Carlsbad Caverns

A Journey Underground... Our encounter with Carlsbad Caverns National Park begins in the Chihuahuan Desert of the Guadalupe Mountains. But beyond the somewhat familiar surroundings of rugged mountains and broad plains is another world. Away from the sunlight, away from the flowering cactus, away from the songs of the desert birds and the howl of the coyote, lies the celebrated underground world of the Carlsbad Cavern. It is an incomparable realm of gigantic subterranean chambers, fantastic cave formations, and extraordinary features.
Join us on our little adventure...
These were called lions tails...








This cave seemed to go on a long way.
Michelin man...
looking up to the cave ceiling
This kinda looked like a monster to me


these were ribbon formations
this was called the Chinese Theater


We had a good time in the dark, the pictures don"t even come close to depicting the size of the cavern, in the big room one place was 300 feet from dome to floor , we thought it would be cold but it wasn't it was actually around 58 degrees year round. Then we headed home again going through Roswell, New Mexico. We saw the Alien Museum and research center but Ron wouldn't stop. Maybe next time Oh, I even saw a quilt store but oddly enough he wouldn't stop there either.

Time to head back to Utah

Jack... don't cry we'll come back again
Miss Alex all ready for us to drop her off at School

Jack Anthony Tierney's Blessing day

Jack all dressed and ready to go to church,
sporting Daddy's Christening outfit
All went well... Crystal did get us there one hour early
funny girl but at least we weren't late.
Any way the blessing was beautiful. After getting home
it was picture time before all got changed.
the proud family , aren't they cute...
Grandma and grandpa with the cute grandchildren...
What a proud big sister.....
Isn't he a cutie? I spent a lot of time just cuddling him.
So I had to make some calls to the mom's of my Beehives about Tues
night's activity was gone about 45 mins. and came back to everyone asleep.
You can only see Ron's knee but he too was napping , 'Bummer I missed nap time.
Unfortunately Pat had to work and missed the lovely day.

San Angelo Train Museum

We promised Alex a trip to the train museum but it was only open on Saturdays as it is run by retired volunteers. So after breakfast we headed down.
This was our guide explaining to Ron about the year markers
put on the ties to mark the year they were put in
This mini train was restored from one made for a guys grand kid,
cool grand pa huh?
Alex trying out the conductor seat.
After we went thru the museum downstairs it was up to the train displays



Alex found a friend and they took turns hitting the sound buttons
while the other one guessed the sounds. I think this was her favorite part.

Then it was out side to check out the real train cars



inside looking out

It had gotten cold and windy so we hurried thru and headed home.
But it was a good time.

Petrified Forest

So before entering the national park we stopped at a gift shop/ Dinosaur museum
This is a skeleton of a dino
and some fossils
A fun little pond
And the back yard full of rocks/ and petrified wood for sale
But as it was Sunday there were no purchases made.
I got this baby Dino hatching for the grandkids cute huh?
Then it was off to the forest Or as in the brochure Stories of climate and culture
told in stone: This high, dry grassland was once a vast floodplain crossed by many streams. Tall , stately conifer trees grew along the banks. Crocodile-like reptiles, giant amphibians, and small dinosaurs lived among a variety of ferns, cycads, and other plants and animals known only as fossils today. The trees, Araucarioxylon, Woodworthia, Schilderia, and others, fell, and swollen streams washed them into adjacent floodplains. A mix of silt, mud, and volcanic ash buried the logs. This sediment cut off oxygen and slowed the logs' decay. Silica-laden groundwater seeped through the logs and replaced the original wood tissues with silica deposits. Eventually silica crystallized into quartz, and the logs were preserved as petrified wood.




This was a huge tree as it is buried on either end and more than
half is unseen.

petrified trees as far as the eye can see.


They look so much like chopped wood you just have to touch it
to see that indeed it is stone.















This log bridge was Strengthened in 1930's so wouldn't fall.
If it was discovered today they would leave it in it's original state

The Tee Pees
And so after seeing the sights we were again on our way to San Angelo