@Kyeh yes, I actually like Nebraska. A nice state to drive through and stop in. Lincoln has a cool history. And don’t forget Omaha (Peyton Manning’s play word). North Platte has a huge railroad yard if you are into that.
One of my finds (because it had an RV park open all year) was the Cabela’s original main site in Sidney, Nebraska. West side of the state. I think the store and adjoining campground are still open. But the corporate offices which employed a lot of people closed when they were acquired by Bass Pro Shops. Last I was through there, a lot of discussion about what some people were going to do next. Not a lot of options in the heartland.
EDIT just remembered my relatives in Denver area said Cheyenne is booming. It’s only about 1-2 hours West from Sidney. Seem to be a lot of companies there and cheaper (at the moment) houses and rent than Denver area.
@pmarin I’ve never spent any time in Nebraska but that ad was effective - it made me curious to see some of those things (and I’ve always wanted to see Carhenge! And view the Sandhill cranes!)
I’m not surprised at people moving to Cheyenne. No state income tax is appealing for a lot of people.
@f00l@Kyeh@pmarin Nebraska is not as bitterly frigid as Montana, but it’s not much less frozen than South Dakota, and it’s farther north than Kansas. I’ve been in Kansas in February and March with blowing snow drifted along the highways. Nebraska would be worse, so I have no burning desire to go there and verify the difference. My S.O. grew up in South Dakota, and does not have fond memories of the winter weather conditions.
@f00l@Kyeh@pmarin Clearly your relative had never been to northern MN in the winter.
Cambodian refugees who got off the plane from the Philippines (dressed for weather there, not MN) got off the plane in the middle of winter in ST. Paul/Minneapolis (a resettlement area during the Vietnam war and beyond through 1993) called that place the “Cambodian refrigeratation project”. I can’t imagine getting off the plane in flip flops and it is 10 below outside.
Don’t remember if it was then or at Meramec or at Carlsbad, but there was one thing i’ll never forget:
The guide was telling us how to get stalactite vs stalagmite correct, think of chorus girls and pesky bugs:
“When the mites go up, the tights go down.”
@phendrick@tinamarie1974 I always remembered by the “tites” hang down, as they inevitably do (hint: remove the “e”). And the “mites” are the other ones.
@tinamarie1974 Had one HS teacher that made such an impression on me that i tended to emulate a lot of his practices when i was teaching college level.
On one occasion a student who was a constant cut-up interrupted with something that was particularly moronic and got hoots and groans from the class. The teacher said with a smile, “Don’t laugh at him, PRAY for him”, in a jovial voice." (This was a diocesan school.) The whole class broke up over that.
My first cave thing was with my parents about 50 years ago, at Oregon Caves. It was very cool and I became fascinated with caves, and the history and geology.
Since then, been on a bunch, but not recently. Never did the full adventure spelunking thing. But at Ape Cave by Mt St Helens in WA, you descend into it with nice stairs, but after that you are on your own. Bring a light and another for backup. Technically it is a lava tube, not a geologic cave.
@pmarin
Had a chance to go through a lava tube when we were in/on Hawaii recently. That’s some fascinating stuff right there! The geology of the big island is amazing.
I remember visiting DeSoto caverns (now called Majestic caverns) in Sylacauga where they had a stalactite that hung down in one of the walkways that was right at forehead height. The guide called it “the stone of many names” due to the utterings of inattentive tourists who had smacked it with their noggin.
I hiked down Lava River Cave (a lava tube near Bend OR) many years ago. It was a hot July day and I was dressed in shorts and a tee shirt. The tube is about a mile long. Once I got to the point where I needed to bend over to continue, I was shivering pretty hard from the drop in temperature, so I turned back.
Interesting to check out, but not so much that I would want to go again.
I also went on a tour of Waitomo Caves in New Zealand. There was a walking portion, then a trip on a boat. The boat stops in a big high-ceiling cavern and they turn off the lights revealing glow worms on the ceiling (actually larva). Pretty interesting.
The only caves I remember (if they were even caves@) were at the Ghost Town in Barstow – but all I really know is they had mule rides and various rocks that glowed under a black light display…
I’ve seen some in the USA and with one we’d (leading students) sleep in the entrance sharing it with mice. In the UK we (again leading students) would rappel into one and cave, then come out another entrance, also spending the night in there. There were several others we’d take kids into as well. In the waters around the Brittish and USA Virgin Islands there are some caves on the edge of the ocean. We’d take boats inside (watching the tide times so we could get out in time), getting out of the boats in some areas. Some caves are really beautiful.
I’ve been to Carlsbad twice now, and I plan on making a third visit with better lighting gear. That’s probably going to be a “next year” trip. My S.O. found a budget-price very quirky motel on the south side of the town of Carlsbad, and we’d cheerfully stay there again.
@werehatrack I think we’ve been to that hotel. Wasn’t our choice as my brother (lives in ABQ) made the reservations, but it turned out OK. Any negatives to the quirkiness (I don’t recall any) are far overshadowed by Carlsbad! I just wish the idiots who have no intention to follow directions to keep still and quiet during the bat flight would have the decency to leave on their own…
Road trip!
KuoH
@kuoh
Great movie
@kuoh I’d much rather visit Mammoth Cave than order an IRK, I can tell you that much. (And I’ve never been to Mammoth Cave.)
I predict someone will get tickets to the cave tour in the next IRK.
@ItalianScallion The vanishingly small possibility of that outcome is not enough to get me to order one under the recent rule formats.
@ItalianScallion
I want the entire cave system in my next IRK.
Way to own it!
Kinda makes me think of this
@ybmuG Love it.
@ybmuG
I’m very willing to choke on that coffee
Also similar to the Nebraska tourism ads (now discontinued, sadly!)
@Kyeh yes, I actually like Nebraska. A nice state to drive through and stop in. Lincoln has a cool history. And don’t forget Omaha (Peyton Manning’s play word). North Platte has a huge railroad yard if you are into that.
One of my finds (because it had an RV park open all year) was the Cabela’s original main site in Sidney, Nebraska. West side of the state. I think the store and adjoining campground are still open. But the corporate offices which employed a lot of people closed when they were acquired by Bass Pro Shops. Last I was through there, a lot of discussion about what some people were going to do next. Not a lot of options in the heartland.
EDIT just remembered my relatives in Denver area said Cheyenne is booming. It’s only about 1-2 hours West from Sidney. Seem to be a lot of companies there and cheaper (at the moment) houses and rent than Denver area.
@pmarin I’ve never spent any time in Nebraska but that ad was effective - it made me curious to see some of those things (and I’ve always wanted to see Carhenge! And view the Sandhill cranes!)
I’m not surprised at people moving to Cheyenne. No state income tax is appealing for a lot of people.
@Kyeh @pmarin
A relative spent time somewhere in northwest Nebraska during World War II
Even though he later spent time in other northern places, he said that winter was the coldest his ass had ever been
@f00l @pmarin Really! I didn’t know it got that cold.
@f00l @Kyeh @pmarin Nebraska is not as bitterly frigid as Montana, but it’s not much less frozen than South Dakota, and it’s farther north than Kansas. I’ve been in Kansas in February and March with blowing snow drifted along the highways. Nebraska would be worse, so I have no burning desire to go there and verify the difference. My S.O. grew up in South Dakota, and does not have fond memories of the winter weather conditions.
@f00l @Kyeh @pmarin Clearly your relative had never been to northern MN in the winter.
Cambodian refugees who got off the plane from the Philippines (dressed for weather there, not MN) got off the plane in the middle of winter in ST. Paul/Minneapolis (a resettlement area during the Vietnam war and beyond through 1993) called that place the “Cambodian refrigeratation project”. I can’t imagine getting off the plane in flip flops and it is 10 below outside.
Been there, done that.
I must have gone on a different Mammoth Cave tour. I got lots of pictures, but I missed out on the regret.
@hamjudo Ditto. But i was pretty young then. Maybe i had yet to learn what regret was.
@hamjudo @phendrick that’s why we come here
Don’t remember if it was then or at Meramec or at Carlsbad, but there was one thing i’ll never forget:
The guide was telling us how to get stalactite vs stalagmite correct, think of chorus girls and pesky bugs:
“When the mites go up, the tights go down.”
@phendrick my ecology teacher told us to hold tight so we dont fall. Bet Mr Boyer would be shocked that I remember his silliness all these years later
@phendrick @tinamarie1974 I always remembered by the “tites” hang down, as they inevitably do (hint: remove the “e”). And the “mites” are the other ones.
@phendrick @pmarin @tinamarie1974
I learned it as:
stalaCtite = Ceiling
stalaGmite = Ground
Ain’t mnemonics great‽‽‽
@tinamarie1974 Had one HS teacher that made such an impression on me that i tended to emulate a lot of his practices when i was teaching college level.
On one occasion a student who was a constant cut-up interrupted with something that was particularly moronic and got hoots and groans from the class. The teacher said with a smile, “Don’t laugh at him, PRAY for him”, in a jovial voice." (This was a diocesan school.) The whole class broke up over that.
My first cave thing was with my parents about 50 years ago, at Oregon Caves. It was very cool and I became fascinated with caves, and the history and geology.
Since then, been on a bunch, but not recently. Never did the full adventure spelunking thing. But at Ape Cave by Mt St Helens in WA, you descend into it with nice stairs, but after that you are on your own. Bring a light and another for backup. Technically it is a lava tube, not a geologic cave.
@pmarin
Had a chance to go through a lava tube when we were in/on Hawaii recently. That’s some fascinating stuff right there! The geology of the big island is amazing.
I remember visiting DeSoto caverns (now called Majestic caverns) in Sylacauga where they had a stalactite that hung down in one of the walkways that was right at forehead height. The guide called it “the stone of many names” due to the utterings of inattentive tourists who had smacked it with their noggin.
I hiked down Lava River Cave (a lava tube near Bend OR) many years ago. It was a hot July day and I was dressed in shorts and a tee shirt. The tube is about a mile long. Once I got to the point where I needed to bend over to continue, I was shivering pretty hard from the drop in temperature, so I turned back.
Interesting to check out, but not so much that I would want to go again.
I also went on a tour of Waitomo Caves in New Zealand. There was a walking portion, then a trip on a boat. The boat stops in a big high-ceiling cavern and they turn off the lights revealing glow worms on the ceiling (actually larva). Pretty interesting.
@macromeh That last part gives me some Pitch Black vibes.
KuoH
The only caves I remember (if they were even caves@) were at the Ghost Town in Barstow – but all I really know is they had mule rides and various rocks that glowed under a black light display…
I’ve always wanted to go on cave tours. There’s really not any close by in MI that I’m aware of for a day trip.
I’ve seen some in the USA and with one we’d (leading students) sleep in the entrance sharing it with mice. In the UK we (again leading students) would rappel into one and cave, then come out another entrance, also spending the night in there. There were several others we’d take kids into as well. In the waters around the Brittish and USA Virgin Islands there are some caves on the edge of the ocean. We’d take boats inside (watching the tide times so we could get out in time), getting out of the boats in some areas. Some caves are really beautiful.
I’ve been to Carlsbad twice now, and I plan on making a third visit with better lighting gear. That’s probably going to be a “next year” trip. My S.O. found a budget-price very quirky motel on the south side of the town of Carlsbad, and we’d cheerfully stay there again.
@werehatrack I think we’ve been to that hotel. Wasn’t our choice as my brother (lives in ABQ) made the reservations, but it turned out OK. Any negatives to the quirkiness (I don’t recall any) are far overshadowed by Carlsbad! I just wish the idiots who have no intention to follow directions to keep still and quiet during the bat flight would have the decency to leave on their own…
I’ve always wanted to go to Mammoth Caves but haven’t yet. Now I know it’s regrettable I won’t go.
/showme disappointed Mammoths exploring a cave.
@OnionSoup Unfortunately they explored the wrong cave.
KuoH