Scattelogical ramblings and desultory humor - Epilogue

My goodness, leave you people alone for a few days and you're ridiculous! Of course, when I'm here we're ridiculous - with or without me, NE forum is ridiculous. I almost just talked myself out of ever posting again.

xx, Carrie

Candyce - I had the same exact reaction at the edge of the Grand Canyon - no fear at all. If I kneel on the kitchen counters to clean the six windows I get tense if I look down.

As for caves, whenever we visit any I'm always glad to see daylight when the tour is done.

This message was edited Nov 14, 2007 8:40 PM

Count me in on the fear of heights or depths!! If I know I'm in really deep water in a boat, I feel wierd, .....and forget about being on a roof or on the edge of a mountain cliff!!. At the Grand Canyon, I was one sick puppy from altitude sickness that day, so I hardly even knew what I was seeing! LOL

Candyce,
There are many, many tours of Mammoth Cave available, from a 45 minute wheelchair accessible tour to a 6+ hour trek that involves bends and squeezes, safety gear, and a packed lunch. They are rated for difficulty, and tell you things like how much climbing, etc. i have been on 4 or 5 different tours. If you are accustomed to the tourist caves - y'know with paved paths and fancy lighting, it is really different. The paths are "smoothed" but still just earth and rock. Tickets for many of the tours in the summer sell out, and pretty much must be bought ahead.

I have enjoyed my trips there very much. The "3 hour tour" i was talking about is the "Violet City Lantern Tour" and it is quite wonderful to see the cave by lantern light, as its earlier explorers did.

Amy - that sounds like fun, but not sure how I would do with it!! My knees get very shakey in high places and I tend to keep my feet on the ground. But under the ground - hmm?? Eleanor

Where is the Mammoth Cave?

I still don't know if I'd be willing to go underground to traverse the wonders of the natural caves. It is something I'll have to think about - a lot. But, I love to challenge myself, too. So, I guess you could say that I'm between a rock and a hard place on touring the Mammoth Caves.

Mammoth Cave is northeast of Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Oh - that's a ways away! I don't get to travel much so I probably will never make it there - lack money and vacation time!! But who knows, I've been to Martha's Vineyard and DC. My parents were farmers so we couldn't go on vacation as they had to work 7 days a week. My DH just doesn't want to go anywhere. Now that my oldest DD is out on her own she takes me on vacation as she is the one who planned the trips that we have taken. She makes the arrangements and I pay for them. She's got a good thing going!! LOL Eleanor

the park itself is very beautiful as well. There are hiking trails and campsites.
Tennessee and Kentucky are probably the 2 states i'd most like to live in - though at this point i wouldn't mind spending some time in my hometown of St Lou Mo either.

Never been to TN or KY. Look forward to visiting!

Wheelchair accessible cave? Now, it's on my list! The last cave we went to - somewhere in upstate NY - I had to sit in the car. I've never heard of that - I want to go! (Cave-deprived.) x, Carrie

I heard St Louis is lovely in August ;)

Victor - I thought you said you went to the Biltmore?

Whoa, Al..........the Biltmore is in NC. You can't trip up that Victor!

Candyce....funny one... "rock and a hard place."..... LOL

You're right. We went through KY and TN to get there.

Pretty states, huh? Knoxville seemed like a nice place when we drove through it on our way down. I'd really like to go to the Kentucky Derby one day. That area of the country with the emerald green rolling hills and horse farms is so pretty....Virginia included!

I grew up going to Virginia every summer - we only went for a few weeks, maybe a month sometimes, but man, it was the highlight of my summer. My aunt and uncle ran a vegetable farm down there. Near DC. I remember picking cherry tomatoes in a field one summer, sliding on the ice in the newly dug foundation of a house that winter, and selling vegetables to the people in the brand-new house the next summer. At least that's the way I remember it.

xx, Carrie

Yes - I've been close - in NC. Was in the NC part of Great Smoky Mt. Park. I like VA and NC a lot. Love the whole Blue Ridge Parkway.

Me too. Beautiful drive! We took it north last spring. I love that the speed limit is still low. You just shouldn't be in a hurry on that Parkway!

DB, do you take a different route with every commute? x, CL

Carrie - not always. We avoid the Washington - New York corridor though. We usually go up I-81 to Scranton and then over, but we take different routes to I-81. We generally look for a nice place to walk or a park to enjoy wherever we stop for the night. Last spring we found a jewel of a park in Orangeburg, SC and had a lovely walk there. The gardens were really lovely. The next day we took some neat side trips on and off the Blue Ridge Parkway before we got onto I-81. We have Molly, our older dog, with us, so we are somewhat limited in what we can stop and do.

Carrie - i hope i wasn't misleading you. i just looked on the website, and they are only displaying fall/winter tours right now. None of those are wheelchair accessible, but i thought i remembered that in the summer (when there are many more tours) that there was one - it's a brief one though. Of course i can't find it now. Sigh. sorry. I know that there are accessible outdoor trails - one is a boardwalk they had just built the last time i was there 2 years ago, and i think there are one or two others.
Louisville is nice, i've spent quite a lot of time there. Derby weekend it is a madhouse though. Knoxville is the city i think i'd like to live in. It's just big enough and in such a beautiful location!

I love the Blue Ridge area! When my DDH and I drove through, oh so many years ago, I fell in love with the region. It looks so calm and peaceful, and yet mysterious enough to hold a world of new discoveries!

*sigh* now I want to go back.

We drove the Blue Ridge Parkway and exited to visit Albemarle, NC, the original home of my dear neighbor, the real PIRL. What a lovely little town it is.

ok, who is DDH? Your DD's DH? Your DDeadH? lost--- x, C

I would guess Dearly Departed, though I'm certainly no expert on these text shortcuts and don't like them.

I'm still trying to figure out what OT means...lots of people start their responses with that...and I'm pretty sure they're not referring to the Old Testament !

Off Topic, I think. I hated them initially, but I am SUCH a bad typer, and I do say the same thing over and over again. x, C

Overtime? Outta time? Occupational therapy? Orange Tang? Oh Tannenbaum?

O Tay ??? (as in O Tay panky !!! )

I considered that one too, JD.

I thought O Tay was "O tay can you see by the dawn's early light" or "O tay dotay, smotay!"

Huh???? Have I been down south so long that I can't understand DG language anymore???? What's O Tay???

DBrooke..."O Tay" is from the Little Rascals...instead of Spanky saying "OK"...he'd say "O Tay "...and then of course, all the other kids started doing it...

I dunno - PLMK too. I was just running with it.

Little Rascals.LOL PC police would crack down on a show like that nowadays ;)

(said a little haughtily) I never really liked the Little Rascals --- you boys play nicely, now.

JD.........Oh! I missed that week......LOL

It's more of Eddie Murphy's SNL rendition of Buckwheat, which was more exaggerated than the real thing.

You're right, Victor...I had forgotten about that !