We camped north of Carlsbad at Brantley Lake State Park. The lake is actually a reservoir on the Pecos River. It's mighty flat out there. Dark, too, except for the occasional fellow camper that leaves their porch light on overnight (this isn't Motel 6!) or the drilling rigs on the horizon, all lit up with bright white lights dusk till dawn. It's a great place to see the sun rise over the horizon. These black specks in the picture are pelicans taking off from the lake on their dawn flight.
There's more to Carlsbad than the cave, which actually is located a fair drive south of town. We visited their desert nature center and enjoyed the botanical gardens and some of their zoo, too. This butterfly and all the bees in the neighborhood mobbed this blooming Texas Mountain Laurel. When the laurel bloom, bright purple, you can see and smell them from quite a ways off. Turns out this plant is known in New Mexico as the Mescal Bean. It produces beans in pods that are poisonous or hallucinogenic, depending on preparation and dosage. Indians used them in about the same way as peyote. 
Having not yet seen a Rio Grand Turkey in the wild, I was tickled to see this one up close.
Joanie found a huge, Texas sized bat in the cave exhibit.
And the reptile exhibit housed the obligatory variety of rattlesnakes, including two albinos. 
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