Left Roswell and headed south to Carlsbad, N.M. Short drive for Skip - approx. 70 miles south. We pulled into the Carlsbad KOA. Very nice campground.

In fact, we signed up for dinner that night at the campground. The staff cooks dinner - either have meal delivered to your campsite or can eat in the hall. We chose to eat at the hall. We both had the barbecue ribs - great. Our site is a good size with grass for Thumper. Their dog park is also nice. Thumper met few dogs there. Also had coyotes walk by one day. Dogs noticed the coyotes; coyotes didn't pay any attention to the dogs.

  The next day Skip and I headed over to the Caverns. It is about an hour drive. When we got there, we were greeted by a ranger explaining that the elevator was out of order and that you would not only have to walk into and down the cavern but also walk back up. This could take about 5-6 hours. Skip and I headed down. After about 1-1/2 hours we were still descending and we called it quits and turned around. We do not like to leave Thumper for over 6 hours. Unfortunately, we did not make it to bottom of caverns.

Another time. In fact, there were a few struggling on the way back up. Before we left Carlsbad a few days later, I called the Caverns but elevator was still not in operation.
  On our way back, we did stop to take a picture of the billboard on the main road.
   

  While in Carlsbad, we did go to the movies to see the new James Bond - Spectre. We enjoyed it. Daniel Craig is not hard to look at!!!   The seats were really comfortable and lots of room between rows.
  We also went to the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens which is located on top of a mountain. Views were great. You follow the trail through gardens and the animals, some of which are in outdoor environs. It is about a 2 mile walk.

prairie dogs

javelina

Hosts at the KOA told us to go to the town of Artesia. It had cute shops, etc. All we saw were oil wells and refineries going through. We drove up for lunch.  Also wandered around looking at the larger than life sculptures that are around.

I think I was told there are 7 total. We also pulled into one of the refineries to see if we could get a tour. We were told to go to the Admin Building, but they were all out to lunch right now.Couldn't figure how they can close down the admin building and all be at lunch. We figured they just did not want us asking questions. We figure we'll see someone hanging around an oil well or refinery on our travels and pull in.

  Another day we drove out to the Sitting Bull State Park. It is located about 35 miles outside of Carlsbad and is part of the Lincoln National Park. As usual, views were great. Temperature had definitely cooled down.

view on way to Sitting Bull State Park

waterfall at Sitting Bull State Park

                 

                               

for your safety along the way!