Birthday Boy Jeff here: Well if your going to celebrate 65 birthdays on this spinning orb, this would be the way to do it! I am currently watching Stanford v. Dayton in March Madness so I apologize in advance if my spelling or grammar is less than sharp.
I took a few pictures of our room/hotel to show how neat this place is - we are just not used to staying in rooms with 16 foot high ceilings.
 |
| The Trinity Hotel and Restaurant |
 |
| It used to be a bank |
 |
| Even monogrammed toilet paper |
 |
| Love the bathroom |
 |
| Tall ceilings and huge bed |
I was up by 7:00 and we were out the door by 8:00 to continue the adventure. First stop - Denny's for my free "Grand Slam" birthday breakfast. How come free always tastes best? After drinking several pots of coffee, we headed South down Rt. 180 for the Caverns which are about 30 miles away.
 |
| Free breakfast |
Another perfect day, clear skies, mid 70's, no traffic and scenery which leaves you scratching your head in admiration of Mother Natures handiwork. We arrived at the Caverns and were pleased to find that my lifetime Senior pass for National Parks still paying dividends with free admission: hey $20 is $20.00. We took the elevator down 750 feet, the equivalent of a 75 story building to what is termed the "Great Room". There were several options in trails and we chose the 1 and 1/2 mile one. Words fail to be able to express the buffet of amazing sites and I can only hope it is true that a picture is worth a 1000 words as I might need several hundred thousand.
 |
| I can see for miles and miles... |
 |
| Instructions on acceptable behavior |
 |
| The totem pole |
 |
| Hauntingly beautiful |
 |
| Tower of giants, 40 feet tall or better |
 |
| B cup rock |
We found our imaginations strained. We saw faces, animals, shapes and whimsy carved in this massive Cavern. Disney could only wish he could create something so beyond belief. As we strolled, we shmoozed with other strollers and it was a unanimous - WOW, GEE WIZ and GOSH!! Siskel and Ebert would give it 5 thumbs up. We spent over 2 hours below ground and felt pretty good about how well our bodies held up. We went up top for a hot dog and almost felt blinded when we entered day light after playing mole people for the better part of our morning.
We enjoyed a leisurely drive back to Carlsbad where the conversation was centered on how blessed we are/were to have spent such a wonderful morning.
 |
| The ride home |
Kat took a break while I wandered downtown and helped the local economy with a few artsy fartsy purchases. We watched March madness till it was 6:45 and time to strap on the old feed bag.
We checked out a few more selected wines and I went with a Merlot while Kat opted for a Sirrah, a tasty red with a fine bouquet and a heady nose. We blew the budget with shrimp cocktails, steak for me and a chicken/chili lasagna for Kat. Wonderful desserts of tiramisu for Kat and a death by chocolate for me. Oh yeah, oh yeah, we be happy!! A very relaxed dinner with wonderful food and better conversation.
 |
Now this is what I call dessert!!
|
March Madness, blogging and ending my birthday with a bang - a 36 shot Black Cat firecracker that woke up half the town. Sorry no pictures but the smell of gunpowder still lingers in my nostrils. Tomorrow begins the big drive to get back to Mesa airport by two pm on Saturday. But until then, the birthday fun continues.
No comments:
Post a Comment