Carlsbad, Old Friends, and Puppy Love

Last weekend, the National Park Service had their second fee-free weekend of the year. Apparently they do this for one weekend in every month during the summer. There are about 13 national parks/monuments/historical parks in New Mexico and the closest one to us is Carlsbad Caverns. I told Loren I wanted to go, and he agreed. He just happened to talk to our friend Mike (best man in our wedding) that night that we decided to go, and Mike said he and his family would like to go and meet us there.
We left Roswell at about 1:30 and got to Carlsbad Caverns at about 3:30. Mike, Carrie, Sophie, and Sam were already there, but just barely. I put Justin in the Moby Wrap- backpack carry, Mike put Sam in his backpack, and we got our free tickets. It was already too late to go in through the natural entrance, so we just rode the elevators down to the Big Room. We started hiking and the kids (little Loren and Sophie) did absolutely wonderful. They didn't complain at all and they asked a lot of questions and just seemed to enjoy it. Justin and Sam weren't so thrilled- Justin got bored and wanted out of the carrier about halfway, and Sam fell asleep about that same time.
Partway through the hike, I looked over and Sophie had grabbed little Loren by the hand. They see each other only two or three times a year, but little Loren has a puppy love crush on Sophie. He always talks about how they got married a while back when we were visiting (she put a ring on his finger when they were playing house) and how they have all kinds of cool stuff at their "house in Albuquerque." They pretty much held hands all the way through the Caverns and were showing each other "look at this" and "look at that!" I'm not sure anything will turn out from their little "romance" but it sure is cute, and I wouldn't mind having Sophie for a daughter-in-law. She's cute and smart!
We messed up with eating dinner, so instead of going to Carlsbad and then coming back for the bat flight, we ended up just staying at the Caverns for the bat flight. The bat flight wasn't as exciting as we had hoped- maybe better luck next time. We ended up driving to Carlsbad (15 miles from the Caverns) and finally eating at Chilis at 10:00 at night. It was great being able to visit with Mike and Carrie. I miss hanging out with them, well, mostly Mike since he met Carrie after we left Las Cruces. But they're a fun bunch and I wish we lived closer to them. I think Carrie and I would get along great, and of course Mike and Loren have been friends for 18 years or so.

I am learning to live close to the lives of my friends without ever seeing them. No miles of any measurement can separate your soul from mine. - John Muir