Thursday, 19 August 2004
travelogue: rochester to alabama
Well, we’re finally in Alabama, where we’ve got cable modem connectivity. We’ve had a lovely three days of camping and exploring (and driving, which was less fun), with no access save an occasional cell phone signal. (And not even that while in caves, of course.)
If you’re interested in a short photo essay of our trip thus far, read on. I’ll upload more photos (I took a lot on this trip) to Flickr later this week.
The first day of travel was the longest…we went from Rochester to Delaware, Ohio, just north of Columbus. We’d hoped to rent a yurt at Delaware State Park, but the yurts were in a part of the park closed for renovations, so we ended up with a tent campsite instead. I couldn’t believe how much stuff Gerald had managed to pack into our van!
We bought a new tent for this trip, and it was gloriously spacious. Not only was it tall enough for even Gerald to stand in easily, it easily housed two small air mattresses for the kids and an almost-luxurious queen-sized version for us.
The camping area was quite nice. Lots of paved areas for the boys to ride their scooters around…
A short hike to a very pretty reservoir…
And a nice campfire area for the mandatory ritual of cooking s’mores. (We cooked dinner—steak and salmon we’d brought from home—over a propane camp stove.)
In the morning, Gerald packed up camp while I took the boys to the Olentangy Indian Caverns nearby. I enjoyed the cave tour more than they did, but they had fun doing faux “gem mining” afterwards—they give the kids a big back of sand and dirt that’s spiked with a few gems and crystals. They have to dump it into a pan and sift it out in a trough of running water. A bargain at $3.50 considering how much fun they had doing it, and how delighted they were by their little found treasures afterwards.
After lunch we headed south, arrving at Mammoth Cave National Park at dinnertime. We stayed in some lovely rustic cottages right next to the visitor center, which was extremely convenient. The two-room cottage we stayed in (only $52/night after taxes) had four beds and its own bathroom and shower. We crashed early that night, then got up in the morning and did the Discovery Tour of Mammoth Cave. (No photos, because I didn’t realize that camera bags were forbidden, and I didn’t have a pocket appropriate for my camera.) That’s the shortest, easiest tour they give. I was disappointed to find out that neither of my boys were big on caves, so I did the afternoon “Frozen Niagara” tour myself. That tour used a newer, man-made “airlock” entrance—only about twenty people can enter at a time between the two doors, so as to preserve the proper balance of air in the cave system. From there you take 300 stairs down into the cave (you go out an easier path, however).
The Discovery Tour had been all dry cave areas, but the Frozen Niagra tour included some spectacular wet cave areas with amazing flowstone formations and various stalactites and stalagmites.
That evening we took a scenic cruise on Green River, which was really lovely. Here’s one shot I took while sitting out on the bow of the boat.
In addition to the caves (365 miles of them) and the river, the park has some beautiful above-ground trails. I got the boys to do a little walking with me, but most of my hiking I did on my own. I’d forgotten how much I like walking alone in the woods. (Don’t worry, I told Gerald my route in advance, and estimated the time it would take, so he’d know where to send help if I needed it. Which I didn’t.) A few of the trails I wanted to hike had been closed by a storm last month that had apparently downed over 400 trees in the park…and I saw a lot of evidence of that damage even on the open trails.
One of the trails I took was to what they call the River Styx Spring…an opening where an underground river emerges from the caves and flows down to the Green River. It didn’t look much like its mythic namesake.
All in all, it was a very enjoyable way to make the trek down to Alabama. Last night we stayed with Gerald’s older daughter, and tonight we’ll be out at his mother’s house just outside of Lawley, Alabama. Then maybe some camping this weekend (weather permitting), and we’re keep our fingers crossed that tropical storms will avoid the Panhandle area next week.
