As always, the plan was to leave early Wednesday morning, like 5ish, in order to get a good 3 to 4 hours of driving time in before the kids wake up. We’re usually an hour or two late. We left around 9ish. It’s seems that the more children we add to this family, the more we run behind. It also seems the longer we unschool, the less we care about being late. We’re usually an hour or two late. We left around 9ish.
- A Cave? Oh sweet! Skylar is going to love this! He loves crystals and rocks and has been asking to go in a cave!
- A Cave? Oh dear. I hope Milo doesn’t get scared. He is a little afraid of new things and this might be especially dark.
- A Cave? Oh geez. I wonder if TJ will have to carry Milo through the cave?
- A Cave? Oh dear lord! These kids are REALLY pushing me out of my comfort zone. I don’t like caves! Can’t I just wait outside?
This is “cave bacon”. Apparently, Shenandoah caverns has the most realistic bacon formations in Virginia. Who knew? Seriously. I didn’t even know that cave’s made bacon at all.
This formation is one of my favorites. It looks like a castle at the top of a steep windy cliff. It looks like it would takes days or even weeks to reach it by foot. I wonder what awaits us at the top? A welcoming king? An evil sorceress? Maybe it’s abandoned and inhabited by friendly and mischievous little faeries! Or maybe it’s waiting for us to rule and return peace and prosperity to the kingdom!
They call this Rainbow Lake. You have to duck and walk into a tiny little space to see it. The colored lights give it this really cool effect. The floor is about 100 gallons of water. I love cave water, it is so still and peaceful that you wouldn’t notice it unless you stepped in.
Cave Kisses. Let me take this oppurtunity to tell you all about Cave Kisses. Little random drips of water randomly fall from the cave ceiling. At some point during the tour a woman noticed that she had been dripped on. “Those are Cave Kisses.” said the tour guide. “They are said to bring you good luck for the rest of your day”. Immediately, I went into a mode of disbelief. I didn’t get there on purpose. It just came to me. Still, I didn’t say anything. Skylar was bouncing around trying to get “kissed”. TJ was “kissed” on the forehead. I was “kissed” twice. The first time, I instantly felt feelings of ill fortune. The second, feelings of dread washed over me like waves at the ocean. As soon as I felt them, they were gone. We enjoyed the rest of the cave, took a tour upstairs in the building of a bunch of creepy animatronics, and then were on our way to North Carolina! It should have taken us about 6 hours to get to the conference. I couldn’t wait to get there and settle in.
About an hour or two into the home stretch I started to noticed the van was vibrating a little. I mentioned it to TJ. He noticed it to, but didn’t want to say anything. It wasn’t terrible. It felt like the tire was a little out of balance. However, I hadn’t noticed it before. Maybe the counter weight fell off? I’ve had that happen before. I remember hoping praying that the counter weight had fallen off. I remembered my first Cave Kiss. It was light and gentle. Not too wet. Not like that first inexperienced sloppy kiss you get in junior high from an over eager boyfriend.
We were headed downhill, so TJ hit the brakes a little. “Mrrrrrrrrrritiippppprrrrrrrdddd”. What was that? He tries again. “Mrrrrt – Mrrrrrrt – Mrrrrrrrtiiiiiippppppprrrrrddddd”. Shit. We’re not really slowing down much. “Mrrrrt – Mrrrrt”. As soon as we crossed the border into North Carolina, “Clunk – Ping – Pang – Clunk – Mrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt.” No f***ing way. The brake just fell off? We just had all four brakes and rotors done 3 days earlier to the tune of 500 bucks! “Mrrrrrrrrrt – Mrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt”. There’s a rest area ahead, I hope we can make it. Actually, I just hope we can slow down enough to park when pull in. I remember my second Cave Kiss about now. It was too wet. It was sloppy and uncomfortable. It dripped down my face. As we pulled into the rest area, the noise coming from the wheel was indescribable. We just about turned into a parking space when the wheel locked up and “Screeeeeeeeeeeech”. We got our nose into a parking spot. There she sat for the next 4 to 5 hours. The BattleVan was out of commission.
AAA didn’t help us out much. I guess we were too far out in the middle of freaking nowhere for a free tow. You know, it never ceases to amaze me how friendly southerners are. Yes, I’m generalizing a little a lot. However, I cannot tell you how many people came to us with their southern drawl to offer us whatever help we needed. One guy offered us the use of all his tools in his truck. Others offered a jump, a push, a cell phone etc. One man, a trucker, I forget his name, a nice older man, offered to get the trooper at the next weigh station even though he was over limit and avoiding weigh stations all day.
(this is what our window looked like before we erased it. the plan was to write “Live and Learn or Bust” instead as a joke. we never did get around to it.)
Picture this, our van almost totally blocking the entrance to the rest area, a baby tied to me in a wrap, Milo with his broken leg, Skylar bouncing a superball all around the parking and not even looking when he was chasing after it. TJ’s on the phone for the next few hours. I’m smiling. No… I’m wincing. I tried to make it look like a smile as much as possible. Skylar kept disappearing when I was tending to one of the other kids. He wanted to wander around the rest area. It was getting dark and I was not cool with that at all. He, obviously frustrated, perched himself on a cement wall far from the van, near a trash can, and said he wasn’t moving. I said “Please come hang out closer to us”. My nerves were beginning to show. I was starting to feel the stress and the foreboding nature of those damn Cave Kisses. After awhile I just blurted out, “Are you f***ing kidding me???”. Skylar grinned and said “Did you just swear at me?”. I look at him with tears beginning to well up (I didn’t let any fall) and said. “Yes. Yes I did.” He laughed, got up and went to the van. (I apologized later. That was sooooo the wrong thing to say.) At the hotel later on, I remember saying how raw my nerves felt. I felt like I had been stripped of my skin and any little thing was going to set off a stream of tears. I was so tired. The kids on the other hand, were soooo awesome! Phoenix barely made a peep through the whole thing. Milo watched Tom and Jerry in the DVD and explored the front seats of the van. Skylar really was able to occupy himself, even if it was scaring the crap out of me.
(the kids sitting on the curb. the trooper was directing traffic around our van. even with flashers on they still managed to line up behind our van wondering what we were doing. I’m glad we erased the window when we did. the trooper’s wife is a school teacher. I was so not in the mood for explaining.)
Anyway, even though we never made it to the conference on Tuesday as planned (and paid for) we managed to get a tow. The two truck driver and his wife were so nice. His wife says, “So your a homeschool teacher?” I take a deep breath, and say “Yes. Yes I am.” They brought us to the next exit and found us a Dodge dealership (The part we needed could only come from a dealership) and a hotel across the street. What are the chances that the Hampton Inn and the Dodge dealership we across the street from each other? The two truck driver only charged us 50 bucks. 50 bucks!!! (I believe the company was Independence Towing out of Mt. Airy, NC) The same tow in my town would have cost at least 150 bucks! He even went right into the hotel and told the desk people what happened and to “take good care of us”. In the morning, the Dodge mechanic (Patterson Chrysler Jeep Dodge) got us right in and on the road by lunchtime, even though there were a million cars ahead of us.
When we made it to the conference, everything was forgotten. It was all behind us. Seeing all the shiny, happy people everywhere really gave me my energy back. The kids were ready to play and explore. TJ and I were exhausted, but happily exhausted.
So, I’m not sure about Cave Kisses. It is possible that those Cave Kisses helped us out after the car broke down. But I’m not taking any chances. No more wet Cave Kisses for me.
Oh… and I promise Part 2 will be Shiny AND happy!
