We got up bright and early this morning to go to the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens State Park here in Carlsbad. The park is situated on a hill overlooking the town and is set up really nice. The park showcases plants and animals of the Chihuahuan Desert, which also extends down into Mexico, west into Arizona, and east into Texas. As I mentioned in my previous blog, it is all part of that Permian basin from 250 million years ago that has been uplifted and exposed.Animals that we saw included birds of prey such as the bald eagle, javelinas, snakes, bison, Mexican wolves, elk, and a bobcat. Unfortunately, the mountain lion was not out.
Plants included many cactii, agave, yucca, trees, and shrubs.
Rocks included limestone and selenite (the pure form of gypsum). Gypsum is a rock that formed in a shallow sea environment that had high evaporation rates. This gypsum is from the same formation that the White Sands National Monument near Alamogordo is a part of. We'll be going there tomorrow.
The zoo and gardens are a really neat way to spend about an hour or so of your morning.
This afternoon we went back to Carlsbad Caverns to go on a ranger-guided tour of the King's Palace and were awestruck again by the beauty of the caves. I'll post more pictures of that tour soon.
Neat
"Let all that you do be done in love"
1 Cor 16:14
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So what is up for tomorrow? Mom
Tomorrow (Thursday) we head back home. We aren't taking the whole spring break away from home this year. But this has been a good trip.
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