Our first real trip with the van was a success. Minus the part where the speedometer didn’t work. We are still working with the guy we bought it from to get it fixed or replaced (and not with a used part that has over 220,000 miles on it!). We removed Zia’s short seat and moved the big seat up front. Packed up the back with our camping gear and headed northeast towards Cobleskill, New York to Howe’s Cavern.
*When we stopped for road drinks, Zia chose chocolate milk.
It was a really nice ride up there. Straight shot up I-88 towards Albany. We also played with the binoculars. Didn’t see anything out of the ordinary though.
Right off the exit to the camp ground, we found this.
Hard to believe something so interesting is 12 stories BELOW that site.
Twin Oaks camp ground was really easy to find and really nice.
We camped with Jimmy’s friends John and Hilary. They met us up there Friday night. When we checked in, the lady asked where we wanted to camp. Jimmy chose sites 82 and 83 because they were further away from everyone else. Turns out, they were the best sites in the whole place!! We loved it.
Sometimes, you have to get a new toy/game when going someplace so the littles don’t get too bored. I grabbed a ring toss game and it was a huge hit. Young and old!
Once we got everything set up, we relaxed for a few minutes and then headed to the store to get what we needed for the next few days of roughin’ it!
On the way back, we ran into this turkey running across the road.
When we got back, we got a nice fire started and cooked some dogs!
That was the best pile of wood for $5 anyone has ever seen. We never even used it all. The twigs were collected by us from right behind our site.
We had a few sparklers left over from the 4th of July so we decided to try them out again. They make me so nervous but the girls did great.
Of course, pretty much as soon as we lit the first sparkler the camp ground owner showed up to inquire about our friend’s arrival. She was really cool about it. She was just concerned that we had something bigger and said she was cool with the sparklers as long as we were safe about it.
After a crappy night’s sleep, holy smokes it was so cold, down in the 40’s we got up, dressed and had some donuts and decided to go for a walk. Sonyea started by riding her bike and Zia rode the scooter for a short bit but the roads were too rocky and full of ruts they were quickly abandoned. We parked them next to the trees on the side of the road and got them later.
We found this old bag hanging out in the tree. Pretty cool how she watches over the road.
Down by the lake, we played in the sand box, swing set and checked out the water.
We were watching a young man fishing and decided it was time to dip the hooks in the water ourselves. Hilary and I walked back up to the site (yes, uphill the whole way!) and then drove the van down with all our equipment. There was quite a bit of fish caught on this day!
Sometimes, the best way to catch fish is go back old school. A hook, a worm, some line and a STICK!
Hilary caught 6 fish that way.
I caught one fish, but it was an accident. It wasn’t caught in the mouth, the hook was snagged on it’s side. Grabbed it as I was reeling in the hook.
Zia tried but really didn’t want to do much of anything but reel in the line. She was pretty excited to try.
That guy tried so hard to catch a fish.
It didn’t take long for these two girls to fall in love with John. He really is good with kids and Sonyea and Zia ate it all up! Sometimes, it’s better to play with others when you are stuck with Mommy and Daddy only for so long.
The girls started to get cranky so it was time to head back to camp and grab a bite to eat and head up (or down, depending on your perspective) to Howe’s Cavern.
I saw the phone booth and of course thought of Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure!!
Right inside the door is this beauty. Pretty cool if you ask me. I used to watch the show American Chopper so it was really neat to see this in person. I think the most impressive part of the whole bike was the paintings.
After I saw that skull picture, I turned back around and looked at the lights itself. They really are just plain, ol’ lights inside. This is a pretty cool picture!!
Once you pay an arm and a leg to buy tickets for your family, you have some time to line up before the tour begins. We made the girls go to the bathroom because 90 minutes underground with no plumbing can be a challenge for little bladders. Zia made it through 75% if the tour before begging to go potty.
This is Mr Howe. He discovered the caverns and told us all about it. He also almost poked Sonyea’s eyeball out with that drum stick! She wasn’t even hanging over the fence, just standing a foot away from it and got poked right in the face. It could have been dangerous but since she was ok, it was laughable.
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He looked stinkin’ real too. Kinda scary really. He explained how one day he was walking the land checking on the cows. They were all huddled by a large pile of rocks. As he got closer, he noticed a huge cold draft coming up from the Earth. He got some rope and lowered himself down the hole and lo and behold, there’s the birth of the caverns. Over the years, the land has been sold and the original founding spot was sold to a concrete company who turned it into a quarry. The spot where the tour begins is actually the natural dead end.
And that’s where I lost the tour. Between the kids, taking pictures and trying to keep up with the tour, I didn’t hear a thing. Really, the tours aren’t worth it but you must take the tour to see the place.
Look, an orb. Must be a spirit!! HA! No. It was water. As soon as the tour started, it’s paralleled to the stream that carved out the cavern forever ago.
*one of the few times I got to see the tour guide. (I did tip her a dollar, I remember appreciating tips after my tours in North Carolina!)
*photobombed!
I saw this…
…and took a picture of it before the guide told us a story. (one of the few bits I did catch) I thought it looked like a mouse hanging from the ceiling. She told some silly story about a mouse being scared by something and then fell in the water and it was so cold it jumped up and then it got frozen to the ceiling.
Everyone’s favorite part about the caverns, the boat ride.
One of the first rules as the tour started, don’t touch and don’t climb. hehehe
They do weddings down there too. Pretty neat. There’s a spot carved out called the “bridal alter” so of course that’s where they do it. Totally turned it into a commercialize spot too with the lit up heart.
Inside the altar is this crocodile’s mouth.
Depending on who you talk to, you’ll see different things. One person saw Snoopy’s house, the other saw a giant penis. I will not rat out who saw what but I love the Peanuts. (what??)
One of the many times trying to catch up to the tour, little Miss Hot Body insisted on taking off her sweatshirt. Bear in mind, the caverns are a constant 52°F with a constant breeze! I had goosebumps heading into the winding way.
The very last part of the tour, taking you back to the elevators is man-made.
Back at the campgrounds, we hung out with some burgers and made some s’mores. Yummy!
Under the trees, as we started to lose sunlight, Hilary found “Fireman.”
We caught him up, and put him in a bottle with some air holes and got him comfortable. I decided to keep him. Bring him home and make him our pet. Fireman is an Eastern Newt. I’m a zookeeper for cryin’ out loud. I love reptiles/amphibians so why not, right?! The girls got excited. Couldn’t wait to get home and get his tank all set up. We even went so far as checking for another one. . . . Then, this Momma’s voice of reason kicked in. We can’t afford to buy bugs. We can’t afford to drive out of our way to get bugs. We don’t have the room to breed our own (which I would have no trouble doing if we had the proper room) and then I had to break the news to Sonyea. Had to convince her that letting him go was the right thing to do. He was better off in Nature where he could catch all the food he wanted. Make babies etc. Eastern Newts are not threatened, their numbers are high and stable so I would not have felt guilty about taking it until it got to the point where we couldn’t afford to keep it. Sonyea was heartbroken. She was a huge trooper and went along with letting him go. I let her do it and we said our “goodbyes” and “thank yous” for letting us check him out. She stood there for about 20 seconds before she lost it. She was so sad. So was I for getting her hopes up. Someday, I told her we’ll be able to afford to get some cool pets!
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Fast forward through a much warmer night, we woke up Sunday and got ready to head out. We packed everything up and found some more great creatures.
This Red-Backed Salamander was found under where our tent was pitched.
We grabbed him up long enough to take a few pictures!!
Then we found this gross millipede but it was super cool!!. It’s a Red and Black Millipede. Never in a million years did I ever expect to pick one up. I grabbed it in a cup first to take pictures then I thought, hell we’re in nature, take nature pictures. It was stuck to the cup and then I saw a flicker of it’s “eyes.” Wow, way cool, I had to take a picture. Turns out these things have long lost their eyesight but the structures are still there.
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Once packed up, we headed back to the pond to do some more fishing and running around before leaving.
Packed up and ready to head home.
Entered “diner” into the GPS and one of the first hits was a really great named place. We chose it ONLY for it’s name. Turns out it was AWESOME!!!
The Rubbin’ Butts BBQ!
This was place was awesome. It was a little place with indoor/outdoor seating. A/C inside where Jimmy begged to sit. The girls chose to sit outside and it was the best decision made! It was so nice. The food was AMAZING and I wish we had one close by. There was an error made and the guy at the counter said it was ok, just give him a great review on yelp.com so we did. I definitely recommend a trip to the Rubbin’ Butts BBQ if you are ever headed along I-88. Take the exit for Howe’s Cavern and head south along Rte 7. Just past Walmart on the left is the place. You won’t be disappointed!!
