We got up this morning and drove further in to Mammoth Cave National Park so that we could do a tour of the cave. We got tickets and than waited for the ranger to come along. There was a school group waiting with us but a different ranger took them thankfully, so there were only about 50 people in our group. Before we went into the cave the ranger gave us a talk about what we could expect under the ground, and I think he scared almost everyone half to death. He kept talking about narrow and low areas that could be strenuous for some, but it turned out to be just fine. The cave which is apparently the longest in the world (over 300 miles have been explored so far and there’s more to go) was really cool, not pretty but huge. There were hardly any stalagmites or stalactites on the tour path that we took as the cave is mostly dry and they do not form without the water. We did the historical tour which while touching on the cave formation was more about the cave been explored and the tours that have been taking place there for well over 150 years. The cave was mined for salt peater (what gunpowder used to be made from) for a long period of time until it became too costly to mine it. When that happened all the equipment was just abandoned and it’s still there today. We also walked the paths that people have been walking since the first tours and saw the names that they left on the ceiling of the cave with the candle smoke.



There were lots of ups and downs on the two hour tour, and lots of mind your head. It wasn’t too bad though as the cave system is so huge, except in the spot called Fat Man’s Misery and Tall Man’s Misery. Both of these names were given to different parts of the path and are kind of self explanatory; they didn’t really cause too many problems for either of us believe it or not), although Mike was glad when he got to the end of both.






We drove through Park City this afternoon, after checking out the wild turkeys in the park, which is quite touristy for a little town. There are lots of places along the side of the road selling rocks and other things at bargain prices, as well as dinosaur world. We stopped for more Mexican food, at a different place today, although it turned out to be the same restaurant group as yesterday – at least they understood me today.



Mike: I wonder how the rangers tell people they can’t go on the tour because they’re “too fat”.