Moaning Caverns

After the Mercer Caverns we followed signs to the Moaning Cavern. Discovered by gold miners in 1851, the Moaning Cavern is simply amazing! It's impossible to capture it's size on camera because there's nothing familiar to compare the formations to (like a tree or something.)

Below: "1920—Three developers of Moaning Cavern prepare to descend into the original cavern opening. The present-day entrance, located just a few feet away, was yet to be discovered under a layer of rocks." Can you imagine just climbing down into a big dark hole? Especially one that moans???

Here's the map. Moaning Cavern boasts to having the largest "room" in California. It's large enough to hold the Statue of Liberty. Also, see the stalactite I've circled? Well...let's climb down some stairs and I'll show it to you in person...

By the way, although the cave drops 410 feet, tourists are no longer allowed at the bottom because too much C02 has sunk down there. Where did it come from? Us. Breathing. Interesting.

There's the stalactite. Just imagine that it is over 20 feet long. That makes this cavern HUGE! And millions of years old.

Love these draperies. Simply amazing. They have been nick-named Cave Bacon.

Now we descend down the 100 foot staircase which was welded together in 1922 piece by piece from the bottom up. It is made of scrap metal from an ocean liner. The workmanship is excellent.

Below: The Chocolate Waterfall. "The Moaning Cavern gets its name from the moaning sound made by water dripping into small holes at the bottom of the "chocolate waterfall" flowstone formation, causing a drumming sound, which would echo off the cave walls and be carried by the wind out of the natural entrance of the cavern. That's how the cavern was found."

Looks kind of like a ghost. A very large, bulbous one...

Concerts are also held in the cavern. During the Christmas concert, Santa descends by rope. So if you want something interesting to do this holiday...this would probably be it. (Although, can you just imagine the strange memories it would give a young child? "I thought Santa came down the chimney...")

Thanks for coming. Now we have to climb back UP all those stairs...

Mercer Caverns

After lunch and on our way home, and on a whim, we followed road signs to the Mercer Caverns. It turned out to be pretty cool!

The caverns were discovered by happenstance on Sept 1st, 1885 when a gold prospector named Walter J. Mercer sat to rest from the heat under a bay tree near a limestone rock. He noticed grass moving near a hole in the ground and came to discover the caverns shortly thereafter. The next day Mercer purchased the land for a five dollar gold piece and started public tours that went down to the depth of 161 feet, on September 12th. See the formation behind me that looks like a thumb? It's called "Simons Thumb." Named after the children's game, Simon Says. This time Simon says, "Thumbs up!"

Below Left: This type of formation is called a drapery. It's thin and hangs like a drape. There are a set of draperies in the Caverns that Mercer liked to play as if they were a xylophone. However, he accidentally broke one, realizing that these formations are entirely more fragile than he had imagined. Below Right: Speleothems. "Formed by the precipitation of water, the majority of cave decorations in the Caverns are Speleothems. The term is derived from the Greek speleos for caves and thema meaning deposit."

Although the Mercer Caverns still remain on private property today, the Caverns themselves are federally protected. The public is not allowed to touch anything. To do so would mean a $1,000 fine. But picture taking is good enough for me! There were some very interesting shapes down there.

Below: "Aragonite is a very rare and unusual frost-like white crystal which grows out from the walls and hangs from the ceilings in large delicate sprays. The Aragonite formations found at Mercer Caverns are some of the largest arrays found anywhere in the world. In 1900 a display of the rare Aragonite Flos Ferri was awarded the grand prize at the Paris World's Fair."

Below is a side view of the caverns. See the tree? That's the entrance. The caves are like hallways in many areas, allowing the public to closely view some of the formations. The tour is quite fun as are some of the formations. Including some that look like straws, meat, poultry, animals, skull etc. And here I am standing at the entrance which is right under that bay tree.

(If you want to visit the Mercer Caverns they are in Calaveras county, about 5 miles from Angels Camp.) Want to know more or see more pictures? Click here.

Small Town, Big Taste

After visiting (and tasting) the Big Trees we were starving and ready for some real food. Instead of driving to a place we were familiar with, we decided to try a hole-in-the...er...hill. So stopped at Bistro 49 which I noticed in a little town just outside of the Redwoods.

We picked our own seat next to the big window so we could people watch, (and get good lighting for photos :) Doesn't that look delish?

Everything was homemade. The buns were hot from the oven, the sauces were from scratch, even the ketchup. It was very yummy.

I'm always nervous to try something new, I like to like my food you know? But hey, in the end, it's always worth the experience.

Calaveras Big Trees

Just a couple of hours away from Placerville reside the Calaveras Big Trees. Really, that's what they're called. If you get lost trying to find them, just ask: "Where are the Big Trees?" Love it.

These are the Redwoods that are short but VERY big around. You look up expecting them to go on forever...but they sort of just stop like someone lopped off the top.

Below: Adam decides to taste the tree. Bleck. He was spitting for quite a while. It's that chemical, Tanin. Bitter, bitter, bitter. (Below right: sap from the sugar pine. I asked Adam to taste that one for me, surely it would be sweet. He refused.)

The bark is hairy and soft.

Below is the Mother of the Forest. She's quite huge and such a sad sight to come upon. "In 1854 promoters stripped the bark (which of course killed it) for a "mammoth tree" exhibition and shipped the pieces east. First to New York, then London. The reassembled outer tree trunk delighted crowds and convinced the skeptical public that the Sierra's big trees actually existed." (Of course John Muir was outraged, which eventually lead to the protection of the Redwood forests.)

There are other awesome attractions here, but I'll let you discover them.

ABOUT REDWOODS Redwood forests once covered large parts of Europe, Asia, and North America, but ice-age glaciers and changing climates spared only THREE small areas of these majestic trees. The Coast Redwoods, grow along the coast of California and southern Oregon (these are awesome and my favorite). Inland, the Giant Sequoia climb Sierra Nevada slopes (where these photos are taken). And the third group are in a remote part of China, and are smaller and shorter than the first two groups. So, dare I say...if you are ever in Northern California (or China) these are something you should not miss.

Lazy American

The day after arriving in California, we convinced the parental units to have lunch up at the lazy part of the famous American River. (Natalie and Mo went there a few weeks before...she might have pics to share too...)

Then we all waded into the FREEZING water to people watch. This part of the river is slow, and where a lot of the passing water sportsman decide to take a dip before heading to the next set of rapids around the corner. You can hear their screams of shock, "It's cold!" from the bank. And it was cold!

We noticed a new sport...these guys STAND and go down the rapids. I forget what it's called.

After people watching—we decided to get in; didn't last long though. My whole body felt like a headache...that's how cold it was.

Next, we wandered up and down the bank and had the brilliant idea of climbing around in the prickly bushes—in bare feet—to gather the juicy ripening wild black berries. These berries grow all over the area...including part of Mom and Dad's backyard. I am jealous.

We took our little treasure home, strained it, and used the juice in a frozen dessert called Pretty Pink Perfection. And it was. (You would have LOVED it Stephanie.)

It was a good, lazy afternoon on the American River.

The Master at Work

I consider myself lucky. Whenever I go home I get to handle my Mother's lovely hand quilted blankets. Ooh, and ahhh at her most recent work and talk about the technique and history of most of them. She's been having me photograph many of her baby quilts to sell on Minelolly. Last time we visited I realized I don't have any photos of Mom actually working on them. So I seized the opportunity.

A few of the many samples from this visit:

Mom says the one below makes it on her list of favorites.

There is always a quilt on. Always. I love you Mom.