On Friday Rob and I woke up and got ready for the day. It was weird to pack for a short trip and not have to run around like mad people saying things like, "Did you get enough pull-ups?" and "Do you have their blankies?"
We went to Rob's work, cause he had a meeting. I sat in the awesome small foyer area which has a glass window, floor-to-ceiling, and the room is 2 stories tall. I watched rain come in and hide the city behind a hazy curtain. I finished reading one book and started another. I talked to Rob's used-to-be co-workers, who are our friends. All-in-all, I waited for a little over 2 hours and I didn't once have to say, "Stop climbing on that," or, "I'm sorry that you're bored. That's why I told you to bring a book." Amazing.
Then we were on our way to Mammoth, which is about 3 1/2 hours away. Not too far, and it's a BEAUTIFUL drive through tree-covered Kentucky hills.
Camping
We got there to the park and checked into the campground. We set up our new tent, which took a long time. I was laughing at Rob, cause we bought the tent a month ago or so, and it says in the directions, "Set up the tent before you go on your trip." You know, so that you don't start yelling at each other on your vacation, and so that you know all the pieces are there, etc. Rob's response, "We have some down time right now. What ELSE were we going to do with our time?"
Yep. I can't think of a single thing I would rather do. But it was fun. We laughed a lot. I love my husband.
And the tent is beautiful and spacious and awesome. Family heirloom quality. It will be included in our next family picture.
Star Chamber Tour
On Friday night we did our first of 2 tours. It was a lantern light tour. BEST TOUR EVER. I seriously have not been on a better tour in my life (that I can remember). Our tour guide, Emily, was fantastic. I wish I knew her last name, cause I want to send her fan mail and invite her to family picnics, and personally request her next time I'm going to Mammoth. She not only knew her stuff and how to present it (effective dramatic pauses that gave the cave a History and Purpose and Personality), but she told cave jokes that I've never heard before, and she played really well with the hilarious trick-playing trailing guide, Ranger Rick.
Best cave joke Emily told:
Someone asked about the largest animal living in the cave. She said that it was a rat. A pack rat. It's only about the size of a hamster. It can't see inside the cave (cause nothing can), so it leaves a trail of urine so that it can smell its way back out. Then she said, "Lucky for you guys, Ranger Rick has been doing that for us tonight." Awesome.
The actual area called the Star Chamber was awesome. It was like being inside a canyon, but with a roof instead of sky. And the whole ceiling is black, so it looks like you're outside, inside a canyon, with little dots of white for stars. It's neat.
And I thought that seeing the cave by lantern light would be 1- spookier and 2- not as easy to see the cool stuff. Turns out that you can see nearly as much by lantern light. The Rotunda Room (the huge room when you first enter) was harder to see in its entirety, but you got the impression of it by lantern light. And the cave colors were muted by the dim light, but that wasn't much lost, either. So: DO THE LANTERN TOUR. (Sorry, Key West Friend. You'll have to come again and do it with us. No more holiday weekends for us!)
signing in the cave
Oh, another highlight for me: There was a family there with 2 deaf children. The father interpreted for them (and left a lot out, which made me feel better about my own interpreting efforts). I talked to the parents (in English, not in ASL) about families with deaf children, about how I know many people who are deaf but their families are hearing, and the hearing members don't sign. The father pulled out this statistic. Try to fathom this, guys:
90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents.
Only 10% of those parents learn to sign with their kids.
Wrap your head around that.
And now, on to the reason for this Mammoth Cave excursion:
The Wild Cave Tour
There is a 6-hour 6-mile Mammoth Cave tour that takes you crawling around inside the cave, where no other tour takes you. And it was awesome. There were only 14 people allowed on the tour, with 2 tour guides. The guides talk a lot about teamwork and caving techniques, and not freaking out when things get hard.
Fun thing to start: the guide for the Wild Cave tour was Emily, our friend from the Star Chamber tour the night before. Emily is roughly my size, which made me feel better about the fact that I wouldn't freeze to death without a sweatshirt (they give you jump suits to wear over a t-shirt and shorts). And the trailing guide was John, who obviously had done some serious caving in the past. He kept disappearing and re-appearing out of the ceiling, stuff like that. We teased him that he was just trying to skip out on the hard parts. Rob said, "We all know John just can't do it." It was a very laid-back group.
Highlights:
1 - Tight Spots
Rob didn't get stuck in the tight spots. One guy there, Mark, was bigger than Rob and got stuck once. They had to pull him back through and take him around another way. (I told the guides: "You're like math teachers. You show us the hard way and then say, 'There was an easier way all along.'")
These tight squeezes were not actual tight for me, go figure. In one of the spots, Mark, who was directly in front of me, went through and then turned around to coach me through it, too. That's what we were supposed to do, help the person behind us. He was telling me, "Put your arms here and support your weight like a tripod, and then bring your legs through." Well, I was half-hearing that, but mostly surveying the spot I was in. I have extensive experience climbing trees, and I found caving to be very similar: you survey the spot, try to figure out the best way to execute the move, and then do it. So instead of supporting my weight like a tripod, which sounded ridiculous, I swiveled my body around and put my legs down first. Mark said, "Oh. You're small." It helps to be a little person inside a cave.
Then, once I was through, John was shooting back to me, "Help out the person behind you." I just stared at John blankly. The person behind me was Rob. I said, "He's my husband. He doesn't need help." I looked back at Rob and said, "You figuring it out?" "Yep." "Good." And we moved on.
2 - Crystal
The person right behind Rob was Crystal. Crystal was a little jumpy. For instance, we would joke that some of the really small holes around us were "side passages." And I said, "Yeah, big enough for a rat." And a very concerned Crystal said, "A RAT?!" I said, "I didn't SEE one. I was just saying." She did the same thing later when Rob said something about a snake. And when Rob said, "The tour guide said we're going to have to wade through water up to our waists up ahead." And when Rob said ... You get the point.
Crystal was jumpy, but brave. You could tell that being inside the cave wasn't her favorite thing in the world, but she was determined to get through it. There were moments where I think she made it through ONLY because Rob was there coaching her through it. It was cute to see her leaning on Rob emotionally. That's what a team is for, right?
(Notice how good Rob is at being an emotional rock. What's my natural response? "Take care of it yourself. Figure it out." What's Rob's natural response? "Here's my arm. Grab it if you need to.")
3 - Rob Sings
We got to a certain room in the cave. I don't know what the name is, but it's like the Star Chamber room, a small canyon with a roof, only one side was a dead-end. (None of the rooms or pits had signs. It's off the beaten path.) Emily had us listen to the acoustics of the room for a second or two. Every word echoed. She then had us turn off all our lights so that hopefully someone would be brave enough to sing. Oh! Oh! Rob can sing!
I happily volunteered my very capable husband. And he sang his showcase piece, Old Man River. ... Every time Rob sings the piece, it's a little bit different. He has to judge his audience and the acoustics of the room, etc. I like it best when he belts it out, but it's not always right for that. This time, though, the room was big enough for his voice. Rob hit the end of the song, belted out the notes, and that final note echoed around the room for another 3 seconds.
It was amazing. I seriously almost cried. Not only because it was so beautiful, but because Rob singing in Mammoth Cave has always been a dream of mine. The Cave has a history of music, and I've always thought Rob should contribute to that history. ... It was incredible. Like singing in a cathedral.
After the song was over, people were speechless. Even Emily. Making a tour guide speechless! That's pretty cool.
Afterwords, on the bus ride back, people said things like, "I'll never forget you. That was amazing." The tour guide said, "I've never heard someone fill the room like that." And someone else said to me, "Does he sing to you often?" I said truthfully, "Every night." And everyone melted into a romantic puddle on the floor at Rob's feet. Seriously. It was awesome. I like it when people think that Rob is the best person in the world. I think so, too.
4 - John
I didn't know how I'd like caving. We went caving at Carter Caves a few years ago, but most of Carter was cold and wet and not worth it. Mammoth Cave, however, is a different story. However, I still wasn't sure how I'd like the tight spaces. Turns out it was FINE. Granted, the tight spaces weren't tight for me, but I found the whole experience wonderful. I was ready to go another 6 hours. It was like climbing a tree, and all the sudden I was a bouncy 12-year-old looking for the next adventure.
John is an actual caver. He lives in the area and has been caving for years. I was asking him about how to get into these groups that go into caves where no one else goes. He told me how to get started, and then added, "They usually like you to have some experience." ... Figures. ... I still have to decide if I really want to do it. I'm not sure I want to be a hard-core caver, you know? I just like it.
At one point, when Mark got stuck in a tight spot, I said, "This is like Roger Brucker in the Final Connection." People behind me laughed, but they didn't really know what I was talking about. John knew, though. He said, "Roger Brucker wasn't in the final connection party." I said, "I know. Because he couldn't make it through The Tight Spot." Then, John said, "Tom Brucker was, though." I said, "No, he wasn't." John disagreed with me and I said, "Don't mess with me, man. I read that book 3 weeks ago!" I gave John a few more details, and he conceded.
He must have been thinking, "What a snotty know-it-all girl."
And then he said, "The first time I met Roger Brucker, I thought, 'He doesn't look like much of a caver.'" (Later Rob said, "He one-upped you. You read the book, but he's actually MET the guy.")
Later, when John was coaching everyone through a "tricky" part, I paused before starting my turn and said, "John, I'd like it if you gave me my direction with a little more feeling. Like we've been friends since the dawn of time." John smiled and got a really soft look on his face and then said, "If you'd like to, you can put your foot up here." I patted his shoulder and told him thanks. I was also happy that he didn't try to coach me much after that. When you're trying to figure out a puzzle, it's distracting to have too many voices telling you what to do. ... Sometimes I think I'm so clever.
2nd picture: Rob, at the same "tricky" part.
3rd picture: Rob, at the top of the "tricky" part.
5 - Mark and Bailey
I felt bad for Bailey. She's only 17, and she's not in shape. At the "tricky" part I just mentioned, Bailey freaked out. She kept saying that she couldn't move her body, that she was scared, things like that. Mark, her dad, and John, essentially lifted her up and through the hole, one movement at a time. It was so public, that moment, and she's so young.
It was interesting to watch them, though. By the end Bailey was exhausted. You could see her sitting there, staring at the wall, eyes vacant. Rob said, "You and I, we had fun. Bailey and Mark, I think it was a life-altering experience for them."
It was nice to have Mark ahead of me. He took very seriously his charge to watch over me, the next in line. He kept saying, "Are you with me, Tamra?" I told him many times that I appreciated having a big guy ahead of me, and a big guy behind me. 2 protectors. (Am I sexist? I'm a little person, and I like having big, strong men around me to protect me. Call me silly, but it's nice. Try it some time!)
6 - Gypsum
Gypsum is a bright white, glittery substance that forms in caves. But in a lot of the main passages, the gypsum is gross. Over time it picks up soot from visitors and their torches (from pre-historic man) and lanterns (think 1800's), and turns anywhere from off-white to black. Yuck.
But in the places we went, we were up close and personal with the gypsum. It was amazing. I said, "I can see why they tore it off the walls. I want to take some home with me, too." I hastily added that I wouldn't, so John and Emily wouldn't arrest me. But it was gorgeous. I wish there was a way to describe it, or do it justice in a picture. But you'll just have to go and see it for yourselves.
...
This is Dee:
These pictures were all taken on her camera. She was with a group of 4 women. She convinced the other 3 to come. Dee has taken this tour 3 times. She said, "I do it every 5 years, just to prove I can." Go, Dee. (Oh, the tour is a little different every time. The guides told us that you can go probably 100 different ways. Loose parameters.)
When I told Dee that we didn't bring our camera because I don't take it places where it can be easily destroyed, she took down my e-mail address. She was super great and e-mailed me all 80 pictures. Thank you, Dee!
And there you go. That was our (over-described) Mammoth Cave trip. It was awesome, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat! Love, love, love that cave.
1 comment:
I'm commenting to put my stamp here. I read it all, despite the warning, and I enjoyed it. Your caving experience sounds pretty cool.
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