Our Carlsbad Experience, Living Desert Zoo & Gardens SP

Friday night after we returned from Artesia, we sat outside of our PuP and watched the lighting storms all around us. We continued to watch until it got fairly dark and eventually we decided we had better hit the sack and get some rest. Just on this day, we drove several hours, pitched camp at the Carlsbad KOA, traveled to the Caverns and walked a couple of hours and a couple of miles in the caverns, drove to Artesia where we enjoyed a great red ale and good steaks. Geez, I mean, we have had a full day and we are planning on a lot for Saturday!

So, we get inside and blissfully pass into a deep sleep. But, before too long, I notice the pitter patter of little rain drop feet trouncing on our canvas. I decide to just roll over and enjoy the coolness of the evening. Dang, as I rolled over, I noticed that a fine mist was coming through our screen and that means I need to get up and close the windows. 

To close our windows, you need to actually zipper the canvas up to cover the screen. Not exactly the quietest way to secure a space from the rain but it makes the job go by fairly quickly. Being the idiot I am, I decided to save time and only zipper up one side of the camper. That way, we'd still have air flow!

Another 30 minutes and I'm up again, zippering the rest of the windows. Dunderhead.

The next morning, my Sweetie and I wake up (me much later than her). I proceed to start unzipping some of the windows and, as we speak about various things, I let slip that I got up to close the windows because of the rain. She did not believe me at first because neither I nor the rain woke her up. And since she has that "mother's sense" and usually wakes up every time I roll over in bed, I rarely can get out of bed without her waking up much less twice in one night!

We get going and take the short drive to the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens State Park just outside of Carlsbad. We arrive around 9 a.m., take a look at the great artwork out front, and start our walking tour. The first part of the walk takes us through their small animal zoo and aviary. We see only native animals.

We highly recommend stopping here, especially early in the morning. The animals and the plants are all native to New Mexico/West Texas so you can get a real sense of the area. There are wolves, foxes, wild cats, mountain lions, eagles, vultures, hawks, road runners, elk, mule deer, buffalo, along with a nocturnal house and a reptile house. The trail takes you through a section of selinite, a form of gypsum. The plants are mostly desert types (cacti) and they have a remarkable greenhouse of succulents from around the world. Below are some photos of the park.