Luray Caverns

So, the story is that some two guys were out doing some thing for some reason some time ago around the 1800's (we can't possibly remember all the details), and they noticed there was some cool air coming out of a small hole in the ground. They started digging around and they ended up in this cavern.

The cavern was filled with stalaGmites, which grow from the Ground up) and stalaCtites which grow from the Ceiling down, and other formations which looked like draperies, pop corn, and other fun stuff. I apologize for the quality of the pictures which do not give the caverns their credit due.

This is called Mirror Lake, and it takes a second to realize that the bottom is just a reflection of the top.

Here's Tia in one of the small archways. Back in the day, this cavern was filled with water and they actually had to canoe and lower their heads through this archway.

Ok, so this picture is out of sequence. You're supposed to look at the next picture first. There was this one other fella, who was very musically inclined. So, he put an organ in the caverns (see below). Then he went around with tuning forks, hitting the stalactites with small hammers to match each pitch. So, these little doohickeys that you see are all over this part of the cavern and they're all attached to this here organ you see beneath this. You play the organ and all these little hammers start pounding away at the stalactites and making great harmony.

Back in the 50s they used to have dances and other events in this room. Now, it's called the Wedding Room, because... well, I'm sure you can guess why.

Running the 5k

Well I'd like to apologize for the lack of Blogging that has been going on. As most of you are aware, we are training for the Rock n Roll Half Marathon, and so it was part of our training to do a 5k (this was a while back, as this Sunday we'll be tackling our 9 mile). Anyway, here's some of the fun.
Here we are hanging out before the race.

I don't know why we're each going in different directions, but I came in at 24 minutes and 48 seconds and Tia came in at 29 minutes 29 seconds. Not too shabby for a girl that hates to run.

After we finished we went on a bike ride through one of the Virginia Beach State Park Trails. They had all these indigenous huts and they spoke of how the Indians were hanging out before we came and did a little number on them (talk about "white guilt").

We did the 5k in a military base called Fort Story (the run was for Veterans and their families). Anyway, here's the view from inside the Fort. Isn't that amazing? I didn't have this kind of view when I was in the military. These kids are pampered nowadays. Of course, I also didn't have to be deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan where temperatures reach 120 degrees F. Not to mention, you know, the bullets.