Monday, September 8: A problem with the cryostat has caused a slight delay in our launch schedule, giving us an opportunity for a sanity-returning day off. We had been interested in visiting the caverns in the Carlsbad National Park, so off we went.

Our strange schedules of late caused most of us to get little more than four hours of sleep, but we wanted to get on the road early as the drive promised to be a good 3 hours. Shortly after 8:00, we were heading South, top down, wind blowing though our hair, music blaring. Well, except for the top down part — we don't have a convertible.

We made an impromptu stop at the U.F.O. Museum and Research Center in Roswell, where we all were convinced of the existence of extra terrestrials. Oops, did I say "were convinced of the existence of extra terrestrials"? I meant to say "bought postcards". Next stop was the always fantastic Denny's in Carslbad, where we all impressed by the decor (seriously! — there were some classy prints on the walls).

We arrived at the caverns shortly after 1:00. We declined a guided tour, and walked down into the caves. We spent about two hours walking down and around. It was quite impressive, but was a little strange to see the permanent lighting, paved walkways with handrails, and cafeteria and giftshop at the bottom. It would have been a lot of fun to have taken the $20 tour to the lower caves, which required some climbing and where the only lighting was from head lamps. But our late arrival nullified that opportunity.

We decided to stick around until dusk to see the bat flight, when the bats leave their caves for the night. We had a couple hours to spare, so we decided to take the 10-mile scenic drive. Hoo-boy, bad idea. It was the most boring scenic drive any of had seen, and appeared to be only a service road to a radio antenna. I saw a pretty butterfly, though.

After the drive, we still had some time to spare, and after throwing pebbles at a cactus for a little while, we decided to head into the bat-viewing amphitheatre. We relaxed for a while, then listened attentively to the park ranger's informative presentation. At around 7:00 the first bats started appearing. It was very impressive. For about an hour we watched a constant stream of thousands of bats (an estimated 250 000 in all) spiral out of the cave and off into the distance. An interesting side show was watching the swallows, which were flying around the cave mouth before dusk, fly around and amongst the bats as they were leaving. [I unfortunately have no pictures of the flight, as cameras with flash were prohibited; my camera's memory card was full, anyway. I took pictures on film, but alas, it takes time.]

We had dinner at Chili's in Carlsbad, where our hostess informed us "Y'alls waiter will be right with y'all". Wow, very advanced use of the double-y'all! The vegetarian selection was minimal, and Marie was forced to order a chicken-less Crispy Chicken Salad (hold the chicken, but keep the crispy, please). The drive home was mostly uneventful, until we turned onto the last last stretch of highway. During the hour-long drive along the two-lane highway, we didn't pass a single car. Of rabbits, however, we saw plenty. I must have had to slam my brakes and swerve 15 times for brave bunnies (and one badger and a sleeping bird) doing their best to cause me to roll our car. I somehow managed to avoid them all, though, mostly by my clever strategy of driving really slowly. Home at 1:30, and straight to bed after our long, relaxing day of fun.

[I may eventually add captions and some other fancy stuff to this page, but for now I don't have the time. We're a little busy at the moment.]