Camping and caving

Saturday

I got up early and went to the restroom, then filled up my water bottle. I drank a lot, then got dressed. By then a few others had gotten up. Casey started boiling water on his little stove to make oatmeal. Chris got up. Soon we had oatmeal and strawberries. I also had one of the oatmeal bars that Michelle made. They were very good.

The lady from the campground came at 8. We got ready and piled into Michelle's SUV. We followed the lady to Crystal Ball Cave. We would have never found it otherwise. We had to hike up the mountain to find the door. I had to stop several times.

She brought a strong light. The Clegg's had lights, too. The lady unlocked a small door. Then we climbed inside. She told us that her family had found it over 100 years ago, but there was no sign that people had been there previously, although animal bones had been found.

She gave us a tour of the cave and seemed very knowledgeble. The cave seemed to have its share of different features and structures. Some looked like popcorn or bacon, or marshmallows or cauliflower. There were high chimneys and low crevasses to climb through. Some team was supposed to come this weekend and do a 3D scan of it all, but had to cancel at the last minute. In the last cavern you could jump on the floor and tell that it was hollow underneath. But there are no known passages to get there.

When we exited through the back door, she said we could pick up crystals found outside and take them home. She even helped us find crystals. But they needed a lot of cleaning to be shiny. Then we followed her down the mountain. I kept seeing outcrops that I wanted to explore, but I knew Chris would not approve.

We got back to our cars and drove back to camp. It was only 10, but Michelle put out sandwiches and muffins and such. I went in my cabin to get some prunes, dates and nuts. Chris got on his laptop, so I got out mine. The Cleggs had shade on their porch so I went over there to work on my blog.

I got my headphones and started listening to a talk and some videos. When I looked up, there were deer in the yard, casually eating fallen apples. I finished the talk on Kobekli Tepe. It was quiet since every one seemed to be napping except me.

When Michelle got up, we tracked down the lady who gave the cave tour and asked to buy some beef for supper. She took us into the storage area where big freezers were full of meat. After some discussion, I bought 4 steaks and a pound of ground beef. Casey put them out to thaw.

Finally Michelle said it was overcast and now was a good time to go to the warm springs. So we put on our suits and drove down some dirt roads. We found it full of people, especially considering how small it was. But then half of them disappeared. Michelle and I got in and declared that it was not a warm pool, but a cool pool.

Near one end, small ferns were hanging over a small grotto. That was where the people went. There was a small passage, mostly underwater that led back to a slightly larger cave. Michelle went in and came back out, saying it was too scary. Then Casey went in. I tried, but it was so close it felt like one could easily be trapped. Also, all the rocks on the ceiling and floor were sharp. But everyone who came out said it was worth it. So I tried again, following Casey. Just when I had to turn back, he pulled me through and there was the cave that everyone raved about.

It wasn't nearly as big as I expected. But with the flashlights, it was a sight to see! However, I got a sense of how scary it might be if the batteries died. Yikes! Other people might be coming in, so I left. There was no place to pass oncoming people in the inner passage. Michelle got coaxed in and she loved it so much that she wants to go back tomorrow with her camera in a baggie to take pics!

We played in the pool and I went back in the cave several times. I tapped when inside and it got easier to do. Then, I got out and dried off. I noticed a path leading away from the far side and thought it might show the source of the running water. So I got back in and Chris handed me my shoes. I walked to the other side and climbed out and put on the shoes. I followed the path, but it became marshy and the shoes got wet. Underbrush kept me from finding the source. Isadora came looking for me and we explored a little bit before going back and crossing the pool. Then we all dried off and walked back to the SUV and went back to camp.

Some of us sat by the firepit. Chris got a teepee fire going. Casey put the meat in warm water to hasten the thawing. When it was thawed and the fire burned down, Chris added logs and put the grate on. Casey cooked the steaks on his little stove. He cooked packets of vegetables on the fire. I put some apples on the grate to bake. Them apples were pretty good! I had a hard time deciding which tree had the best ones. Ceddrick had fun poking the fire. When the steaks were done, he made patties and cooked them the same way. The steaks were really good! Better than the ones we have at home. The hamburgers were awesome too. If we didn't already have a freezer full of beef, I would have bought a bunch of meat to take home.

As the daylight waned, we got sticks and roasted marshmallows. We saw people from the springs come and put up a tent and build their own fire. Casey washed up from supper, then set up the raspberry pie. I went to the pavilion and got a regular folding chair. Casey had the game up. I went to jot a few notes for my blog and say goodnight to Chris. I also looked up a hint for the game. I went back and sat down to play. It was dark and the lantern didn't work so I couldn't see the keyboard. But I only needed the space bar and that was for jumping. The big hurdle was getting back to the train so I could use the hint. I played around in other worlds before I found the one with the train. I was able to use the hint to proceed, but eventually ran into other problems. Again, I explored other worlds. Then we shut down the system and put it inside the cabin. I went back to my cabin to put on my nightgown and climb into bed. I made sure my phone was in airplane mode and I was hydrated. I slept much better.