Texas won't let us go.

This is what Rachelle said today several times during our 7.5 hour drive. Dear god, there is nothing in this state. And what I said about the roads still stands. I mean, they are awful. Anyway, we woke up this morning at 6 am to get up bright and early and on the road to Carlsbad, but since I had taken a nap yesterday I didn't sleep at night. I know this is a thing that happens to me. I know that I won't sleep at night if I nap in the afternoon. But somehow, I always think it's a good idea and I always talk myself into napping. So I got maybe like 3 hours of sleep, and Rachelle got up in the middle of the night a few times and so we decided we would do the caverns tomorrow for a few more hours of sleep. It made sense at the time.

This morning our airbnb host had the air conditioning guy come in and told us that he wasn't going to charge us and was going to refund us our money because the ac wasn't working. It was quite warm in our room last night, but we had the ceiling fan and the standing fan on, so I don't think it was so bad. Compared to camping, it was downright lovely. But hey, free night. So we said thanks so much, we love San Antonio, and started our long haul to New Mexico. Now, the photos you're about to see are simply amazing and thrilling, so prepare yourself for the excitement that can hardly be contained in one person.

What did I tell you??

It was like this for SEVEN. AND. A. HALF. HOURS.

I mean, wow, am I right??

Rachelle has been over the moon about Dill Pickle Potato chips, and other various things that seem perfectly normal to me, but today, I found potato chips that I haven't seen before. What the what is this. 

These were ... not amazing. They did taste like salsa though, so I guess that's good. 

Okay, so what's up with the burning pipes everywhere? 

Also something I've never seen before. 

Finally made it to Carlsbad! 

Huh. 

Look at these cacti. We must really be in the southwest now. 

There's a lake in there. I know you can't tell, but it's there. I walked to the edge of our campground to see if I could get a good shot of it. I failed. 

But I did get nice shots of this cactus. 

Anyone for a game of ginormous chess? 

It's actually a really pretty campground. Right behind that fence in the background is a lovely pool which I jumped into after dinner. The moon was bright and high in the sky and I just floated in the pool and thought about how lucky I am to be taking this trip and see all the amazing sights I've been seeing. I am so grateful for my beautiful life. I want to remember this every day. 

I don't know why I didn't get a picture of the pool. It was so calming and relaxing, and as it was over 100 degrees again today, it was so lovely to take a dip in a nice cool pool, and then sit in the dusk having been thoroughly refreshed. In fact, I'm sitting here right this blog in my suit, which is keeping me nice and cool. There's a lovely breeze here, too, which makes the heat more bearable. I was telling my friends in Savannah that it was kind of nice to start off my trip with 103 degree heat with 90% humidity in Baltimore, because everything after that has seemed so cool and delightful. And now that there is a lot less humidity in the southwest, it's even nicer. 

What I learned today: Texas is entirely too big and takes waaaaaay too long to drive across and their roads are the worst ever. As soon as we crossed the New Mexico line I was like, wow, this state seems so much better!! 

On the agenda for tomorrow: So our campground is called Carlsbad, but it is really nowhere near the caverns. We would have to backtrack an hour to get to them before we head up to Albuquerque tomorrow. That seems ... unlikely. Maybe if it was just an hour out the way, that'd be doable, but to go back the way we came, and then add another hour to our trip north ... no, thanks. So we will head to Albuquerque tomorrow to see a friend of mine from college (last friend along the way!) and to hang out and do some laundry. 😊