Carlsbad, New Mexico

Rather than drive the 13 hours straight to Santa Fe, we discovered Carlsbad, New Mexico, home of the Carlsbad Caverns. We found a cheap campsite, made some sandwiches and drank boxed wine, swinging on the swings all night before crashing in our brand new tent J

In the morning it was straight to the caverns. We took the "natural entrance" which winds down 750 feet into what is known as "the big room" which is 600,000 square feet in size making it the world's largest accessible underground chamber. To be honest, its kind of one of those things you have to see to believe, it was simply breathtaking- the photos we took will definitely not do it justice but it will be an adventure we will never forget.

Driving 285-N through New Mexico

Several things to note-

First, don't assume there will always be a Starbucks.

Second, it's always better to have gas rather than not.

Third, storms suck, but everything is more beautiful once they pass.

To further elaborate, the caves wore us out, and it was a long 50 minutes before a coffee shop popped up- but we made it, whew!

For some reason neither of us thought it would be wise to fill up the tank when we got our caffeine fix, and got pretty nervous when we were nearing 380 miles since our last pump and only 2 bars of gas left. Right when the nerves kicked in, a massive thunderstorm passed over, which we had to stop and wait for to pass because visibility was nil and you don't get good gas mileage when you can only go 40mph.

However, Vaughn, NM saved the day with Lalo's gas and liquor store, ha! After filling up we vowed to always be on the safe side when it comes to the gas tank. As we drove out of the station, the sky ahead was crystal clear and a fantastic rainbow appeared in the distance. Calm returned, thank goodness.

As we get closer to Santa Fe, mountains are getting redder and the grass is getting greener. Definitely the most scenic drive thus far.