The Caverns continue!

I suppose this isn't the greatest picture (Lou is the one in the red shirt), but I was trying to show in it how high the ceilings were in many parts of this place

This is something called a skilaktidite (I'm sure that I am butchering that spelling!), formed by minerals that drip down, harden, and eventually become hard rock. They asked us not to touch the active ones (the ones still forming and hardening), since the oils from our fingers turn them an ugly brown, but this was one inactive (done forming), so they told us that we could touch it if we wanted. Although it looks really slimy, it actually felt really neat - cold and smooth.

Here is Lou and the girls posing with the skilaktidite

We even got to take a boat ride along the underground river for part of the tour (this was our boat). There were no motors, and the tour guides just used long poles to push us along through the water - we felt like we were in some kind of Indiana Jones movie, especially the part where we had to turn around because we came up to a waterfall with a drop of about 200 feet!

The light parts of the rock that you see are the reflection of the electric lighting that was here and there throughout the caverns to enable us to see in the dark. These rocks look wet, but they're not, they're just really shiny!

Yes, more cavern pics...

Maria pretending to be scared...

This is a photo of part of the high walls and ceilings in the caverns - so creepy and cool looking!

Maria was so fascinated with this small tunnel in the wall (she was convinced there was something living inside)

She even got the nerve to climb up into it!

Maria and Mommy goofing off near the end of the tour...

The end of the caverns

The spot that Maria is standing on is known as "The heart of the caverns", and legend has it that if you stand on that spot, you will be married within a year, and that if you are already married, that you will be going on a second honeymoon within a year...with someone other than your current husband...

This is another one of those skilaktidite thingys...

This was the part of the caverns known as "the winding way", because it is just that - a narrow path through the caverns that twist and turns all over the place, with tight corners, and sometimes very low ceilings.

Okay, I don't know this guy, but I took this picture to show how low the ceilings got sometimes!

Here is Maria running through the last of the winding way - it was so much fun to go through!

We absolutely LOVED the caverns, and would recommend them to anyone in the area - talk about a unique experience! They were so beautful and absolutely amazing to see in person! Just another one of God's creations that just blows me away...

After the caverns

After we finished the tour, we had some lunch and headed off to see some other sites. We had found a map at the gift shops that showed some neat places to see in the area, and decided to check two of them out. The first was a Butterfly Conservatory, and the second was a place where you could "mine your own diamonds" (okay, we know there weren't going to be real diamonds there, but we still thought it would be fun for the girls). When we got the Butterfly Conservatory, we found out that it would cost us $30 to get in ($30 to look at butterflies?!), and that they would be closing in just an hour, so we decided to skip that one. And, to add insult to injury, we found out that the diamond mining place was going to be closing in an hour as well, and that because of our excursion to the Butterfly place, we were too far away to get there before they would close. Bummer. So, we consoled ourselves by stopping at a sweets shop and buying some amazing fudge...



Doesn't it look yummy? The flavors were chocolate caramel nut, orange creamsicle, strawberry cream, maple brown sugar, rocky road and serious peanut butter. I protested when Lou wanted to buy so much (over a pound!), but let me tell you, I sure wasn't protesting about eating it! Oh my goodness was it delicious!



Next we stumbled upon the Mohawk River, and since Lou just happended to have some fishing stuff in the back of the van, we decided to have a picnic dinner along the river while we did some fishing!

The girls watched as Daddy set up the poles...

...and they looked for fish while they ate their dinner (bagels, cheese, yogurt and carrots - all eaten separately, of course!)

When we were done eating, all of us took turns trying to get some fish (Here's Josephine helping Daddy to "organize" his tackle box). I was the only one to catch a fish, but alas, just as I was pulling it out of the water, it flipped off the line and swam away!

So that is the end of Day #4 or our staycation. Tomorrow we are off the Thunder Island!

Day #3 of the DeGaetano Staycation - let's stay local!

After two days of doing a good bit of driving to see some sites, we decided to make day #3 a bit more mellow - we stayed in Syracuse and did some fun things in the area. We started the day off with some good ole' mini golf...

The girls were enthralled - we get to wack a ball around with a club? Awesome!

Dad showed Maria how to putt...

...and then showed Josephine...

Unfortunately, Josephine was not interested in using any "technique", and preferred to just going around chopping at the ball tomahawk style (it was actually really funny looking!)

We had fun, but the girls pretty much lost interest about half-way through. Josephine started just running around, alternating between throwing the ball all over the place and dropping it in the hole by hand, all while yelling "Woo hoo!". Maria ended up walking around making bouquets with the weeds that were growing in random places. Ah, these girls - Lou and I didn't worry about it too much - we finished out the course while the girls did their thing - bottom line is that we went there to have fun, and fun was had by all!

Part 2 of Staycation Day #3 - Chuck E. Cheese!

After mini-golf, we had some lunch (Taco Bell for us and Wendy's for the girls - and let me tell you, now I remember why I almost never eat fast food - yuck!) and then headed off to Chuck E. Cheese - Maria has been wanting to go there for months, so she was so psyched!

The first thing the girls went for was the big play structure they had there - it was so cute to see them following each other around through the tunnels and laughing together!

My little animals!

Maria peeking out at us

Maria even got me to get in on the fun (is it me, or does it look like I have no eyebrows in this picture?)

Chuck E. Cheese made his appearance, and Maria joined in with him for a few dances!

All in all, although it certainly wasn't the Chuck E. Cheese of my childhood (do you guys remember that place - it was HUGE!), the girls knew no different, and they had a great time - the only hard part was getting them to leave!

More Chuck E. Cheese

Nothing like taking a ride next to a big plastic Chuck E. Cheese...

And a good round of the classic skee ball!

Maria and I rode on the virtual roller coaster (you sit in a big metal contraption that moves while you watch a video that someone took while riding a coaster), and although she thought it okay, I was left wishing I could go on the real thing - hopefully, by the end of this summer, I will have!

This mini-merry-go-round (the horses were pint-sized, as you can see) remained a favorite for Josephine the whole time we were there. She requested over and over to "ride horsies", and even got to the point where she would go running across the room and climb onto the thing herself everytime she saw it start up -crazy girl!