President Obama and the First Family left Roswell, New Mexico after an afternoon at the Carlsbad Caverns. Obama exclaimed as a National Park Service employee led the family on a tour of the Big Room, an area almost 800 feet deep into the limestone cavern that nature carved out of the Guadalupe Mountains.
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Air Force 1 arrived at the Roswell International Air Center around 5:45 Friday evening after leaving the Carlsbad Caverns.
After the last leg of their trip in New Mexico, the First Family is expected to make their way to Yosemite National Park in California.
So far, the president’s trip to Yosemite is being portrayed as a Father’s Day getaway and as a nod to the 100th anniversary of the creation of America’s national parks system.
The family plans to visit Yosemite National Park in California on Saturday.
The Interior Department says visitors help sustain thousands of jobs and pump billions of dollars into surrounding economies.
Obama also is expected to discuss climate change and other threats to the park system, and highlight programs to encourage more people to visit parks.
President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, Malia Obama, and Sasha Obama land by the Half Dome rock formation at Yosemite National Park in Calif., Friday, June 17, 2016. It is known for its waterfalls, but also boasts ancient giant sequoia trees and a vast wilderness area. The week opened with the news that a lone shooter had gunned down 49 party-goers inside an Orlando, Florida, night club early Sunday.
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By Tuesday, Obama was angrily denouncing Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s renewed call for a temporary ban on most foreign Muslims entering the U.S. The Orlando shooter, Omar Mateen, was an American-born Muslim. Obama is in Orlando today to pay respects to the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting and meet with families of victims of the attack.
