As I mentioned in my last post, this trip we left half of the family behind and I only had Taylor and Kaya with me. I definitely wanted to bring Taylor so that he could have the chance to see his great grandpa again plus I figured he'd be a great help with Kaya.
Here we are with Granddaddy once again at Joe's visitation. He had gone a bit downhill in only the couple of weeks since we'd last seen him. He ended up leaving the visitation partway through because he was exhausted. He was back the next morning for the funeral though and insisted afterward that he was taking us to dinner even though it was only 10:30 in the morning.
We went to a steakhouse and wound up being hungrier than we thought we were. Grandaddy was done with having his picture taken and refused to look at the camera. (Apparently Ashley was done too!) In honor of my birthday Mom made sure that the waitstaff all sang to me and I was treated to a giant piece of cheesecake which we all shared.
Looks like another big tip was due! This place gave kids under 3 a free kid's meal complete with a gooey chocolate cookie.
On Saturday, we decided to take a break from all of the exhausting things associated with the death of a loved one and just do something fun. We decided to visit the Lost River Cave in Bowling Green. I had seen signs for it on the way down and asked my mom if she had ever been there. She hadn't so we decided to check it out.
We crossed a really big footbrige that suspended over a trail below. Once we met up with our tour guide it was another hike to the actual cave. We stopped at a couple of spots on the way to hear some interesting facts about the area. For example Native Americans used the cave for shelter for thousands of years and there are some remaining hieroglyphics to document their existence. Many years later European settlers built a water-powered mill inside the entrance to the cave and this was used off and on for a very long time afterward. In the 1860's both Confederate and Union troops used the cave (not at the same time, of course) as a temporary shelter. Also it is rumored that Jesse James and his gang used the cave as a hideout and that they may have hidden a stash of goods somewhere in the cave which has yet to be recovered. Then in the 1930's a man had the brilliant idea of opening a night club at the cave entrance. It was the perfect location because it had natural air conditioning! It was very popular for a couple of decades. In fact we found an old picture (probably 1940's era) of my grandma standing at the foot of the stairs leading down to the night club! Unfortunately the club closed down in the early 60's for two reasons. One: air conditioning had become common in most buildings so it wasn't that big a deal anymore. And two: the owner refused to play the popular music of the day and preferred to stick with Jazz and Big Band music over Elvis. After that, the place eventually became a dumping ground. People would drive their stuff up to the edge and dump it in the river leading into the cave. It wasn't until the 1990's that someone decided to clean things up and open the cave as a tourist attraction. They said they pulled washers and dryers and even a car out of the water in the clean-up effort. It took a few years and the place has been open ever since.
Here we have the lovely Ashley posing at one of the Blue Holes along the trail. This is water from the river that has pooled up to the surface.
And here is the lone shot my camera took that even remotely shows anything from the interior of the cave. It was very interesting though. The tour is all done by boat. Kaya did not care for that at all because she had to wear a very restraining life vest. Then on top of that, to get back into the cave, we had to pass through a very low opening in which everyone in the boat had to lean over so far that our heads were in our laps. It was a bit freaky considering I'm a teeny bit claustrophobic. But once past that, the cave opened right up into a huge high-ceilinged room. The guide pointed our various interesting things and elaborated on some of the stories they had shared previously. The river actually went back for over seven miles into the cave, but we were only allowed to see the one section probably for our own safety.
Afterward, we went to check out the old night club. It's all still there with the bar and stage and everything. I guess they actually do proms and wedding receptions there now!
Kind of a strange sight to see a giant chandelier at a cave entrance!
This is another of the Blue Holes. They weren't looking too blue that day because the skies were so overcast. They told us that in the sunshine the water looks amazingly blue.
Here we are with Granddaddy once again at Joe's visitation. He had gone a bit downhill in only the couple of weeks since we'd last seen him. He ended up leaving the visitation partway through because he was exhausted. He was back the next morning for the funeral though and insisted afterward that he was taking us to dinner even though it was only 10:30 in the morning.
We went to a steakhouse and wound up being hungrier than we thought we were. Grandaddy was done with having his picture taken and refused to look at the camera. (Apparently Ashley was done too!) In honor of my birthday Mom made sure that the waitstaff all sang to me and I was treated to a giant piece of cheesecake which we all shared.
Looks like another big tip was due! This place gave kids under 3 a free kid's meal complete with a gooey chocolate cookie.On Saturday, we decided to take a break from all of the exhausting things associated with the death of a loved one and just do something fun. We decided to visit the Lost River Cave in Bowling Green. I had seen signs for it on the way down and asked my mom if she had ever been there. She hadn't so we decided to check it out.
We bought our tickets but had some time before our tour was scheduled so we spent some time browsing and buying souvenirs in the gift shop. Taylor was so excited when he found a barrel of geodes that are the kind you can have cut open after you buy one. He debated for a looonnnggg time before he finally decided on one. It ended up being a really beautiful choice. Mom and Susannah got some great ones too.
Finally we headed down the trail to the gathering site for the cave tour.
We crossed a really big footbrige that suspended over a trail below. Once we met up with our tour guide it was another hike to the actual cave. We stopped at a couple of spots on the way to hear some interesting facts about the area. For example Native Americans used the cave for shelter for thousands of years and there are some remaining hieroglyphics to document their existence. Many years later European settlers built a water-powered mill inside the entrance to the cave and this was used off and on for a very long time afterward. In the 1860's both Confederate and Union troops used the cave (not at the same time, of course) as a temporary shelter. Also it is rumored that Jesse James and his gang used the cave as a hideout and that they may have hidden a stash of goods somewhere in the cave which has yet to be recovered. Then in the 1930's a man had the brilliant idea of opening a night club at the cave entrance. It was the perfect location because it had natural air conditioning! It was very popular for a couple of decades. In fact we found an old picture (probably 1940's era) of my grandma standing at the foot of the stairs leading down to the night club! Unfortunately the club closed down in the early 60's for two reasons. One: air conditioning had become common in most buildings so it wasn't that big a deal anymore. And two: the owner refused to play the popular music of the day and preferred to stick with Jazz and Big Band music over Elvis. After that, the place eventually became a dumping ground. People would drive their stuff up to the edge and dump it in the river leading into the cave. It wasn't until the 1990's that someone decided to clean things up and open the cave as a tourist attraction. They said they pulled washers and dryers and even a car out of the water in the clean-up effort. It took a few years and the place has been open ever since.
Here we have the lovely Ashley posing at one of the Blue Holes along the trail. This is water from the river that has pooled up to the surface.
And here is the lone shot my camera took that even remotely shows anything from the interior of the cave. It was very interesting though. The tour is all done by boat. Kaya did not care for that at all because she had to wear a very restraining life vest. Then on top of that, to get back into the cave, we had to pass through a very low opening in which everyone in the boat had to lean over so far that our heads were in our laps. It was a bit freaky considering I'm a teeny bit claustrophobic. But once past that, the cave opened right up into a huge high-ceilinged room. The guide pointed our various interesting things and elaborated on some of the stories they had shared previously. The river actually went back for over seven miles into the cave, but we were only allowed to see the one section probably for our own safety.
Afterward, we went to check out the old night club. It's all still there with the bar and stage and everything. I guess they actually do proms and wedding receptions there now!
Kind of a strange sight to see a giant chandelier at a cave entrance!
This is another of the Blue Holes. They weren't looking too blue that day because the skies were so overcast. They told us that in the sunshine the water looks amazingly blue.
We continued back on the trail to see the butterfly house before we ended our experience. That was actually pretty fun.
They had several species of butterflies but mostly Monarch's were the ones we saw.
Everytime a butterfly would fly past, Kaya would do her surprised face. So cute!
She actually got to hold one but tried to eat the poor thing.
Budding scientist Taylor was in his element for the whole experience.
They had several species of butterflies but mostly Monarch's were the ones we saw.
Everytime a butterfly would fly past, Kaya would do her surprised face. So cute!
She actually got to hold one but tried to eat the poor thing.
Budding scientist Taylor was in his element for the whole experience.
After that we went out to eat at a buffet for lunch. I took a funny picture that I thought I had uploaded on here but I guess I missed it. Oh well. Susannah got one too so I'll let her load it on her blog. It gave us a chuckle anyway. Over the dessert bar was a sign that read: "Children 10 and under must be accompanied by an adult to all bars." Of course it was referring to the food bars in the restaurant but it just sort of struck us all as funny if it was read out of context.
That night we went and visited Granddaddy in the nursing home and watched a couple of episodes of Andy Griffith with him before heading back and going to bed.
Sunday we went to church. First we went to a branch in Russelville for sacrament meeting. It was a tiny little group but a really fantastic service. Afterward we went to the Baptist service at the church that my granparents attended. That was actually pretty fun. Music is a huge deal! It was so much fun singing those hymns because EVERYONE sang whether they had talent or not and I found myself wishing that members of the LDS church would do that. I've been in a few wards where the members actually sing, but most places I've been to the members sort of hide behind their hymnals and whisper along while those who are talented and a few brave not- so-talented people sing.
Anyway, we all took a nice afternoon nap after that and then went for another visit to the nursing home. Andy Griffith was on again and Taylor said afterward: "I probably wouldn't turn that show on myself but if it was already on, it's a pretty good show." It was fun watching him laugh at some of those old episodes.
Monday we packed up and headed back. We made the trip in only 7 1/2 hours so that was fantastic. I don't think Kaya would have been able to take much more! It is so good to be back again and we are so glad that my mom will be coming back tomorrow. Of course she'll have to make frequent trips down again to see my grandpa but even a couple of weeks of normalcy will be really nice for all of us.
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