Carlsbad Caverns

March 2021 | Park 18

Part + Park 1 (of 3) on our spring break road trip.

This one found us driving through New Mexico and Texas with a six-month-old puppy in the back of our Prius. Looking back, I have no idea how we managed to fit the three of us larger-than-average beings + all our gear into that vehicle. By the time we reached Carlsbad Caverns, we were ready to stretch our legs. Dogs aren’t allowed in the cave, but we’d researched ahead of time that there was a dog kennel on site where we could check in Kiya. This ended up being a sterile, windowless room with several dog kennels and a staffer on hand to keep an eye on the dogs. I am certain that baby Kiya thought we were permanently abandoning her when we left her in that room and hurried off to start the tour of the caverns. Her innocent, scared little face was seared into my mind and I ended up jogging through the cave, half appreciating the site but mostly just trying to get to the end so I could collect our little pup.

It’s also one of the parks where cell phone pictures are all that we have. Enjoy a few low-res images of this hastily experienced site.

PS — Kiya was completely fine after this experience, but to this day, J will still remind me of how I made him run through the cave to get back to the puppy because I was so distraught to leave her there. Puppy > caves, always and forever for me.