Carlsbad Caverns 1939
In August 1939 Dad, Mother, Bobby, Jimmy and I all loaded aboard our Model A (T) and headed out on a nice, long vacation to Carlsbad Caverns and to the McDonald Observatory. We took some things to eat. I recall a whole wooden crate of green grapes, which we enjoyed very much. I recall our stopping at a roadside park in west Texas for the night. Everyone slept on the ground or on the picnic table. Except for me. I heard some coyotes howling and got scared, so I slept on the back seat of the car.
I recall being in White City. I think we spent the night there. The drive into the park itself was fascinating to me.
When we got to Carlsbad Caverns it was my fourth birthday. I recall looking down into the winding path into the mouth of the cavern. I looked at ground level, too. Across the way, on the lip of the crater was a solitary small tree. I recall walking down that path with a lot of people, with a park ranger in a brown uniform leading the way. I walked a long way into the cavern. Everything was just beautiful once we really got into the cave. The ranger explained about stalactites and stalagmites and how they were formed. Going around every bend in the path were new wonders. I was fascinated. Especially memorable was the “Rock of Ages.” At that point the ranger talked to us and said he was going to turn out the lights and we would be in total darkness. He suggested everyone sing the song, “Rock of Ages” so nobody would get scared. I was very favorably impressed, but the darkness was scary.
I could not walk very far at a time. I recall that Dad had to carry me most of the way down. I think it was three miles to the bottom. One thing I remember more than almost anything else was how badly I needed to go to the bathroom when we got to the bottom and how rellieved I was to find a toilet. We went through the “Big Room” at the bottom, and had lunch in a huge lunchroom with tables and benches. Lunch was a sandwich, an orange, some potato chips and some milk. After lunch Dad bought some postcards as souviners. There was only one way out: the same way we came in. Dad had to carry me all the way back up those three miles to the top. I know it must have been hard for him to do that.
Going through the cavern was one of the most impressive things I ever did in my whole life. I was enthralled with the beauty of it all. I recalled “The Bottomless Pit” and many other places down there.
As we drove out of the park, the road was quite winding, and was indellibly marked into my memory. I was just enchanted with it all. White City, the curio stores, and the river there all impressed me.
From Carlsbad we took a different route home, it seems that I recall going by Guadalupe Peak as we entered Texas. Did we swim at Balmorhea? It seems as though we did. Then down to Fort Davis and the scary drive up the winding dirt or gravel road to McDonald Observatory. We got to see one of the world’s largest telescopes, with its 100 inch lens, but didn’t get to look through it. For one thing, it was daytime. That visit to the observatory was very influential to my continuing love of and fascination for astronomy.
That trip was one of the most positive experiences of my entire life. I gained a great and lasting appreciation for the beauties of nature and especially for the American West.