It's been a fun two days. We began yesterday by heading over to Carlsbad Caverns to check out some of the biggest underground caves in the world. 800 feet underground, we were blown away by the beauty here. This is a sampling of some of the beauty. It was impossible to capture on camera. We took a ranger guided tour which allowed us to see otherwise closed off areas like the Kings Palace, the Papoose room, the Queens chamber and the Green Lake room. See if you can guess the cave formations - stalactites, stalagmites, columns, popcorn, drapes, bacon (those last two may not be official names).

When a stalactite meets a stalagmite, it forms a column. Here is a picture of a controversial structure which was hotly debated - eternal kiss or frustrated lovers. Turns out it's the latter. Bonus picture on natural formations that almost look carved.

We were also educated on bats (see picture of dead bat). Bats inhabit the caves until they migrate. Due to cave conditions, their bodies stay preserved. My absolute favorite part of the caverns was the few minutes when the ranger turned the lights off and turned on bat sounds. The sound of silence and true darkness is transporting. You are just so much more aware of every sound.

After the caverns, we drove over to White Sands and visited the park first thing this morning. The white sand dunes were disorienting and simultaneously captivating. We walked on the dunes and got lost in the beauty. Again, impossible to capture pictures that are true but here is an attempt.

And we then made our way to Albuquerque with a stopover at the Very Large Array. If you have seen the movie Contact, this is where it was shot. Science is amazing. The arrays of radio telescopes used for astronomy was unbelievable.

And we are now sitting in Albuquerque. We visited the Old Town and then had an amazing dinner. It was my first time visiting a Oaxan restaurant and I wasn't disappointed. Definitely check out La Guelaguetza if you are looking for delicious food in Albuquerque.

We leave tomorrow evening so tomorrow will be chill but I will do a small post on our last day here to round out this round of posts!