Ok, so here is the deal. I am on vacation this week (while Debbie is in California visiting relatives). Don’t ask me how that works, it’s just what I came up with. I decided that sitting on the couch for a week was probably not a good thing, so I planned a day trip out to Cave Without A Name. Yes, it is a real place, and that is its name. It is even a registered National Natural Landmark. On a day with good weather (that is a day with under 100 degree temperatures) it would make a good ride destination, but today I took the car. I know I do that a lot. Anyway I had a nice leisurely drive out to the cave, and just as I arrived one of the cave tour guides ran out to let me know that a tour was just leaving and I could join them if I move along. Ok, grab camera, tripod, and make them wait for me while I visited the men’s room (did I mention it is 100 miles from Austin), and We are off the the races… I mean tour. It turns out there are only four of us counting the tour guide, so we really weren’t in a big hurry. By the way, the cost is $16 per person, which seems a little pricy, but it is a living cave, meaning it is not dry, and the structures are still evolving. ANyway we head down these stairs into the cave, it is about 100 feet down. So this is the easy part, going down I can do, no problem. I didn’t really think about the going back up those stairs. Oh my. Moving along, you know how tours are, tour guide tells stories about the cave history, like how it was used to make alcoholic beverages back in the 20’s. I think every cave in the world must have been used as a still. The lighting is very well done, illuminating all the structures while protecting you from blinding direct light. I got quite a few good shots, but it certainly was a good thing I brought a tripod. I had done some investigation about the cave on-line and they suggested you bring a tripod. Yes it is very dark in there, so your favorite cell phone camera probably isn’t going to get too many good shots. I volunteered to take a photo of the young couple on the tour and the tour guide volunteered to take my picture with my camera (on a tripod of course). The tour lasted around 45 minutes, and the temperatures were very comfortable. Finally after I had my fill of photos we headed back up. Oh, My Gosh. I thought I was going to die. Well maybe not, but I did have to stop and catch my breath for a couple of minutes before climbing the final set of stairs. After I got all the way out, I rested in the air conditioned gift shop for another 10 minutes to let my heart slow down a bit. Here are two links, one to the caves web site, and one to Google maps so y’all can find it;
http://www.cavewithoutaname.com
Without further delay, here are my photos of the “Cave Without A Name”;
Tom Zimmer - PhotoBubba 