We had been watching the hurricane
coverage closely. While we were safe in Kentucky, Michael was heading
near our part of the state and I was figuring out when it was safe to
head home. One of the premier attractions for Kentucky is Mammoth cave. It is called Mammoth because it is the largest know cave complex with over 412 miles mapped and no end in site.
We headed
over in the morning and bought tour tickets. I had tried to buy them
the night before but the website would not sell. I asked and was told
that recent web changes were causing problems for many. In the end it did not matter as we got the tour and time we wanted.
They bus you a few miles to a cave entrance and then you walk about .75 miles including 500 steps. It is done over 2 hours. They rate it as strenuous but we found it quite easy. The cave is cool at about 55 degrees F year round. We had done some caves in Australia and we both walked away thinking the Australian caves were more interesting and better looking. The tour groups have up to 110 people so the sheer size makes the tour a bit unwieldy. Our guide was very good though so it was still a fun experience.
There is a bat disease in the caves so on the way out you need to shampoo your shoes by walking over a squishy mat. We then took a walk and went down to the historic entrance which was first used in 1816. Strange to think that this has been a tourist attraction for over 200 years.
Once we were suitably caved out, we headed out making a quick stop for pizza and a sub. Returning to our hotel we watched some Hurricane coverage. We have made several day trips to Apalachicola and it was sad to see the flooded downtown. We had enjoyed strolling the waterfront and now it was under several feet of water.
On the bright side the plans I had been
making were looking good for a late morning departure. I was still not
sure how far West we would need to divert, when it would clear enough to
depart and what airports would not be available for fuel stops due to
storm damage.
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