So, I haven't touched the blog in six and a half months. I really haven't missed doing it...or the fact that I think it looks ugly, out of date, and I really can't stand its name anymore! :-P (UPDATED---the layout's changed! :-) )
What I have missed, though, is the record-keeping of my quilts and crafts and the chronicle of our lives!---these moments in time. ;-)
I'm going to attempt (insert laugh here) catching up with the second half of 2014 here with several posts. I think mostly these posts will be for me. It might be a slow go...so....here goes!
In June (right after my last post about the Chalk Walk) we packed up our car with loads of camping stuff and headed for Mammoth Cave National Park. We planned to spend the night in a hotel in Cincinnati on the way to Kentucky, and on the way back home---so three nights camping. Even three nights makes for a JAM-PACKED and JAM-PACKED cargo carrier on top!
Our main reason for stopping in Cincy was to go to
Entertrainment Junction. Our family continues to love this place (I think this was our third time there). They used to call themselves "The World's Largest Indoor Train Display." Regardless if they are or not---the place is huge, full of model trains, train rides, and other play things for the kids. We also really enjoy the scavenger hunt lists that are provided!
There were a few new things for us this time: The Coney Island display (super fun models with button controls for the kids), the Thomas the Tank Engine ride (for the whole family!), and the A-Maze-N Funhouse (Marin hated it and thought it was scary). Also a new special effect---point and use your flash camera in the Early Period display, and then you will hear a crash of thunder. Fun!
Bumpa gave the kids each some money to spend on their trip, and I was hoping they'd save it for something National Park-esque...but alas, they each wanted a Beanie Boo from the Entrainment Junction gift shop. Both of the boys mentioned their new stuffed animals in their summer journals as the best part of their trip...so uhhhh why did we even go see one of the seven natural wonders of the world? :-P
On Tuesday, we finished the drive to Mammoth Cave. One thing was crazy visible while entering the park---turkeys!!! Turkeys along the side of the road everywhere! They really know where to live to stay safe. ;-)
The visitor center was quite impressive and I couldn't have been happier with our campsite! I think a lot of the sites were awesome---lots of space for the vehicle and tent, as well being nicely wooded. The campground was clean and well-maintained and about half the price of our local state park!
We took our first cave tour Wednesday morning--- the Historical Tour. After descending the historic entrance steps and corridor, we stood in the Rotunda room.
The first thing I noticed was the silence. It was beautiful.
The second thing I noticed was wow....this cave really is mammoth! And this was only one tiny section of it.
On the floor of the Rotunda was evidence of falling rock. Yikes for new cave-ies!!! Apparently the huge freeze of 1994 (I remember missing school for a week because temperatures were twenty below zero!), caused enough cold air to seep in the cave to get in the cracks of the ceiling and damage it, and when the cave warmed up again part of it fell. This was the last time any of the cave has fallen. Typically, the cave stays around 54 degrees year round.
Also on the ground of the Rotunda was evidence of the War of 1812! Gypsum, a mineral used in gunpowder was mined from the caves (learn more
here!) and the large wooden vats and wooden pipes used in the mining process remain to this day, preserved by the consistent cave environment. Cane reed torches (used by the cave's first explorers) and mummies have been found preserved inside. Also well-preserved are early explorer's smoke writings on the wall and ceilings of the cave.
A favorite section of the cave was called "Fat Man's Misery," a tiny, tiny pathway with lots of turns. Even skinny people's backs and butts brushed against the walls!
At one point on the tour, our guide turned out all of the lights so that we could experience the darkness. Somehow, Emory found a penny on the ground during this time which he later turned into a souvenir in one of those penny press machines. :-) Our tour guide lit a lantern and let our eyes adjust and it really was pretty amazing how much light that little lantern gave off.
We enjoyed our first cave tour so much, that we booked another one for that afternoon--the Domes and Dripstones tour. We were bused to another part of the park and to the "wet" part of the caves---the part with stalactites and stalagmites...and lots and lots of steps! Seriously, both of these tours had a crazy amount of steps and tight quarters!
At the end of the Domes and Dripstones tour, we finally got to see some cave wildlife---cave crickets! They're actually quite creepy looking.
The next morning we embarked on a hike in the beautiful Kentucky wilderness. It was weird to think that we were likely stepping over several parts of the cave system. We visited the Echo River Spring, the Green River Ferry, and the River Styx Spring.
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| Echo River Spring |
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| Watching the ferry |
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| River Styx Spring |
Thursday afternoon, Evander got to go on the Trog Tour---a tour specifically for kids. No parents allowed! It was led by the same ranger who led our Dripstones Tour. Each child had to wear a cave suite, helmet and light and it was stinking cute. He said at some points of the tour, they had to shimmy on their bellies! That's about all he told me. ;-)
Camping was great. Aside from a little rain when we pulled in and set up camp, the weather was perfect. We were visited by deer at our site and a couple birds we don't get to see at home. The boys (and Daddy) scootered around the park and each night we attended the ranger talk at the amphitheater (so informative!).
We ate pizza pockets and tacos on the pie irons, and lots of yummy things I prepared at home like beans, salad, fruit salad, lentils. It was good eating for three days, but a crazy amount of stuff to pack!
One night I woke up in the middle of the night and heard dogs howling. I didn't think much of it, because I saw a sign for a dog kennel and just thought, oh it's bark time. But no, they were coyotes! I've never heard so many of them before.
On the way home we stopped at the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site and the Creation Museum in Cincinnati. The Lincoln site was cool...I kind of felt eh about the Creation Museum. I think it felt too touristy for me. The kids enjoyed the dinosaur displays and the gems, and I really loved the garden walkways.
Funny thing about the Lincoln site...100 or so years ago Lincoln's birth cabin was placed on a hill on the site and they built a huge building around it to protect it. Turns out, it wasn't his cabin. Anyhoo...the cabin is still cool, and the huge building is now referred to as a memorial building. ;-)
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| Creation Museum |
This trip was AWESOME! The kids did so beautifully in the car and aside from a certain middle child leaving his blankie in the refrigerator of the hotel room---there were no snags in the trip at all. :-) The campground was nice, the caves were intriguing, and we learned a lot of history. I look forward to going back in a few years when all of the kids are old enough to take the Trog Tour!
