Head Caveman! Plus Waffauges!
Yesterday was my first caving expedition of the season. The ski shop has been closed for a couple weeks and school had been getting to me a little more than usual; so when my boss Jeff called me up and asked if I'd like to take a family into the cave I was more than willing. I spent the night tossing and turning in my bed, I ended up not sleeping at all that night, and after a few futile attempts at calling some people (*cough!* Megan!) I just drank some energy drinks and hoped that the day would go over well. Normally when I haven't slept I'll call work and let them know that I'm not well enough, but the cave is different. There's just something about the cave that wakes me up. Must be the underground stream that's on average 40 degrees. Got to High Mountain Expeditions around 9ish and helped Jeff inventory the gear and get everything set up. We were suposed to meet the family in Elizabethton, TN (about 10 miles or so from the cave) at 11 so Jeff, always the overplanner, drove me and all of the gear in his truck down scary curvy 7 mile road and up through the beautiful Tennesse Valley until we got to Elizabethton at...10am. Once he realized how early we were we decided to get some breakfast. I kept getting a lot of looks from the people at Burger King because I was already in my caving clothes (cammies and combat boots) all the while sporting my gold plated Elvis sunglasses. Now, I haven't eaten at a BK in ages, and I have to ask wtf is up with their breakfast meals. French Toast Sticks? Yeah okay that sounds cool I guess, but a Frenchtoast Sausage egg BISCUIT? wtf?! So I came up with my own breakfast idea, maybe BK will buy it: WAFFAUGES. Waffle-shaped sausages dipped in honeymaple syrup and butter!
Anyways, we met the family of five, mom dad and three teenagers, two guys and a girl and took them out to the cave. They were from Florida and had been doing horseback riding and whitewater rafting the whole week and this cave was the next thing on their agenda. I love taking families in more than I do big groups of campers. Campers tend to get dragged into caving while the families WANT to go. They said they wanted to get as muddy as possible, so Jeff and I took threm through every nook and cranny that we could think of. Four and a half hours later (and a few close calls, one time in particular where the dad almost fell and cracked his head before I did some weird backwards tackle to save him) we dragged ourselves out of the cave muddy, cold and exhausted. The dad ended up tipping Jeff and I $40 each and we went on our seperate ways. He took his camera into the cave though, and has an active blog so if you want to check out some of the pics (including a couple of ol' me!) go over to http://www.jeffandsons.com
I must say, this summer is going to be great. I'm Head Cave guide now (Or as my mom likes to say, Head Caveman) so I'll definitly have some money for August. What's happening in August you ask? Myself and a couple friends are going to the Dominican Republic baby! Woo!
Anyways, we met the family of five, mom dad and three teenagers, two guys and a girl and took them out to the cave. They were from Florida and had been doing horseback riding and whitewater rafting the whole week and this cave was the next thing on their agenda. I love taking families in more than I do big groups of campers. Campers tend to get dragged into caving while the families WANT to go. They said they wanted to get as muddy as possible, so Jeff and I took threm through every nook and cranny that we could think of. Four and a half hours later (and a few close calls, one time in particular where the dad almost fell and cracked his head before I did some weird backwards tackle to save him) we dragged ourselves out of the cave muddy, cold and exhausted. The dad ended up tipping Jeff and I $40 each and we went on our seperate ways. He took his camera into the cave though, and has an active blog so if you want to check out some of the pics (including a couple of ol' me!) go over to http://www.jeffandsons.com
I must say, this summer is going to be great. I'm Head Cave guide now (Or as my mom likes to say, Head Caveman) so I'll definitly have some money for August. What's happening in August you ask? Myself and a couple friends are going to the Dominican Republic baby! Woo!