Mammoth Cave

Last weekend we had a nice surprise:  Family was in the neighborhood.  (We now consider our neighborhood anywhere we can drive to in a day.)  Lisa's sister and her family were traveling through Kentucky as part of their cross-country trek.  We met them in Mammoth Cave National Park for a little light spelunking.  It is a quiet area that has been a tourism spot since the early 1820's.  That made for some great, tacky tourist sights.

The area around our hotel.

A red moon.

Everyone gathered to watch the iPad while waiting for our cave tour.

The long, humid road down to the cave entrance.  It was a record high for the Mammoth Cave area.  106 degrees.  Luckily in the cave it is 54 degrees year round.  However, that immediate temperature difference when entering and leaving the caves was something to feel.

Pictures never turn out well in caves unless you get right in someones face and hit them with the flash.  Hello Erin!

Cave graffiti from the 1850s.

It's a long way down.......

.....and a long way up too.

Apparently I was the only one who found the 2 hours in a small cave with over 100 other people to be crowded, because everyone voted to do another tour.  How bad could it be, right?  We had to just wait out a little heat until our tour started.

Then we were bussed to the next tour.  It was the "New Entrance Tour."  When I heard new entrance I thought someone found a new, regular entrance to the cave system.  I would end up being very wrong. But here I am in ignorant bliss on the bus ride.

This is the area just outside the "New Entrance."  I was not in a good frame of mind when going through the new entrance, so there are no pictures.  I'll do my best to paint the picture.  First, the new entrance is a little door.  The "entrance" was made from water eroding a vertical shaft straight down into the ground, until it reached real cave.  I, along with 100 suckers who paid to let this happen to them, were guided straight down over 300 steps.  It couldn't just be steps though, the steps went through cave so rocks and boulders and cave crickets were all around you.  These steps were a tight squeeze for a regular person, so it was even more fun for me.  My height was my true issue as I contorted my body into positions that made even Lisa blush as I tried to descend the stairs of Hell.  It would have been easier to just jump down the shaft and let myself Plinko to the bottom.  Luckily there were people everywhere, so it was really slow going and offered no escape route.  It seems I have a mild case of claustrophobia.  Luckily I didn't have a complete meltdown and I made it to the bottom.  What a way to start a tour!

After I managed to stop myself from curling into the fetal position and crying, the rest of the cave wasn't too bad.

Greg was obviously amazed by the wonders that surrounded him!

This part of the cave is called Frozen Niagara.  It is the only part of the cave system that has the formations.

This picture was either going to be a nice ending to a nice day, or the last time anyone was seen alive if they suggested another tour.  Luckily everyone survived.

And we all went to the gift shop!

It was a great two days.  I must be suppressing some memories and emotions because looking back, I had a great time.  It was fun to spend time with the Whites and it was fun to teach them Mexican Train!