Mammoth

I have got to finish the writing about the rest of this summer because it is almost gone!

On our second day in Kentucky, mom, Rachel, John, Nate, and I got up early because we wanted to visit Abraham Lincoln's birthplace before going to Mammoth Cave.

Abraham Lincoln's birthplace is really interesting and very beautiful.  The Kentucky grass and trees must have been an oasis of beauty and wonder to live in.  But in the summer, Kentucky is HOT!!  We made it to the tiny town of Hodgenville by 9 AM, but it already felt like we were inside an oven.  

This little recreation of the cabin where the famous man spent the first couple years of his life was inside an air conditioned room.  Thank goodness.  The other nice place in the park, as far as the temperature and humidity were concerned...

...was this spring.  Every step down brought a change in air temperature of full degrees.  It felt wonderful.  So, as we considered the fact that this was probably where one of our greatest President's took his first drinks from, we also thought if we lived back in the 1800's we would just spend our entire summers down at the spring, thank you very much!

___________________________________________

Mammoth Cave was also hot.  

We arrived at what we thought was noon and enjoyed a fabulous lunch in the Crystal Lake Coffee shop.  

Home made blueberry cobbler!

The food was really good, so we wondered why the restaurant was not very busy. After all, it was noon.  ...

Or so we thought.  Actually it was 11.  We had crossed a time zone without knowing it.

SO...we had an hour to kill before venturing into our cool cave destination.

We tried to explore.  But about a quarter of a mile found us sweating and miserable in the heat and humidity.

This is what happens in 100% humidity when you go from inside to outside. :)

Eventually, it was TIME for the cave tour.  Mom had gone all out and reserved us a place on the three mile
VIOLET CITY LANTERN TOUR
And by lantern they really meant lantern.  Every group of five was given real gas burning lanterns.  Everyone who didn't have a lantern was told to make sure and stay with the group because there was NO OTHER LIGHT!
The cave history is a long one.  It has been attracting paying tourists since the 1830's and boasts such famous sightseers as General George Custer.  It's passages are known to be 390 miles long, but our guide told us that if we come back in a few more years, it might be up to 400!

Our little tour group explored 3 miles of the underground terrain.  I was amazed by the size of the passages.  I have been in a lot of caves before, but this cave, you could drive a car easily through most of the three miles we walked.  Its huge!

It was also very nice and cool in the cave.  We actually brought jackets and wore them.  Then when we reached the end of our three mile journey, our guide told us it was raining outside.  And it really was!!!  It was pouring cats and dogs and even though it had been so sticky and uncomfortable on our previous encounter with Kentucky outdoors, we actually kept our jackets on as we raced to the bus that would shuttle us back to the visitor center.  Its funny how the weather can change that quickly.