Carlsbad and Easter

April 6-8th-On Friday we drove all day and got to Carlsbad at around 8:00 p.m. at a KOA.  We chose to come here because they had a lot of Easter activities planned.  This is the first KOA we’ve stayed as they are expensive but it is great for kids.  Stefan was immediately drawn to the ping pong table and the shower house was state of the art.  This was voted the best campground in NM.  Great amenities but the scenary leaves something to be desired: open, dry, brushy.  Stefan and Janae enjoyed having Easter crafts, an egg hunt and watching the movie Hop on Saturday.  We became quickly acquainted to our neighbors because they have a 10 year old daughter, Aisling, who is one day older than Janae.  Turns out, her mom June, graduated with me (and 4000 others) from Bowling Green State University.  What a small world and it was fascinating to hear how her life has gone from BG.  She is a top ranking officer in the Coast Guard, maybe the next Admiral and was the appointed coast guard representative for Bill Clinton.  She traveled everywhere with him for two years and it was fun to hear her stories.  Most of all, it was fun to just talk about life as we share it as moms.We hope to meet up with them again in California at their new assignment and home.

Sunday, we all arose bright and early as there were live bunnies hopping everywhere around the campground.  They even left some baskets for Janae and Stefan before we went to services at the Methodist Church in Carlsbad.  We enjoyed the service very much though it felt different being away from what we know.  We were impressed with the organist and enjoyed talking and meeting with her and her family after church.

In the afternoon, we toured Carlsbad Caverns with Tim, June and Aisling.  Since we had been to Mammoth Cave recently, we had to go through an ordeal cleaning our shoes.  Many bats are dying from a bacteria that is getting transmitted from cave to cave.

The caves were beautiful.  The walk down was interesting but when we got into the big room that is the size of four football fields it was an ooh and ah around every corner.  Stefan imagined it all being candy and how awesome that would be.  Gorgeous formations and the lighting accentuated their beauty.  We all had hand held recorders, like holding a phone to your ear, explaining the cave.  I kind of wished we would have experienced it in silence because it was so beautiful.  The constant information, though interesting, was sometimes distracting.