Linville Caverns

Everybody had Veterans' Day off last week (a foreign concept to people living in towns not heavily populated with bankers). We took the day and drove up to the Blue Ridge Parkway and toured Linville Caverns. I hadn't been into caverns in 30 years and my memory (as a 5-ish year old) of Longhorn Caverns near Austin had always been this massive and expansive space. These are downright claustrophobic..and slimy with all the water running down the walls. But so cool! We spied two bats ("about the size of a chicken nugget" was the description the guide gave us. gross.) and some blind fish. Poor fish.

We started the day with a good old fashioned, Southern, fattening breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Everybody needs to learn how to play that confounded game.

Then we did a little bouldering while we waited for our turn in the caverns.

Didn't really get many good shots in the cavern- I spent more time trying to ensure that my lens didn't get whacked into a 30 zillion year old stalactite.

After the caverns, we tooled down the parkway and found a good picnic spot. Reese's movie star diva came out in full force (that's string cheese in her mouth).