334. Carlsbad, Eddy County (NM18)

I’ve been here before, too. And further, you, too, are illuminated! I don’t know about the entire adobe thing, but it’s not a bad looking courthouse. It is a bit unsettling for me for a reason I can’t quite put my finger on, though. Maybe it’s just a strange combination of the curves and the night that are touching something primal in me. Maybe it’s the thought that the region’s famous caverns might at any moment open beneath me, swallowing me in their lightless chasms (though, realistically, there’s not a cavern near here for miles). Or maybe it’s something completely unknown, buried somewhere in this head of mine. No matter what it is, I’m happy to be unsettled for a bit. This courthouse being lit up, along with Lea County, opened up a number of vistas for me. Starting ahead of the game gave me a lot of extra time to get things done. In fact, this piece of good luck would make the entire trip so much easier (and maybe even possible), but I wouldn’t know the extent of that for a few days yet.

I thought I lucked out with a chance at an FTF so I headed over to it like a shot and soon discovered that nobody had been able to find it in weeks, including one person I know who is a much better cacher than I am. That was a waste of 20-30 minutes, but they were night minutes that I wouldn’t normally be able to use anyway so that was fine with me. So I headed back into to town to cherchez la simple. I ended up grabbing an LPC at a Walgreen’s. It was so mundane I didn’t even bother photographing it.

I got moving again, the road rolling smoothly under my tires. I arrived at my next destination but there was (thankfully) no light to take photos with. That was fine by me. I had already driven 575 miles thus far and was more than happy to get a couple of hours sleep. With a bit of the tiredness shaken from my bones, I awoke in the morning to meet the dawn and walk the streets of…

…a destination that will have to hold until next week. For reasons that will be apparent from the next entry, I, as staff writer, editor-in-chief, and owner of this periodical, am going silent for a few days. But I promise I’ll break my silence when I arrive in…