Tex Mex

I didn't want y'all to be reading a long post, so I've broken these up into two.

After the creepiness of Roswell we were off to Carlsbad, to complete another 300 miles of the trip that day. In total so far, I may add, we are on a whopping 5300 miles. We've had to change the car because it needed maintenance after all this!

Carlsbad's main attraction is the Caverns National Park, but we were kind of more excited by the swimming pool, ponies, tortoise and showers in our campsite to care about that the night before our visit. Having enjoyed all such facilities, we heading 750ft underground, on a 2 mile trail which led us through some of the most impressive calcite stalagmites and stalactites on Earth and right under the Chihuahuan Desert. I would challenge this to not impress the most wearied of traveller and really all I can add to Ben's staggering photos, is this: imagine 400 000 bats doing there business in an underground cave. It kind of smells.

Next stop was Big Bend National Park in Texas (HOORAY - OUR INTERMEDIARY DESTINATION AND SOMEWHERE TO STAY FOR MORE THAN ONE NIGHT). Our mood was quickly flattened by the second whirr of the police siren and being told that, apparently, 72 in a 45 zone, especially within a National Park, was an almost jailable offence. Hmph.

We both admitted a bit of fear at letting the other down on the backpacking trip we had planned for this park, but vowed to support/push/drag/beat each other up the mountain if it was the last thing we did. We set out with almost 20 litres of water and all our camping gear for a night in the wild, on the South Rim. Reaching the top was a serious effort, and took so much out of us - those 3.3 miles were easily the hardest of our trip so far, and the 90-100 degree temperatures took their toll very early on. Arriving at our pre-determined camping spot (you must have a permit and a bear box to camp out) we zonked out in the tent, waking to an awesome thunderstorm and playing cards to while away the rain, as well as take our minds off the fact we were out there and the storm was preeet-ty close. We woke early the next day to walk to the edge of the South Rim, where the view over the desert stretches into Mexico, and the landscape looks like a crepe in a pan - flat, but with isolated bumps sporadically distributed around the place. The descent was long but much easier and the washroom at the base was a truly necessary convenience - we could not have happily sat next to each in a car for 200 miles, without the minimum of a rinse off.

A truly deserved rest at a spring-fed swimming pool for the next day was in order. Balmorhea State Par is an example of gun-ho Americans crushing the natural environment and making it bend to their ways by channeling the 20 million gallons of water into somewhere for their leisure back in the 1930s, forgetting there was a natural order to things and some creatures has made that place their home. Now, regneration work is in progress and the endangered local species are well protected. It was, nonetheless, welcome respite from the heat and the hiking, if not the bugs and the thunderstorms. Ben was stung by a hornet and the tent got flooded from underneath as the rain came in and a lake formed around our site. In the midst of this, though, we went to a 'star party' at the University of Texas McDonald Observatory and enjoyed a tour around the night sky and an explanation of the techniques used in both mapping and categorising the stars. We were comforted to know the sun has around 9 billion years to go. Don't worry, this blog post doesn't.

We have spent the last three days eating, swimming, eating, drinking and eating in Austin with our friends Matt and Amber, who have been the greatest hosts. We met them in Egypt last year, on one of the world's most harrowing border crossings, and I guess bonds made under such stress are pretty strong! They have shown us the local music venues, hangouts to seek refuge from the heat, and the effects of the extreme weather this year on local water supplies - the river is 60ft down in some places. We've had barbecue ribs, 'biscuits and gravy' - that was breakfast - nachos, queso catfish, blueberry pie, sushi, all washed down with plenty of the local Lone Star beer. We've held guns, flown the US flag, played some guitar and taken care of all the loose ends we needed a local to aid us with (finding fresh produce, battling car rental companies and navigating the complex road signals - yes, this is a bit late, we know).

That brings us to this evening, and us sitting in their beautiful home, wishing we didn't have to leave, but excited for what is yet to come - including the visit to NASA Johnson Space Centre in Houston tomorrow.

Don't forget to look at our photos Click here and flick to the end of the album for those of you who've looked before.