Free-tails and Peccaries and Skunks, Oh My!

June 4

The day started out well enough. We were a bit slow getting started (repacking the car each morning is a major challenge, like working a slide puzzle.) But we found a 7 Eleven and got Slurpees for the road, so that was a nostalgia coup. We headed west in to the Texas wilderness.

This quickly started looking western. Lots of scrub vegetation lined the way to Abilene. We grabbed a bite at Whataburger..a popular local chain, good but not exceptional burgers. As we exited Abilene we came upon a ridge covered with wind farming towers. These are maybe 100 ft tall topped with a windmill consisting of three 50 ft blades. There were maybe a hundred of these. As we continued down the highway, we encountered thousands more. T. Boone Pickens is hard at work.

We left the main highway to take a state route into New Mexico. This was a 70 MPH road with plenty of cross streets and driveways--very exciting driving. There was also odd signage after every intersection telling you that the speed limit was 75, while ten feet later telling you it was 70. At EVERY intersection. All that was a good thing, since the scenery turned brown and bland about that point and we needed something to keep us alert.

Then we found ourselves on an even smaller highway that services the middle of nowhere. The Garmin began to lose signal at this point, which was very frustrating. Don't they have satellites over Texas? It IS the home of NASA folks. Anyway, by his time we were listening to old radio shows to break up the monotony. It's a bit surreal to be listening to Amos and Andy while driving past homes and buildings which are all at least as old as that show.

By the time we hit New Mexico, Garmin thought we were several hundred yard to the right of where we were--assuming we could get a signal. We finally rolled into Carlsbad a bit after 5:30PM. We grabbed food to cook (another Walmart Supercenter--they sell hard liquor here!) and then drove to the campsite outside the National Park.

Carlsbad Cavern is famous for its Mexican Free-Tail bat population. In order to see the nightly exit of the bats, we went to the park instead of setting up camp. We arrived in time for the Ranger's talk. Then we got to see about 300 thousand bats fly out of the cave mouth. It's impressive, but almost silent. Not at all the way Hollywood would do it. We made the trip back to the camp site hungry and tired.

We set up camp for the first time on or trip--in the dark. We had a new lantern and a camp stove we hadn't used yet, which added to the frustration. As we were finally getting dinner and sleeping accommodations under control, a wild pig* ambled through the camp. That was a little different, but there was more to come. After finishing dinner, Sean went to sleep in the tent and MarKay went to wash dishes. As I was packing up the campsite for the night, I heard a sound by my feet. A skunk had entered the camp, close enough for me to bend down and pet him. I backed off a distance and noticed a couple watching the show. The woman had seen the skunk approach me, but was afraid to shout a warning for fear of startling the skunk.



As we discussed the skunk situation, I heard a new sound from the camp. The skunk had gotten into the large plastic bin we use for a pantry and was tearing open a package. I sneaked up on the creature and--from what I hoped was a safe distance--shouted and threw pebbles at it. It looked at be with disdain and eventually waddled off. MarKay returned shortly after and we discovered that we had lost a loaf of bread in the skunk attack. As we scrambled to get everything packed, the skunk came back with reinforcements and chased us around the camp a few times. The skunks had no fear of humans, who were clearly part of there nightly buffet plans, but we didn't reciprocate that sentiment. After awhile the skunks left, apparently frightened off by a fox who came sneaking across the camp site. We decided that the inside of the tent might be a better place to be, so we ended our adventures for the night.

*This was actually a javelina, or peccary, but we didn't know that at the time.