No pain...no gain.

Whew. It is 11:40pm on the East Coast and 9:40pm here in Carlsbad, NM. We drove 8.5 hours today...the most in one day so far. But, the drive was amazing. The state of Texas has some really beautiful scenery along 290 and I-10. But, still 8.5 hours on the road is 8.5 hours no matter how pretty it is.

We finally made it to Carlsbad Caverns National Park and to the RV Park I found online, which is literally at the entrance of the park; this fact and one other I will mention later are the ONLY two redeeming qualities about this...shall I say...dive of an RV Park.

We had to try FOUR different spots before we found one that worked. Talk about frustrating, but the other thing that is good about this RV park that I alluded too before is that, believe it or not, the gravel/grass plot we are on is dead level!! No need for stabilizing jacks or anything, which we have had to use at every other park since being on the road.

After we finally got all set up and confident that the fuse wouldn't blow, the water pipe wouldn't burst and that we were pretty safe, we jumped in Sarai (the Miata) put the top down and along with Peanut, we drove through Carlsbad Caverns NP...and it is stunning! I can't wait to go back tomorrow morning and spend more time there! What beauty and we didn't even see the caverns. We just drove up to the top to check things out and that alone was breath taking. We did read that the hike through the caverns is 1.5 miles, strenuous, chilly, narrow, low...etc., but it sounds PERFECT to us! Can't wait! So, no pain...no gain. I just hope I don't sprain an ankle or fall on my bum!

After our hike we are high tailing it out of here and heading to Santa Fe where we will spend three glorious nights at Rancheros de Santa Fe. Ah. Just sounds nice, doesn't it? I read on the internet that they do a movie every night by the pool, so we are psyched about. We have opted NOT to do the Satellite Dish thingy...too distracting, honestly. We need to either watch a good movie, read a book or write...not sit in front of the TV set, which we are both prone to do when one is around. I get the daily news from the computer and when College Football starts, we will just find a local sports bar and pop in to watch our favorite teams!

Well, I'm exhausted and need to rest up for tomorrow! Thank you to all of our loyal followers! We love getting your comments and feedback...makes us feel like we are all together in this! Love and Blessings to you all!