The sights, the sounds, the smells...

The riding is gorgeous, but we've met a couple of biker buds who tell us the next stretch is boring...I have no fear that we'll find something interesting along the way.

We watched the Cavs win, while drinking Coronas and eating chips/queso at our beautiful ($$$) El Paso hotel bar/lobby. We departed at 9am, and headed straight to Barnett HD - the largest dealer in the US. The weather was cool after all the rain, so on came the jackets and we headed out scenic rte 82 to Carlsbad. The stockyards seemed never ending - here's the answer to "where's the beef". Not far out of El Paso, we spotted this guy standing along the road:





We rode through the Guadalupe Mtns and on in to Carlsbad to grab a room. After questioning 6 locals on the best BBQ joint, we ate at Danny's Place Pit BBQ. We agree that it's excellent! Off to explore the caverns...94 degrees now and no jackets! Met another couple there who were riding from Columbus, OH...small world.



We opted to take the Natural Entrance hike into the caverns...strenuous but well worth it. By the time we finished, it was "bat time" at the amphitheatre. What an unbelievable thing it is to see them exit the cave! We watched them until dark and they were STILL coming out. Ranger John said there are approximately 400,000 bats and it takes up to 2 hrs. We could hear their wings as they swarmed out, and they bring that special bat guano essence out with them.

Star-filled night ride back to town, stop at grocery store for local chips/salsa, bed time. Headed to Big Spring, Lubbock and (maybe) Amarillo TX...long day tomorrow, for sure.

Here are some views of the cave entrance, the walkway into the abyss, the smell of guano, looking up to the outside world, and cave formations - enjoy!