Day 13 (Holbrook, AZ to Carlsbad)

Day 13 (June 22) got off to a rather leisurely start. Julie, Collin and I woke up at 7:00 (really 8:00 MST) to head for the Chuckwagon breakfast at the Holbrook KOA. Bryce had every intention of joining us last night, but apparently, his beauty sleep once again won the battle over a good breakfast. We had our fill of pancakes and sausage, Julie readied everything for the road while I disconnected, and we were off to the Petrified Forest (an unplanned stop originally, but we decided to take a gander after shortening our drive from the Grand Canyon the day before). On our way to the Petrified Forest, Bryce awoke from his slumber and it seemed as though the tensions elevated among the four of us. Collin had a meltdown (no doubt the result of something big brother did or failed to do as is usually the case) and, after a stern talking-to, attitudes were once again in line. We arrived at the park and realized that we weren’t going to have quite enough time to thoroughly explore the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert, so we decided to continue on to Carlsbad so that we could catch the bat flight at dusk. Along the way, we stopped in Capitan, NM to refuel the RV at which time a local briefly inquired about our itinerary and wished us well for the rest of the trip. I must say, at each stop, anybody we encountered has been very pleasant, be they an inquisitive local or another fellow traveler (today we even met a young man who went to the same middle school as Collin). The ride to our Carlsbad KOA was another rather mundane 8 ½ hour ride. Once we hit our campsite, I quickly fired up the grill to get our Philly cheesesteaks going, and wolfed them down with some French fries on our way to the caverns to see the bat flight. Upon arriving at the park, we made our way to the amphitheater where we had our “bat orientation” given by Ranger Mike (a rather informative 30 minute session). Around 8:20, the “bat meter” started blipping wildly (think of a submarine radar) and the crowd eagerly anticipated the exit of the 500,000 resident bats for their nightly feeding. The exit wasn’t exactly what we all thought it would be—a vortex of thousands of hand-sized flying mammals making their way into the night sky rather than a sky-darkening cloud of mass hysteria as we were hoping. Nevertheless, it really was a treat to be part of this spectacle; to witness this display really is indescribable. Because this park too is undergoing renovations, it was mandatory that everyone leave by 9:00, at which time construction begins. So, we were among the first 1/3 of the spectators to hit the ground running to beat the crowd once we surmised that the majority of the bats had taken flight. The 1-hour ride back to our KOA treated us to a dramatic lightning display as there were numerous thunderstorms in the area. Thankfully, the rain didn’t hit until after we docked and got everything situated for the night. Julie and I enjoyed some down time with our beverage of choice while the boys (with minor incidence) readied themselves for bed. We can’t wait to hit the caverns tomorrow for an in-depth exploration…