10/30/2024
I bet those of you coming to my blog today thought you were going to see photos of Carlsbad Caverns. Of course. Why wouldn’t I post photos of such an amazing site? Well, sorry to disappoint, but I was never able to get past the parking lot. Here’s my sob story . . .
Drove 30 minutes from my dusty, flat, vegetation-less RV spot across flat, flat, flat southern New Mexico and up a windy hill to the national park entrance. Signs posted said something to the effect that it is illegal to leave pets in the car, but yeah, they have kennels where you can (must) leave the pets. I had arrived just about exactly on time for my 10:30 admittance to the caverns – which I had booked days ago so was a tad worried I’d miss my “appointment.”
Drove round and round looking for the kennel. After about 10 minutes, I parked and walked over to a door that was obstructed by another building, pulled on the “Kennel” door. Nope. Locked. Sign above said ring buzzer – also kind of obscured. Did that. Nope. No answer. Sign also said that if no one answers, go into the gift shop and inquire. Gheez.
I checked myself in for the “tour” at precisely 10:30, and was told it is NOT a tour; it is simply a time frame to visit the caverns and that I have plenty of time to address the kennel situation. Phew.
Over to the gift shop. “Oh, I’ll call someone to come and help you. Just wait at the Kennel door.” I’m pretty good at following directions, so off I went yet again to wait and wait. Finally a woman came out and told me I’d need to show her all my vaccination papers for my dogs. I don’t carry them with me. But wait, I have them on my computer, and my computer is in the car! So, off I go to the car, and lo and behold I have records of all the vaccinations – that expired in May of this year. I know I have my dogs up to date on their vaccinations, so I scoured through the records – for about 2 hours. I had evidence for all the records except for the dog influenza vaccine and ALL vaccinations are required.
Long story short, despondent, I drove down the windy hill, parked myself at the bottom where I had good cell reception and decided to take one last thorough look. Turns out, my vet never gave the dogs, at least Zeus, the dog influenza vaccine. Still despondent and now very discouraged, I drove myself back to the dusty RV spot. I could have left the dogs in the trailer and driven back to the caverns by myself, but with all the driving I’ve done these past several weeks, I just couldn’t bring myself to drive another 90 minutes going back and forth. So here I am, settled into my trailer watching the wind rip through the camp site. Wind warning, the weather app says.
Looking on the bright side – which I always try to do, I think this national park visit wasn’t meant to be. And, while today there’s a wind warning, tomorrow looks clear. I should be able to drive over to Phoenix (another long drive) in relative peace.
Big sigh.
10/30/2024