Sitting down on a bench in front of Shelter B, with 70-some other people on the tour, I noticed a ranger with an awesome beard. McNair and I have an understanding that we both love people watching, so I instantly pointed him out. She very slowly and casually turned to look at him, turned back, we both smiled. Just so happened, this wonderfully whiskered man was our tour guide. (By the end, I was really tempted to ask him to be my grandpa.)
Rick, our guide, and his partner led us through 4 miles weaving up and down through the cave. It is a spectacular place to be. I can't imagine being one of the first people in using little handfuls of sticks and bamboo from down by the river to light my way. Towards the end of the tour they turned out the lights to give us an idea of the depth of the darkness, and the fact that there is literally no light for your eyes to adjust to.
I think the pictures will just have to do the talking:
Once back out in the light of day, we had lunch and sat outside on the lanai, I mean balcony, of the room. Then decided to walk down and see the "historic entrance" where the cave was discovered. The other entrances have been man made. Once we got down there, we decided we needed our cameras, so we ran back up to take pictures of the "steam ceiling" and the sunset. The best part about the sunset was watching the fog come up from the valley to the top where we were, slowly engulfing the mountain across the valley and the trees on our side.
On our way back to the room we were chatting and walking, and we almost stepped on a copperhead. Scared the mess out of both of us. Maybe 50 feet later, a deer gave us another startle.
McNair decided that we'd had enough nature for the day and wanted to go back to the room. I decided I was going to go to the store and grab some beer. She wanted to ride along, but the store was closed, so we went into Cave City which, the gas station attendant let us know was in a dry county and the closest place to buy alcohol was 32 miles south. Ugh. Then she said, "Well, actually, it's a moist county, so you can get it in restaurants, just not take-out." Hmm...off to the local Mexican joint. As 3 or 4 young mothers brought their tiny children and babies into the smoking section (they still have smoking sections??), we became aware that they do things a lit-tle different 'round here.
After paying the bill and winding our way back through the fog to Mammoth Cave hotel, we slept with more adventures planned for the next day.
I’m sorry to say so but, sadly, it’s true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you.
You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch. And your gang will fly on. You’ll be left in a Lurch.
You’ll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump. And the chances are, then, that you’ll be in a Slump.
And when you’re in a Slump, you’re not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.
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