Early this morning we returned to Carlsbad Caverns and this time we entered through the Natural Entrance, past the Bat Flight Amphitheater where we remember watching the bat flight at dusk one evening in September 1974. No bats there today though. They’ve gone south to Mexico for the winter. Today we opted for the ranger led King’s Palace Tour. The ranger embarrassed us by making a big deal out of the fact that we’d been there to celebrate our first anniversary and were back to celebrate our thirty-fifth!
Over a long weekend we sampled some of the myriad things to do in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, unique among national parks for it’s environmental reclamation, historic preservation, and recreational opportunities adjacent to the populous cities of Cleveland and Akron in northeastern Ohio. Can’t wait to return and explore more.
Our journey from Portsmouth, England to our home in Ohio might have been accomplished in about sixteen hours but my avoiding air travel we were able to enjoy a fifteen day journey home via train, ship, Uber, train, as well as our own feet and finally our personal vehicle.
It’s been a fascinating two day visit to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. We managed to pack in tours of the HMS Warrior, the HMS Victory as well ast Victory Live: The
Big Repair, and finally the Mary Rose. All were incredibly informative and well presented.
What, no wild cave tour?! I bet Carlsbad would be an awesome cave to explore on one’s stomach.
You should have just grinned when the ranger mentioned thirty five years.
Sunday, November 23, 2008 – 07:27 PM