down in the cave. Oh, and apparently, during some seasons, parts of the cave wall is actually covered with spiders. Luckily for us, it was not that way when we were there.

At one point, we all sat quietly in one of the larger caverns and turned out our lamps, experiencing complete and total darkness. It was kind of spooky, but also somehow really peaceful as well.

At another point, we were surprised to run into a team of cave biologists, who hadn't expected to meet anyone down in the cave either. Needless to say, both parties were startled!

We left Spider Cave exhausted and totally filthy. My whole body would be aching for the next few days, since I had to climb and use muscles that I don't normally use, crawling around on my stomach in the mud. I would be up for another caving trip someday! Hopefully somewhere without spiders.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Florida!

For my last weekend in the USA before flying back to Bangkok for the start of the new semester, James and I headed out east to Florida for a snorkeling trip in Fort Lauderdale!

snorkeling

We cruised out past the homes and mega yachts of the rich and famous, enjoying the sun and the sea breeze blowing in from the Atlantic.

James has his SCUBA certification. I don't, but I hope to some day soon. Snorkeling is a lot of fun, but I bet there's so much more to see down under the water if you can stay down longer. Anyway, if you follow my blog, you'll know that I really like boats! I could spend all day boating around in the ocean.

In the end, our flight was delayed and we ended up stranded overnight in Houston. But Southwest Airlines gave us free drinks, and at least we had a funny flight attendant, which was nice!