This past weekend I traveled with Nathan Barnes and Michael Fowl to attend the funeral of a friend’s father in El Paso, Texas. We departed San Antonio around 6:30 p.m. on Friday evening, caravanning behind Michael Gobart, Michael Billings, and Josh Harris. Knowing the projected driving time from San Antonio to El Paso, it was our collective determination to limit the number of non-gasoline stops. However, it soon became apparent that the necessity of wakefulness trumped our concern for timeliness, and a bevy of road breaks ensued.
As a firm believer in that well-known saying, "Real men don’t drink coffee," yours truly gutted out his driving endeavors with the assistance of Pepsi, Coke, and more Pepsi. ‘Tis rather amazing the enlivening effect large amounts of sugarized, caffeinated, carbonated beverages can have on a person once absorbed into one’s system. Suffice it to say that everyone in my vehicle stayed awake until reaching our destination. :>)
Upon our arrival in El Paso around 3:30 a.m. (MST), we made a beeline for the hotel rooms Michael Fowl had earlier reserved and gratefully retired for the night (or morning?). After approximately five hours of sleep we rose, prepared for a quick exit, and discovered the happy surprise that our room key was in the key slot on the outside of our hotel room door. The happier surprise was that we were all alive and well and that the contents of our room were likewise secure. (Gratefully Barnes had remembered to latch the door on the inside.)
We drove to a local cemetery and arrived in time to attend the latter portion of the graveside service, listening to the encouraging testimony of our friend in remembrance of his father and in clear declaration of biblical truth. In this sad day of mourning we were privileged to observe a young man honor his father and exhort others to consider their own lives and the purpose for living. May God grant each of us such strength to receive His good pleasure and be used of Him through it, recognizing God’s sovereignty in all of life.
Following the service, the family of our friend generously treated our group to a meal at a local Mexican restaurant. Genuine Mexican it was! I enjoyed beef enchiladas and flan, both definitely the best-tasting I have ever eaten of either dish. Our meal was peppered with stories and sharing, and we were grateful for the opportunity to fellowship.
The ending of our meal prompted a parting of ways between my vehicle’s occupants and the other half of our caravan. Michael G., Michael B., and Josh headed home, while Michael F., Barnes, and I set our course for Carlsbad.
As we drove through West Texas (this time in daylight) we were intrigued by the irregularly spaced human habitats dotting the roadside. From broken-down pop-up campers and seemingly bombed-out shelters with vehicles parked in the front yard, to forty-year-old trailers and strangely-shaped edifices claiming "home" status, a variety of housing oddities confronted our eyes. Every so often we passed real estate "offices" that bore a striking resemblance to something one might see in an old trailer park. A possible explanation for the local housing market? Perhaps.
Stark mountain-ranges accompanied our journey toward Carlsbad, and the closer we drew to Guadalupe Mountains National Park the more beautiful those mountains became (the Guadalupe Mountains National Park’s and Carlsbad Caverns National Park’s main entrances are quite close to each other, probably not more than forty miles apart by highway). As the mood struck we either rolled down our windows and started snapping away with our cameras, or we pulled off the road and took advantage of the many Kodak moments. On a whim we decided to stop at Guadalupe Mountains National Park, home to Texas’ highest point (Guadalupe Peak). We briefly toured the visitor’s center and took a quick jaunt to an old stop on the Butterfield Overland Mail route, a pre-Pony Express mail delivery network. The coolness of the late-afternoon air was delightfully brisk, at least in Barnes’ and my opinions. Mr. Fowl did not particularly concur with our assessment, and was wont to voice his contrary view on occasion. However, neither Barnes nor I were persuaded by his comments, either in the park or on the open road. :>)
Returning to my car we piled in and again set out for Carlsbad, New Mexico (the "city" of Carlsbad is located about fifteen miles east of Carlsbad Caverns National Park) and a decent hotel. Not finding a decent hotel in Carlsbad, we settled upon a Days’ Inn. The motel actually wasn’t all that bad, and provided the essentials we needed (clean sheets, beds, and the all-important high speed wireless internet access). After dinner and a movie we gratefully closed our eyes and enjoyed the slumber of the truly tired.
Rising bright and early the next morning, we vacated our room and returned to Carlsbad Caverns past which we had traveled the previous day. Entering the park we drove through the mountains to the visitor’s center, basking in the crisp air and morning sun. Once parked outside the visitor’s center we procured self-tour tickets to the cavern and commenced our abbreviated tour (we all had to be back in San Antonio for work the next morning).
Entering Carlsbad Cavern, it quickly became apparent that our journey into the depths of the earth would be a regrettably easy one. Metal hand-rails defined the borders of the cavern’s paved walkway, relegating us to the realm of observers rather than explorers. This was rather disappointing at first, but the beauty of this dark and hidden world soon overshadowed our initial reaction.
As we progressed through the cavern’s Natural Entrance, we were awed by the sights that greeted us. Stalagmites, stalactites, cave coral, giant boulders, and pools of dark, still water were only a few of the caverns’ unique features. Towering ceilings arched over the sometimes expansive, sometimes narrow cavern passages, while carefully placed electric lighting cast varying glows throughout the Main Corridor.
Reaching the Big Room after slightly more than a mile’s walk, we circumvented the 350,000+ square foot room in about an hour. Some of this section’s highlights were the Bottomless Pit, the Totem Pole, the Mirror Lake, and the Rock of Ages. Again the lighting was masterfully planned and implemented, turning an otherwise midnight-black experience into a brilliant work of art.
With the need to be timely in mind, we finished our tour and ate lunch 750 feet underground in the Cavern lunch room. Barnes and I purchased a couple of t-shirts to commemorate our trip, and we all headed for home. That night we arrived back in San Antonio, successfully completing a whirlwind trip (traffic ticket-free, I might add).
Many thanks to Michael F. and Barnes for joining me in this venture, and thanks to our mutual friend for his Christ-like testimony during a time of deep personal grief.
