Family Road Trip

There are two places, it seems, where I end up at least once every year: Siem Reap, Cambodia and Carlsbad, New Mexico. Not that I'm complaining at all! In love both cities, though they couldn't be more different.

After Christmas, my parents, brother, and I took a road trip out west to spend a few days in and around Carlsbad. I was super excited! I think that Carlsbad Caverns is one of the coolest national parks in the US, and I love the desert landscapes out that way.

very cold out in the Chihuahuan Desert 

It was so cold! Fortunately, it's always a pleasant 56F inside the caverns, no matter the temperature outside. We got to the park early, and walked down through the cave's natural entrance. I had been a few times in past years (I even went caving with my buddy James a couple of years back), and my mom has been recently with her school on a field trip. My dad and brother hadn't been since my brother was a baby, though. It was their first time to walk down into the cave rather than take the elevator. My brother, of course, didn't remember the caves. It was an exciting experience for all of us.

at the mouth of the cafe 

What's so cool about walking down into the natural entrance is that you can see the changes from the cave's mouth, through the "twilight zone", and into the deep cave. The life that exists in the cave changes the deeper you get, and informative signs along the path teach visitors all about the cave's ecosystem.

Carlsbad Caverns

The limestone caverns were formed millions of years ago, when the ice caps were melted and the entire area used to be an ancient coral reef. In fact, lots of the formations in the cave are very clearly fossilized coral!

After visiting the cave and getting stamps in our national park passports, we had a picnic lunch in our car (it was way too cold and windy to enjoy sitting outside).

incredible natural features in the caverns 

Then, we stopped in at one of the most fun and tackiest souvenir shops just outside of White's City, near the national park.

I was excited to take my family to visit the Living Desert Zoo and Botanical Gardens, which I only discovered last year. It's a state park zoo dedicated to the ecology of the deserts of the American Southwest.

Living Desert Zoo 

It's also a botanical garden, and the landscapes are sculpted to reflect different ecosystems and biomes of the Chihuahuan Desert.

desertscapes 

But it was still freezing cold and super windy! As we walked through the park, the icy wind was really unpleasant! It was fun to visit, and fortunately many of the exhibits were indoors. Still, I was glad when we got to the succulent greenhouse, which contained cacti from all over the world. It was warm, humid, and reminded my of my home in Bangkok!

in the succulent greenhouse