Colossal Caves

Before I get started on our latest adventure a little reminder of what we are missing.  Richard sent us this picture of our house and the nice job he did shovelling the snow of the front steps and patio.  So far at least most of the snow seems to have circled south of Winnipeg and hit Minneapolis and Buffalo.  From what we are hearing Winnipeg may have temporarily escaped the snow but hasn't escaped the cold with wind chills down to -20C.  And thats in Nov.  Sounds like the beginning of a repeat of last year.

 Today we are off to the Colossal Caves.  We signed up for the free Bus Ride offered by Rincon.  They offer a couple of trips each week to various attractions.  The bus is a 12 seater and there were 6 of us making the 40 minute ride to the caves.
The caves are located partway up the mountains located southeast of Tucson.  This is a view looking back from the cave entrance.

At some point I will get tired of taking pictures of Cactus but not yet.  They are just so unusual.

A closeup of a barrel cactus in bloom.

Lori looks so happy.  She got all the cupboards organized yesterday and can now relax and enjoy  herself.
Only half kidding

The entrance to the caves.
The story goes that some local scallywags robbed a train containing cash and gold and went to hide out in the caves.  Value at the time was a few thousand dollars but today it would be worth a few million.  The sheriff tracked them down and watched the entrance for them to come out.  The robbers found an exit on the other side of the mountain and went to town to celebrate.  Lots of whiskey and bragging later the sheriff showed up and in a shootout, killed 3 of them.  They had left the gold in the cave and the remaining robber was given the option of giving up the location of the gold or go to prison for 18 years.  He chose prison.  After his sentence he came back to get the gold but people were waiting.  They say the gold remains in the caves to this day.
At least thats how the story goes.

The entrance to the small gift shop and museum

Some pictures of the various formations which are caused by water seeping through cracks in the rock.  Minerals in the water attach to the existing rock and after a few thousand years you are left with all sorts of stalagmites, stalactites and various other formations.

We were in some caves in the Black Hills a few years ago but these were still "alive"  Aside from the humidity level and the temp (the year round temp there was around 60F) the live caves have more vivid colours.

These are "dead" caves, meaning that there is no more water coming in and they are no longer growing.  The caves have been dead for about 9000 years.  An exact date was not provided but one guy in our group was sure it was a Tuesday.  The temp in the caves is a consistent 70F all year and we were about 65 feet below ground.

The caves were discovered in the late 1800s by a local rancher.  He went back to town and told everyone.  The locals started coming down to get some souvenirs and they started sawing and shooting off the stalagmites.  What you see here are the formations cut off at the base.  Sanity prevailed and a local guy named Frank took control of the caves and stopped the destruction. After that the only thing he allowed out of the caves was guano (Bat poop).  Apparently used to this day in womens mascara.

Two happy snowbirds.

On the way back the driver suggested we stop at a local Autobody Shop for lunch.  We kind of gave each other a quizzical look but his local knowledge proved bang-on.
The bodyshop restores old cars and motorcycles on the main level but upstairs is a restaurant and lounge with large TV screens for viewing the latest Nascar events.  The food was excellent with huge portions and very reasonable prices.



We got back about 1:30 just in time to browse the farmers market set up in the parking lot of the RV Park.  Charli greeted us in her usual jubilant manner, tail wagging and ready to go for a long walk.  All I wanted to do was grab a silver bullet, relax and have a nap.  But when the dog wants to go for a walk you go for a walk.
Later.