Out of this World in Roswell: Carlsbad

It's only 75 miles south of here, but getting to and being in Carlsbad is entering a whole different world, and I don't just mean the caverns (which are really neat, and which you will see pictures of later).
Carlsbad is where the "tru-waste" is deposited in a deep salt bed outside town.

"Tru-waste" is waste generated by the government's nuclear weapons program, that has an atomic number greater than uranium (hence, in the Department of Energy's own propaganda - transuranic). It is collected at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). That means it is trucked in and brought in by train from what turns out to be thousands of sites across the US where plutonium is manufactured and/or processed. This picture is, of course, of a "simulated" WIPP cannister.

Carlsbad is also the location of the first intentional use of nuclear power for peaceful purposes - at least it was the experiment that failed. The government set off a small device under ground to see if it could be used as an excavation tool - the only problem was that radiation escaped above the surface. It was capped and now there is a marker on the spot. Of course, it is probably still radioactive, but tourists are welcome to come stand on it and have a picture taken (we did not).

Then, there is Artesia. Yes, that's where the word artesian well comes from - or is it the other way around? - but the main industry of Artesia is oil and natural gas

production. Very ugly town, very smelly town. When we stopped to take a picture of the refinery, a fellow stopped and asked what we were doing - like we were terrorists, or something. They drain off brine pits under the surface as part of the refining process, and now the town is worried about sinkholes - right in the middle of town, where the 2 state highways intersect.

You can see what rusty thinks of Artesia.

But there are some pretty spots, too. After all, it is a very unusual geological area - it is the northern end of the Chihuahua desert (which extends into Texas and Mexico) and under it are huge gaping holes in the ground - some salt (see above), some mineral (like gas and oil), and some gem-like minerals and empty holes where the water has eroded the limestone formations (the caverns).

roadside propaganda

There are also natural springs, which is good, because there isn't much rain. One of them is Sitting Bull Falls, so named because supposedly, cattlemen chased SB and his braves to it after they were caught cattle rustling. Good story, but historically, SB was never in New Mexico.

Of course, the Falls was at the end of a county road, off another county road, and not much signage, so we got lost coming and going, but got to see some pretty countryside. What signs there were, were riddled with bullet holes.

man meets cow

intersection of county roads

Then there is the monument to Frank Kindel. Who? He was a "paper boy" who flew people, newspapers, and messages around the lonely stretches of the desert in a single engine plane, dropping bundles of mail etc at remote ranches. At age 72 he was still flying, when he crashed in the desert. There is a monument to him on one of those county roads, a single propeller mounted on a stone obelisk. (see http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/702).

And then of course, there's food. In Carlsbad, it was pretty awful. The "best" mexican restaurant was totally inedible. We had to throw it away. Check out this place:

they mean it - no whining about the food!

But the Caverns were fantastic. These pictures don't even begin to present the majesty of the place - a Huge room (there were lots others, smaller, which we didn't explore),

8.2 acres in area, with "ceilings" as high as the room is long. Even though the parking lot was full, including RVs, buses, motorcycles, and cars, once we got down the elevator (750 feet of descent) the room is so big, it looked empty.

did I mention gypsum also? the earth here has a quite complex geology.

There is also a Living Desert Museum, which has examples of all the flora and fauna of the desert, and is also a refuge for rescued animals - like golden eagles, Mexican wolves, elks, bison, various lizards and snakes etc.

L to R: ocotillo cactus, Mexican wolves, eagle

Elk, and me with Rusty

Not content with the natural sights, we also explored the town, which is on the Pecos River (same river that flows (sometimes) through Roswell, and where Gary went to boy scout camp as a youth). Somehow, it looks about the same, only seedier.

At one time this plume was an architectural marvel - carrying water from the Pecos, up and over it, and onto agricultural fields for irrigation. The sign explains it all.