The Events of Tuesday, December 14, 2010 

          We woke up this morning feeling very well rested after such a dark and quiet night in the middle of nowhere – I mean rural Virginia. It is very cold here, 14° F. Before this trip, when we were packing our heavy winter clothing, I could not imagine being cold enough to have to wear them. (Who could even think about winter during 100° summers in California’s sunny Central Valley?) I have NEVER been this cold. Before this, I used to think that temperatures kept getting colder until a certain point, at which cold was simply cold. Does it really matter that it’s eighty below zero as opposed to ten below? I mean, how cold can you get? How silly of me! This type of cold, you wear more and more clothes, and it still feels like you’re wearing close to nothing! It is incredible how cold winter is!

          Anyway, it was tremendously cold when we woke up. We made our beds, ate breakfast, had family devotions, cleaned up, got ready to shower, and took turns showering in what we agree are the most amazing campground showers on this trip. Please visit my shower blog for the remarkable details. When all of us were clean, we packed up and got ready to go – only to find that everything was frozen. Lindsey’s hair still wet from the shower froze just on the short walk up the hill. Ben’s pant leg got wet somehow while he helped unhook Harvey, and by the time he got inside the RV, it was frozen stiff. The door was frozen shut, as were the blinds, the windows, several of the outer compartments, and our sewer connection! So we couldn’t empty our waste, which was a big problem. Even the windshield and the windows were frozen ON THE INSIDE‼ Mom and I heated some rags to try to melt it and clear the windshield. Eventually, we melted enough to wrench ourselves free of this frigid affair and got back on the road again. As we wound our way back through the road that seemed so scary and life-threatening last night in the dark, we gazed out, listening to Christmas music and enjoying the beautiful Virginia countryside as it whizzed by.

          Our first destination of the day was Luray Caverns. We had heard about these caverns in Pennsylvania while touring Penn’s Cave, with our tour guide, Dave in the Cave. He told us that an organist had hooked an organ up to the various stalactites and stalagmites in the cave which produced music like nothing else. Eager to learn more and hear this wonder for ourselves, we did our research and found the cave.

          So we arrived at the cave, had lunch in the parking lot, and headed to the place where the tours start to find that we were a little tardy for the 12:30 tour. We decided to try to join it anyway. Better late than never, right? Not really. As we ran to catch up, we passed several signs for the audio tour. Mom felt that we were missing out on a lot by trying to catch up to the tour already in progress, and we all agreed. Deciding to head back up the stairs and await the beginning of the next tour in the gift shop, we turned around. As we headed back, however, the lights suddenly went out all around us and we were in the cave, in complete darkness. We had been warned that the lights were on a timer and switched off automatically after a certain period of time. On our other cave tours, we had been taught the “Rule of 3’s” of caving – always carry three sources of light. All we had was the light from Dad’s camera and found that was not much light‼ As we groped our way back in the dark, Abby began to freak out and started crying. The stairs hadn’t seemed that far away when we turned back, but they were nowhere to be found in the utter darkness that now surrounded us. Luckily, after what seemed like an eternity, some unseen force flipped the lights back on and Abby bolted for the stairs that she could now see quite clearly. As we quickly followed her back up the stairs, we all breathed sighs of relief and then teased Abby for being so scared of the dark.

          While we waited for the next tour to start, we toured the Car and Carriage Caravan, part of our deluxe ticket package. It was a tour of the milestones in transportation, including authentically restored cars, carriages, coaches and costumes, dating from 1725 to 1941. The centerpiece of the collection is the 1892 Benz, one of the oldest cars in the country still in operating condition. Other highlights include an 1840 Conestoga Wagon, a 1908 Baker Electric, a 1913 Stanley Steamer, and Rudolph Valentino's 1925 Rolls Royce. It was a little disappointing to learn that a 1930s milk truck got much better mileage than our RV or our van. Also on display was a collection of license plates – “Presidential Plates”.  Each plate had two letters and a number. The letters were a President’s initials and the number what number President he was. Next to each plate was a photo of the President and a unique fact or quote by or about him. Dad was pretty impressed with the cars, but Lindsey and I preferred looking at the outfits of the era. We started planning what sort of collection or museum we would start. I think maybe someday I want to have a museum following the evolution of fashion through history, and Lindsey wants a wedding dress museum.

          Now it was time for our cave tour, so we proceeded over to the tour entrance again, received our audio tours and began our tour. Why an audio tour and a guide? We don’t know, we never quite figured that one out. Our tour guide was mechanical and unfeeling until we loosened her up with a few questions, and then she willingly shared additional information about the cave. The cave itself was amazing, with many formations both familiar and unfamiliar to us. Among the many highlights, we enjoyed seeing the Fish Market, a drapery formation resembling a storefront awning with fresh fish hanging from it. Also featured was Titania’s Veil, a calcite formation in the form of a bridal veil, Totem Poles, resembling the Native American artwork and Giant’s Hall, the largest room in the cave. Pluto’s Chasm featured Pluto’s Ghost, a large white calcite formation that we passed three times during our tour in the cave. Saracen’s Tent came complete with long thin drapery formations that appeared to be hanging textured bath towels and dangling strips of bacon. In addition, we saw the Double Column, formed by two stalagmites joined together; these are also called the bride and groom for the many weddings held in the caves. Dream Lake – Abby’s, Daddy’s, and Mom’s favorite – was a shallow pool which reflected the stalactites above it so perfectly that the reflections appeared to be stalagmites rising from the floor under the water. We also passed Fried Eggs, two neighboring stalagmites broken off that everyone rubbed for good luck until they wore down to almost nothing, now appearing like sunny-side up fried eggs.

          But the best part, located in the Cathedral, was the Great Stalacpipe Organ, the world's largest musical instrument. The crystals inside stalactites covering three and a half acres of the surrounding caverns vibrate, producing tones of symphonic quality when electronically tapped by rubber-tipped mallets. This one-of-a-kind instrument was conceived by Mr. Leland W. Sprinkle of Springfield, Virginia, a mathematician and electronics scientist at the Pentagon. He spent months crawling around the caves with fourteen English tuning forks to find just the right stalactites to produce the pitches needed for the organ. It has been called the greatest natural and scientific wonder in the world. And it was such magnificent music! As we listened to “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” reverberate through the vaulted ceilings, our entire tour group stood enthralled listening to the haunting melody and stunning chords resound throughout the great cavernous hall. Although Daddy was disappointed by the organ, to me, Martin Luther’s well-known hymn has never ever sounded that beautiful. It was grand. After that dramatic end to our underground tour, we headed back up the stairs, cruised the gift shop, and then headed out to the RV.

                Our next destination was Shenandoah National Park’s Skyline Drive, if it was no longer closed because of snowy and icy conditions on the roads. As Harvey cruised slowly but safely upward through the mountains (bravo to Mom’s driving), we listened to s’more Christmas tunes. The higher we rose, the skinnier and icier the roads became. But our visit to Skyline Drive was not to be. The roads were still closed to snow and ice. Ben remarked that it probably wasn’t worth the money to salt and plow Skyline Drive because of the scarcity of visitors that Shenandoah National Park receives in the winter. So instead, we drove back down the mountains and headed to a Walmart in Ruckersville, Virginia. Upon first arriving, we made use of the fading daylight by doing math “homework” with Daddy. As dusk settled, we dressed warmly and headed inside Walmart to shop and receive permission to boondock there for the night. After shopping, we walked back out to the RV, moved it to where the manager said we had to park, and prepared and enjoyed dinner. Then we cleaned up dinner and watched our first Christmas movie of the season – “Christmas with the Kranks”. Thoroughly entertained, but tired, we headed to bed in a relatively quiet Walmart parking lot.