These caverns were very different from others I had been in, and they are spectacular! It is a small cave, only 7 miles or so in length. But the cave is not as deep underground, and still active. The novel thing about these caverns is that the density of formations is very high - non-stop almost immediately after entry, and it is a tight cave. All the passageways are narrow and just covered in "popcorn", stagmites/tites, and other formations. In places, the ceiling gets a bit higher, and it feels like walking in a slot canyon that is covered in limestone christmas trees and crystals. In one section of the tour, the path leads through what was a geode the size of a dorm room (~8'X10')!
The speed of the tour, lighting and tight spaces made pictures difficult, but I think I got a few good ones to share:
Link to caverns website
Monday, April 21, 2008
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Caverns and folk music
After leaving Tennessee, we are generally headed toward Big Bend National Park in Texas. However, Heather recommended a detour to Mountain View, AR. What a neat place! It is a little town in the Ozark mountains, where a whole community of country folk musicians live. The town square is set up with multiple jam spots, where the local artists can come an practice, entertain, and market themselves to what I expect is a substantials crowd of tourists in the warmer months. We took in a local "Hoedown" show , and a night of free music at Jimmy Driftwood's Barn. Sunday was a bit chilly, so we killed a couple hours playing scrabble in one of the only open shops - the Candy Factory! (great fudge!)
The other highlight of this place is Blanchard Caverns. Wow! This is the most visually impressive cave I have seen. The tour led up through two very large rooms (1000ft long, 700ft long) with towering columns, stalagmites, soda straws, curtains, etc. There are water formations almost everywhere you look. We were both taking pictures almost non-stop. This cave has color, too - Really pure, sparkling calcite, rust-stained orange walls, and streaks of gray and yellow in the transitions. The 1.5 hour tour was not nearly long enough. The lighting was a challenge, as always, but I've put up a few of my more pleasing pictures...
The other highlight of this place is Blanchard Caverns. Wow! This is the most visually impressive cave I have seen. The tour led up through two very large rooms (1000ft long, 700ft long) with towering columns, stalagmites, soda straws, curtains, etc. There are water formations almost everywhere you look. We were both taking pictures almost non-stop. This cave has color, too - Really pure, sparkling calcite, rust-stained orange walls, and streaks of gray and yellow in the transitions. The 1.5 hour tour was not nearly long enough. The lighting was a challenge, as always, but I've put up a few of my more pleasing pictures...
Friday, April 11, 2008
The End (technically)
So, technically, I have to say that my Walkabout is over. On a walkabout, one leaves one's home to wander aimlessly(?) and in solitude. I no longer satisfy either of those conditions. Two things have happened:
For one, I heard back from LightFleet, and they offered me the job! Furthermore, I accepted! So, as of May 12, I will be the new Senior Optical Design engineer at LightFleet, in Camas, WA. This means I have a new job, a new home, as well as a definite direction and schedule to my travels now. That takes care of the first condition.
The other thing that has happened this week, well, it's been developing for a while, but the first event above has really brought it home - is that I have a girlfriend! Long story short Heather makes me smile. We enjoy each other's company enough that she has agreed to be a travel companion for the big trip to the Portland area. So, I'm no longer alone on my trip, either.
I'll keep posting blog entries here, even thought the title doesn't fit so well anymore, as I expect to have some good stories to tell. 4000 miles and 4 (or more) national parks to go!
For one, I heard back from LightFleet, and they offered me the job! Furthermore, I accepted! So, as of May 12, I will be the new Senior Optical Design engineer at LightFleet, in Camas, WA. This means I have a new job, a new home, as well as a definite direction and schedule to my travels now. That takes care of the first condition.
The other thing that has happened this week, well, it's been developing for a while, but the first event above has really brought it home - is that I have a girlfriend! Long story short Heather makes me smile. We enjoy each other's company enough that she has agreed to be a travel companion for the big trip to the Portland area. So, I'm no longer alone on my trip, either.
I'll keep posting blog entries here, even thought the title doesn't fit so well anymore, as I expect to have some good stories to tell. 4000 miles and 4 (or more) national parks to go!
Fall Creek Falls
After returning from Portland, Heather and I decided to go spend a few days camping in Fall Creek Falls State Park. A travel guide she found calls the park "one of the best camping places in the Southeast", and I agree! Impressive and beautiful scenery abounds, and we were lucky enough to be there after some good Spring rains. There are multiple waterfalls and cascades in the park, and all were near peak flow. This park has tons to do - we played some tennis, went for a couple bike rides, and generally spent lots more time getting to know each other. An especially neat thing in the park is the suspension bridges set up over several stream crossings. Wooden plank floors on steel cables and field fence "railings" make for a safe, but very wobbly bridge. We had great fun stomping, running, and jumping across these bridges (don't try this at home, kids...). It's been quite a different camping experience for me - a cooler with ice in it, showers every day, usually a nap in the afternoon, and we even crashed the heated pool at the park Inn one evening - talk about luxury!
Heather and I are getting along fabulously! Though coming from very different backgrounds and professions, we have a lot in common, not the least of which is a playfulness that keeps the other on their toes. On one bike ride in particular, a "Beware of Hikers" sign on the bike path spawned an ongoing joke about the mutant zombie hikers, their "hive" at the Inn, and different reasons why we weren't getting eaten. Definitely, this will be a lasting friendship.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Portland, OR
Greetings from Portland, Oregon!
I have very much enjoyed my stay here. Temperate rain forest is my favorite climate. Yesterday I had a free day to explore around the area. I went to downtown Portland and roamed around, exploring an country outdoor clothing store and the farmer's market. I was pleased to find a good deal on some new Carthartt work jeans, since my last pair gave up during my recent trip to CO. It's a strange city - for as hard as parking is to find, the streets were not crowded with people. The Farmer's market was typical, but nice. A live folk-signer in the middle, honey, goat cheese, farm-fresh vegetables, and of course at least one candy stand. The whole thing was set up on a green area on the Portland State University campus, so under the canopy of 50ft high hardwood trees, and above a vibrant green carpet of grass.
Even though the ground here has been constantly wet from off and on showers, it has not felt dreary to me. Flowering trees, 50-100ft high evergreen trees, climbing ivy, moss, and bright green, soft wonderful carpets of grass are everywhere. So it does not feel dark and gloomy to me. I next explored Washington Park, which is a large green area on the hill above downtown, housing the zoo, a 200-acre arboretum, Japanese gardens, and other recreational attractions. It is gorgeous! A couple hours walking around in there and I was ready to head back to the hotel and watch the Final Four games. First, though, I drove into the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Beautiful! I only went far enough to get an overlook down into the Columbia River basin, but it's enough to get me hooked! I could see towering waterfalls across the river, at least two miles away, probably more like 5. The river looked like a dark sheet of glass down at the bottom, surrounded on both sides by a shag carpet of deep green tree. Just what I could see from that point could probably occupy a person for weeks to explore it all. I recommend a visit to this place to any outdoor enthusiast out there - I will find a way back here to spend more time, one way or another...
I have very much enjoyed my stay here. Temperate rain forest is my favorite climate. Yesterday I had a free day to explore around the area. I went to downtown Portland and roamed around, exploring an country outdoor clothing store and the farmer's market. I was pleased to find a good deal on some new Carthartt work jeans, since my last pair gave up during my recent trip to CO. It's a strange city - for as hard as parking is to find, the streets were not crowded with people. The Farmer's market was typical, but nice. A live folk-signer in the middle, honey, goat cheese, farm-fresh vegetables, and of course at least one candy stand. The whole thing was set up on a green area on the Portland State University campus, so under the canopy of 50ft high hardwood trees, and above a vibrant green carpet of grass.
Even though the ground here has been constantly wet from off and on showers, it has not felt dreary to me. Flowering trees, 50-100ft high evergreen trees, climbing ivy, moss, and bright green, soft wonderful carpets of grass are everywhere. So it does not feel dark and gloomy to me. I next explored Washington Park, which is a large green area on the hill above downtown, housing the zoo, a 200-acre arboretum, Japanese gardens, and other recreational attractions. It is gorgeous! A couple hours walking around in there and I was ready to head back to the hotel and watch the Final Four games. First, though, I drove into the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Beautiful! I only went far enough to get an overlook down into the Columbia River basin, but it's enough to get me hooked! I could see towering waterfalls across the river, at least two miles away, probably more like 5. The river looked like a dark sheet of glass down at the bottom, surrounded on both sides by a shag carpet of deep green tree. Just what I could see from that point could probably occupy a person for weeks to explore it all. I recommend a visit to this place to any outdoor enthusiast out there - I will find a way back here to spend more time, one way or another...
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Bankhead National Forest
Earlier this week I spent 2.5 days in Bankhead National Forest in northern Alabama. Now, believe it or not, there is some really pretty country up there! Great, old-growth forest with lots of lakes, ponds, and streams. I met my friend Heather (who I first met at the hostel in Florida City) there, and we spent the days exploring around the campground and the Sipsey Wilderness.
Camping is sooo much more fun with some company! We went for a bike ride, an easy hike in the woods, skipping rocks, bouncing and climbing on fallen logs, taking pictures and sharing lots of stories. Heather is another traveler, and has been "on-the-road" for over a year. She has seen so many of the places I would yet like to visit, and met a far more diverse range of people than I have on my trip so far. I was very glad for the company, and the chance to learn from and share with her. Extra bonus was that we were the only campers in the campground, so we had the woods all to ourselves - no annoying boy scouts, or radio-playin', beer-cooler totin' good-ol boys in sight!
We treated ourselves to a good dinner in town Wednesday night, and the next morning I packed up and drove to Nashville, to fly to Portland, OR, for a job interview in Camas, WA on Friday.
Side note - the furthest west I have ever seen a Bojangles is now in Athens, AL (exit 354).
Camping is sooo much more fun with some company! We went for a bike ride, an easy hike in the woods, skipping rocks, bouncing and climbing on fallen logs, taking pictures and sharing lots of stories. Heather is another traveler, and has been "on-the-road" for over a year. She has seen so many of the places I would yet like to visit, and met a far more diverse range of people than I have on my trip so far. I was very glad for the company, and the chance to learn from and share with her. Extra bonus was that we were the only campers in the campground, so we had the woods all to ourselves - no annoying boy scouts, or radio-playin', beer-cooler totin' good-ol boys in sight!
We treated ourselves to a good dinner in town Wednesday night, and the next morning I packed up and drove to Nashville, to fly to Portland, OR, for a job interview in Camas, WA on Friday.
Side note - the furthest west I have ever seen a Bojangles is now in Athens, AL (exit 354).
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