it's a cool, comfortable 56 degrees

...In this cavern, which is where we went to on Saturday.  This is Bluff Dweller's Cavern, near Noel, Missouri.  Here's our little story of how this road trip came to be.

Seth's parents were going to go to Colorado last week.  Then, their air conditioner broke and alas, they had to cancel their trip.  Sammy still had a few days off from work, however and decided that Tulsa is the place to go! haha  (I really feel bad for them that they couldn't go to Colorado and had to come to one of the hottest spots in the USA right now.) We are really glad they came here though for the weekend because Sammy gave us the idea of going on a road trip.

So Saturday, we loaded up in the pick up and drove to Arkansas.  We were going to go to Old Spanish Treasure Cave near some small town in Northern Arkansas.  I had my trusty map on the iphone and lead us right to...

A hole in the ground, literally.  Seth pulled into the little area of parking and said, "Umm, are you sure you want to go here?"  We got out and Seth said, "This looks just like a scene out of Deliverance.  Well, I hadn't seen that movie, so I told everyone that we just needed to chill and check it out.  Luckily for Seth, the woman running it, who seemed nice enough, told us that a group of 17 children were coming out and we were welcome to join that group.  That scared me, so I said no thank you! While the boys, Sandy and I were in the bathroom, Seth met one of the tour guides who could have been cast for Deliverance and got to hear how at Halloween, he sometimes keeps people in the cave and lost maze for over 2 hours, heh, heh, heh. 

I think we all breathed a sigh of relief when we found out that another cavern was just 15 minutes away in Missouri.  I love how road trips always bring little surprises, don't you? :)

Bluff Dwellers Cave was beautiful on the outside. On privately owned land, the owner found and excavated a part of the cavern himself.  His family still owns it and his youngest daughter (now 81) runs it now.  It was very beautiful inside and the boys and I wore our jackets (I think because we could, you know?).  The cavern was welcome relief from the heat, for sure!

Here everyone is after the tour.  Already feeling hot again...

The boys also panned for gems, which was a lot of fun for them.  They "found" several gemstones from their purchased bag of sand. 

One more picture to help you imagine the coolness of the cavern.  Just two hours away, we might be going back sooner than later!  :) 

Thanks Nana and Pop for the fun weekend!!