Spelunk

Saturday 13 May 2006, 11:29 pm


Saturday, May 13

Today we went to Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. The only tour available today was the Frozen Niagara Tour. Most of the tour is through "dry" caves, that is, caves not currently being eroded and shaped by water. But there is one "wet" area, and that is the Frozen Niagara area. This is an area of "drapery" which is quite a contrast to the "dry" areas where you enter and exit the caves.

We liked it a lot. Mammoth is supposed to be the "longest" cave system in the country, but for beauty, it can't compare with Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. Still, we were glad we saw it.

We finished up early, and it was only 1-1/2 hours to Nashville, so we decided to get on into town and maybe take in a show. And what else to do in Nashville but visit the Grand Ole Opry? We had a good time even though country music is not my favorite. There was some good bluegrass, which I like, and a couple of newer, younger, energetic acts. Mary had a great time.

Tomorrow, I had hoped to visit Belmont Church, where Steve Fry was pastor until a couple of months ago. But we are staying on the north side of Nashville in the little town of Goodlettsville, and we found that there is a Calvary Chapel only about two miles from here. I don't believe in coincidence, so I think we will head out to CC tomorrow unless we feel differently after praying.

After church, we plan to head back south, but not very far since Tennessee is such a skinny state from top to bottom, to the northern part of Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina. That way, we can cross three more states off our list. Also, that will put us in good position to start our way up the Blue Ridge Parkway on Monday. The parkway ends up in the Washington DC area, where we hope to stay for the good part of a week visiting museums.

There is a square dance in western Massachusetts on Memorial Weekend, two weeks from now. We don't know how far we'll be by then, but if we are at least getting near New York by then, then we'll be able to go to that dance.

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