Obama family awed by 'cool' underground cave in New Mexico

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Obama family awed by 'cool' underground cave in New Mexico
10:55pm
Associated Press


Eyes wide open and head tilted upward, President Barack Obama appeared awed today as he toured an underground cave at a national park in New Mexico - part of a family vacation that's also designed to draw attention to America's natural wonders.

Obama, his wife, Michelle, and their daughters, Malia and Sasha, spent part of the afternoon at Carlsbad Caverns National Park, one of two national parks the First Family is scheduled to visit on a long Father's Day weekend away from Washington.

"How cool is this?" Obama exclaimed as a National Park Service employee led the family on a tour of the Big Room, an area nearly 243 metres deep into the limestone cavern that nature carved out of the Guadalupe Mountains.

. . .

Coming at the end of a difficult week, the trip gives Obama an opportunity to tout his record on open-space preservation and promote administration programs aimed at boosting foot traffic through the more than 400 sites in a national park system that turns 100 in August.

Read more: https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/world/obama-family-awed-cool-underground-cave-in-new-mexico

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(Short video at link.)

[bluestateguy]

1. Those NPS rangers are outstanding

I've always been so impressed with how professional and knowledgeable the NPS rangers are on the tours.

Especially since I tend to keep them on their toes by asking a lot of questions

[whistler162]

5. Don't you mean instanding since they

are in side a cavern?

[SheilaT]

2. I first visited Carlsbad Caverns in 1962, when the rangers still did

a full guided tour of the Caverns. On a visit in the late '90s, I was disappointed that you could only rent an audio thing and do the tour on your own. I do understand that between technology and the very vast number of tourists, such a change is probably inevitable, but I still remember a lot of that tour from so long ago.

I love visiting caves and caverns, and have had the good fortune to visit a reasonable number of them.

[burrowowl]

3. I should hope so!

Also, the parking lot so be paved with porous paving since the caves are drying up and it is screwing up the caves.

[KG]

4. arn't all caves underground?

[whistler162]

6. Man caves can be on any floor.

[roody]

10. Duh.

[ancianita]

7. Hope the visit gets the public interested in preserving public assets from private "developers."

[left-of-center2012]

8. "They were just like being with a normal family”

More info from another link:

“They were personable and interesting and interested,” she (National Park Service public affairs specialist Valerie Gohlke) said.
“They are a beautiful family. They were extremely awed by the cave. It was just an absolute delight. They were just like being with a normal family.”

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

11. "normal", except they don't have to fight the crowds.

I'm sure the normal throngs at Carlsbad and Yosemite were denied access during the privileged visit.

[SharonAnn]

12. For security reasons, public access to any First Family has to be tighty controlled.

It's no different for the Obamas than it was for previous presidents.

[left-of-center2012]

9. Gov Susana Martinez (R-NM) ...

"Air Force One landed at Roswell International Air Center after 1 p.m.,
and Gov. Susana Martinez (R-NM) greeted the President and his family as they disembarked."

Gov. Martinez (R-NM) was "too busy" to meet Donald Trump on his recent visit to Albuquerque.

[yurbud]

13. "underground cave" is actually in the title? Would someone think it's a sky cave?