Longhorn Caverns (Marble Falls, TX) – August 2010

LONGHORN CAVERNS – 5 AUGUST 2010

MORE DESCENDING INTO THE DEPTHS OF THE EARTH … UM, TEXAS

Longhorn Caverns had been on my list to explore for a little while now, and as far as I knew, it was the only cave system in the area I hadn’t been in yet.  There’s a cave system in Sonora, Texas, which is like two to three hours west of San Antonio.  The problem with that is, there’s nothing else out there I wanted to see on the way, so it would be a long trip for a short item.

Nestled up in Marble Falls, Longhorn Caverns was similar in that vein.  Marble Falls isn’t really far to go from northwest Austin—southern Cedar Park area, it’s just there wasn’t much else up there for me to see.  I’d already been to the Burnet Air Museum (back in May 2008), and the time wasn’t conducive to make a side trip over to Longhorn.  As this week was a staycation where I wanted to make day trips (and not spend a lot of money, after the expensive but fun Turks & Caicos visit a few months prior), I wanted to find stuff to do which would get me out of the house.  The time seemed right to finally visit Longhorn Caverns.

Unlike the other caves in the area that I visited, this is actually a state park.  There’s still an admission fee to get in, which goes to maintain the property, but there’s also some old homestead buildings and picnic areas in the area.  The entrance to Longhorn Cavern was a cave mouth down a small slope.  At some point in the past, a stone staircase had been built to allow entry to it.  The tour guide explained that while other cities have “movies in the park” or other type of civil gatherings, they had “concerns in the cave.”  Bands would set up inside the cave and play during the summer months when it was really hot out.

That comment made me various curious, the idea of large numbers of people in the caves at once.  I asked the tour guide if this was a “dead cave.”  His snarky response was “Caves are made from rocks, and rocks aren’t living.”  To clarify the statement, I asked “Wouldn’t the large numbers of people coming in affect the growth of the cave?”  Another snarky response followed, this time of “Rocks don’t grow.  Learn some Geology.”  Ok, something I just can’t let alone.  Someone asking a genuine question and getting a smart-arsed answer is one of them.  As a tour guide, you should have at least some knowledge about the place you’re showing people.

I tried asking a couple different questions, in order to allow him the opportunity to answer.  The guide wasn’t much older than me, certainly mid-40s I’d guess, but he reminded me of the guide in the caves of WonderWorks (in San Marcos), who also didn’t like people who obviously knew about caves asking questions.  Eventually, I was able to pry information out of him, but only because a grey-haired gentleman standing next to me asked some similar questions.  We were told this cavern was still formed by a combination of earthquakes and water action, but this cave had never been sealed off during its life.  He said there would be some formations present.  Thank you.  You couldn’t fucking say that in the first place?  Jackass.

INSIDE THE CAVES

Once we descended the stone staircase, we came into the entry room.  We were told the caves were named after the cows which frequented the area, as well as the “burnt orange” color the rocks were.  Ok, the first part I’ll believe, but I consider the second a little unlikely.  Does that mean if there were caverns out by College Station they’d be called “Aggie Caves”?  I don’t think so.  Here, the floor was paved over a bit to allow large groups of people to stand around, and we could see areas which had been carved a bit to make things a bit bigger.

Past the entry chamber, we were taken on a walk around all the passageways which made up the caves.  All commercial caves have lights set up in order to allow the tourists to see, and this one was no different.  What was interesting was I captured a trick of the light.  Obviously my camera didn’t move, as everything in the show was crystal clear, but somehow a long snake-like orange light appeared.  Perhaps it was an ancient spirit trapped that was trying to suck out the soul of the person wearing such an ugly-colored shirt.  Unlikely, but we should call T.A.P.S. just in case.  The picture also showed nicely the rock formations in the cave which gave clues to its origin.

The walking tour went down these corridors, where the smoothness of the ceiling showed how this was once an ancient sea floor.

Although other areas had a rippling effect on the ceiling, which was almost if the waves had been frozen in the rock.  Some of these formations were caused by gas escaping from the rocks, and it wearing away on softer parts of the rock above it, thus creating the rippling effect.  Either way they were formed, still nice to look at.

With any cave pictures you take, you want to capture the natural beauty as much as possible, but you also want to get something in there for a size reference.  A shot could look impressive, until you inform the viewer they were seeing a crack only a foot high.  Commercial caves have hand rails on their pathways which are pretty convenient to use.  This allows a viewer of the pictures to get some idea of the immense size of the caverns, and anyone with claustrophobia enough of a pause to realize how many tons of rock are above them.

One thing which was nicely different about this cave (as opposed to the other ones I’d been in) was there were minerals embedded into the walls.  These crystal formations are pretty, but have no wealth value.  They would cause the light of the guide’s flashlight to make sparkles as we walked by.  Made you think about how diamonds and other precious stones look in their nature state before we rip them out of the ground.

One of the last things we saw was what they described as the “chimney.”  This was a cylinder-like cave that went up about a hundred feet which used to serve as a roost for a local bat population.  While the bat population has long since moved on, the telltale signs of their presence remained.  The black marks on the rock come from thousands of dirty little bat feet gripping the formations over a long period of time.  It’s another example of the oils on the skin of humans can damage the formation in a living cave.

This had been the last set of caves in the Austin area that I knew of which I hadn’t visited yet.  Compared to all the other caves I’d been too, this rated only slightly better than WonderWorks in San Marcos.  While I’m glad I went to see the sights for myself, it’s not a place where I’d be hurrying back to anytime.  If you’re in the Marble Falls area, then it makes a good side excursion, but I wouldn’t recommend making a specific trip for this.

More information can be found at:  www.longhorncaverns.com

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Witte Museum (San Antonio, TX) – August 2010

Tuesday, 3 August 2010

WITTE MUSEUM

Named for local businessman Alfred G. Witte, the Witte Museum wasn’t that far from the San Antonio Zoo, it was logical to hit both of these in one day.  The Witte primarily focuses on South Texas heritage, as well as some natural history and science.  One of the temporary exhibits (called “Dinosaurs Unearthed”) was all dealing with dinosaurs, and that was the main thing I wanted to check out.  I school group had just arrived right before I did, and was glad all these elementary-grade kids went to other areas first.

“Dinosaurs Unearthed” had some animatronic critters that could be controlled by pushing some buttons on a panel.  It consisted of making tails wag, limbs move, and jaws snap.  There were lots of fossils, and a few skeletons, but the most interesting part of the exhibit was some life-sized model of feather-covered dinosaurs.

Recent paleontological evidence showed the dinosaurs weren’t the scaly bastards they first appeared to be.  Being warm-blooded and very active, information suggests these creatures were covered with a coat of feathers (much like the modern birds which descended from them).  These feathers were fine narrow structures, like the hair that mammals have.  As we’ve seen hair doesn’t fossilize very well, that would also show why we’ve never found this before.  I guess we won’t really know for sure until we either warm up the time machine or finally succeed in cloning them like (like in Jurassic Park).

Now no matter where I go, I usually encounter some interesting people.  Here was no different.  After I’d had some fun making the animatronic dinos move, and had stepped aside to allow some young people to do so, an older gentlemen standing next to me and commented “You know these things are fakes.”  No, I thought these were real live critters.  I knew what he meant, so I took the bait because I wanted to hear his opinion.

The man went on the standard argument of how carbon dating is flawed and not very accurate, ignoring how it’s a scientific method which was proven to be accurate on items of known dates.  He also mentioned the way the tectonic plates have moved, and been thrown upward, so there’s no way to be able to tell actual dates of things.  Well, basic geology has also answered question by looking at the sedimentary rocks in the area or on the global level.

I didn’t give a lot of answers, but asked him more questions to get him to support his point.  As he was talking, I noticed one of the security guards had started to step closer to the man, so I got the impression this man was a regular fixture that accosted other patrons.  The guard noticed that I saw him, and then backed off a bit, as it was clear that I wasn’t being bothered.  The gentleman spoke cleanly in a calm manner, but he continued to make a circular argument that science was “wrong” because he’d found other information which disapproved it.  Okay, not everyone can remember specific facts, but give me a bone that I research myself.

The gentleman commented the best evidence was on his friend’s ranch there were dinosaur tracks in hard fossilized mud with human footprints next to it.  Great, where is it?  Can I see them?  His response it because it’s private land, no one’s allowed on there, but he assured me some “scientists” had confirmed the information.  I’ll give him that maybe someone doesn’t want people to tromp around on his land, but what city is it near?  I told the man that I’d enjoy reading the studies about this, and knowing at least the township this is in would allow me locate the studies.  Other than “out in west Texas somewhere” was all the location he could give me.  That pretty much confirmed this was just a crack-pot.

Now it was my turn.  I asked him if he’d seen the dinosaur tracks near Cedar Park.  He had no idea what I was talking about.  I told him that off 183 (north of the 1431 intersection) there two sets of tracks in the fossilized mud.  [I found this by reading a footnote in the Community Impact back in August 2009, and drove up one morning to find them.]  I had the pictures which I’d taken with my phone.  I showed him the pictures, and informed him what I’d found.

I let him know he could park near a bridge, and walk upstream (westward) about a mile, and where the river starts to make a turn, there were a half-dozen prints which were about 12-18 inches in length.  Each print was about three feet apart, and staggered side-to-side, similar to a normal walking pattern.  The tracks go from the river bed to the cliff face, which was clearly a bunch of sedimentary rocks.  I’m sure if we could crack more of that layer open, we’d see more tracks.

I also let him know that if you’d go down stream form the bridge about a half-mile or so, there were a couple other similar tracks.  From the analysis the geologists did, they can approximate the time period when the prints were made, and the weight of the critter (based on the size, and how deep the impression was in the mud), but there’s no way to tell what specific species it was.

The gentleman was sure these were “planted” by someone.  I assured them he could go and look at these tracks for himself, as it wasn’t restricted access land, and geologic report was available online.  At that point, he seemed to get annoyed, and then wandered off.  The security guard then rolled up and mentioned that whenever they’ve had a dinosaur exhibit, they always get people like him wandering in and bothering people, but this was the first time he’d seen someone get the better of him.  The security guard was also interested in the tracks I’d visited in Cedar Park, and I took the time to tell him in more detail my experience.

That was a great experience just taking the time to chat with the security guard.  I’d seen everything in the dinosaur area, and absorbed all the great stuff there.  Even more, I timed it right, as the school group was now filtering into that wing.  I then ventured on to see more of the artifacts the Witte had within.  There were some exhibits on Native Americans and early Mexican culture.  The Witte is more than just a single building, and there was more to see out back.

The area behind the Witte has walking paths marked with petrified wood, and the San Antonio River flows nearby, as well as some rock sculptures.  Currently serving as the administrative offices of the Witte, one of the buildings in the back was the Celso-Navarro House.  It was built in 1835 by Jose Navarro, one of the signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence.

Also in the back was the Science Treehouse, which was four floors on hands-on science exhibits, dealing with things like sound waves, air power, and water wheels.  A working Archimedes’ screw was also there to show how water could be transferred from one place to another.

As the school group had also made their way out to the treehouse area, I wasn’t able to play with many of the exhibits.  That wasn’t a bit deal, as it was more interesting to see the younger generation having an interest in science (although I’m sure many were just enjoying the opportunity to play).

It was getting near the rush hour time, and there wasn’t anything I could’ve easily gotten to before it closed, or would have the sufficient time to explore.  I hoped on Interstate 35 and headed back north.  Near San Marcos, in the vicinity of the outlet malls is Centerpoint Station.  This is just a little country store filled with antiques, but also has really good hamburgers and Blue Bell ice cream.  It was a good place to stop to get a snack before fighting my way back to Austin.

More information about these places can be found at:

Witte Museum:  www.wittemuseum.org

Centerpoint Station:  www.centerpointstation.com

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San Antonio Zoo – August 2010

Tuesday, 3 August 2010

It was another day of the staycation.  As lovely as the trip to Turks & Caicos had been back in May 2010, it wasn’t the cheapest of things to do.  That’s one reason why we haven’t gone back every year since then, and while it’ll be a couple years before I can afford to do it again.  I don’t mind a staycation, spending time in the area, when I’m hosting visitors.  But when I have a week off by myself, and no one was available during the day to hang with me, it does kind of bum me out.  This wasn’t Arizona where I was exploring an unknown area on my terms, but what do I do with myself in a productive manner for a week.  When the weather is nice, I sure as hell don’t want to be indoors the entire time.  I hadn’t planned any away trips for this week also for the reason I didn’t want to be spending any cash that I thought I’d need soon for something else.

I decided that a day-trip to San Antonio to see stuff I hadn’t seen before.  On previous trips there, I’d done the Riverwalk boat ride, visited the Alamo, went up into the Tower of the Americas, and even did a ghost tour.  There was a lot I hadn’t seen there, and I narrowed today’s target down to two reasonable items.  Here's the first.

SAN ANTONIO ZOO

            I arrived as early as possible in the morning (as the zoo opened at 9 am), I already could tell it was going to be a hot day.  The zoo covers some 35 arces, so I thought I could get some good walking mileage in today.  I got the brochure showing the attractions, and kind of figured the route I wanted to take (so I wouldn’t be doing a lot of criss-crossing of areas).  And what were the criteria for my path?  Basically, what critters I wanted to see first.

The komodo dragon was first on my list, as it’s nice to see a creature which would have no compunctions about eating you in the least.  The enclosure had a transparent wall, so visitors would be safe from this critter whose saliva is a pretty nasty disease carrier.

Nearby were some large constrictor snakes, also something which sees humans as a meal if they can grab it.  Reptiles and other cold-blooded critters don’t tend to move around much to start with, so after watching them for a few moments, I’d pretty much seen all I could on each one.  After I’ve read the informational cards about specific anaconda species, the snakes hadn’t moved an inch.  Considering how thick they were, it’s hard to imagine anything getting out of their hold.

One thing which is nice about the San Antonio Zoo is most of the animals are not kept in cages, but open enclosures which all them to roam about.  The designs of the enclosures are below the level of the visitors, in order to prevent the critters from crawling out.  Other animals which tend to me a bit more on the resourceful side, like the great cats, have a wire mesh around the enclosures, as they would figure out a way to climb out.  The enclosures are also constructed in such a way to keep stupid tourists from easily climbing into the animals’ habitats.  You’re never going to stop someone determined to take themselves out of the gene pool, but you can minimize the risk of someone falling by accident.

As the heat of the day quickly increased, even the activity level of the mammals tapered off.  The elephants stood in the only available shade they could.  The rhinos laid down on a bed of straw.  You’d think these guys would be use to this out on the African plains.  At least the cheetah who was trying to stay cool lifted his head when I was taking his picture.  He didn’t look too happy.  Welcome to summer in Texas, pal.

Where there’s one great cat, there are other types.  And there’s one type I always want to see.  Tigers.  The only one who was visible for a photo opportunity was smart enough to be resting in the shade.  I identify myself with tigers to a certain degree, and I would’ve been doing the same thing.  Take it easy during the hottest part of the day.  The tiger was a Sumatran, so it was about seven feet long, and over 300 pounds.  And that’s considered small in the tiger family.

Moving on from my favorite animal, I passed hyenas, and kangraroos that were trying to deal with the heat, and a turtle which seemed to be quite happy having a pool available to him.  That also brought me up to the alligators.  I’d been to the alligator farm in South Carolina in the mid 1990s, so I was pretty familiar with these guys.  Even though they (and their larger crocodile cousins) will munch if people without a second thought, I find them more fascinating than the komodo dragon in some respects.  While the komodo was a species lucky enough to survive when most of the mega-fauna died out after the Pleistocene, crocodian species pre-date the dinosaurs.  These are living fossils from a time long ago, and have been able to adapt with the changing times.

Going to the zoo is a learning experience, and I did learn about a species I didn’t know, called the tomistoma.  This crocodian species is native to Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, and clocks in at over sixteen feet.  San Antonio Zoo is part of a cooperative effort to protect this most-endangered of the crocodian species.

While I had the camera with me, I didn’t need to take pictures of everything that I saw.  I only usually take shots of the things I find the most interesting.  The primary objective is to read the informational cards, and look at the animals so I can enjoy the experience.  Pictures are used to retain some specific items.  So when I went through the section of the primates and area where the small reptiles were, it was great to see them.  One thing that I did like about the area was a cat sculpture nestled among the native Texas plants and rocks.

I probably could’ve spent the entire day at the zoo if it wasn’t so hot, but I had another objective to reach today.  Once I’d grabbed a quick bite to eat, I headed across town to my next objective.

  

More information about these places can be found at:

San Antonio Zoo:  www.sazoo-aq.org

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Turks & Caicos Islands – May 2010 (Part Seven; Leaving Paradise)

DAY SEVEN:  Friday, 14 May 2010

            Dave & Lee awoke at 5 am, got ready, threw the last of our remaining stuff together, and bid a sad farewell to the Royal West Indies resort.  Since we had done the check-out (and fed the car) the previous afternoon, all we had to do was drop off the room keys.  Note when the check-out was done, the only charge was the two times we ate at Mango Reef.  It was a nice feeling with everything having been paid for ahead of time.

Just a quick aside with getting the gas (as you must always fill up the rental vehicle before turning it back in).  Of course fuel would be a little more expensive on the island (everything else is, as it’s all imported).  And with any rental vehicle, you just have to remember what side your fuel door is on.  But one thing that doesn’t exist in the island is self-service.  Dave remembered that this time, but it was still weird to have someone pump your gas for you.  Just a little point of interest there.

It was a good thing the car had been filled up the night before, as there was nothing open that early.  Not sure if it was too early for morning rush-hour, or if that even existed here, but there was hardly anyone on the road.  The pre-dawn light before sunrise wasn’t even visible yet, so it ended up being the only time on he island where we drove in the dark.

With one main highway with decently marked signs, it was pretty easy to get back to the airport.  Since there would be no one in the car rental return booth, Grace Bay Car Rentals had told us just to leave the car in the lot with the keys under the mat.  That was weird doing that, but with such a low-crime area there was no fear of the car wandering off with someone that it wasn’t suppose to.

We figured there wouldn’t be too many people leaving that early in the morning, but we expected there would be a few more people at the airport than there was.  Getting thru security was easy, even though we had to do it twice.  After going thru security, and getting sat down in the lobby, they called us back to the main check-in.  At that point, we were escorted to a room deep within the airport.  First we thought we were in big trouble (for what, we had no idea), then we saw there were a number of other couples back there too.  This was just a routine open baggage check, probably to make sure there was no smuggling going on.  It was just odd because that hadn’t been done to us on the previous visit.  Also, the last time we were planning on departing the island, a hurricane was bearing down on the island, so that “standard procedure” was probably just shelved for the duration.

The airport security specifically checked comedy DVDs Lee had brought (“Garden State” and “Sliding Doors”), probably to make sure they weren’t counterfeit.  Dave’s John Carter novel was also thumbed thru (as he had papers stuck between the pages which he was trying to keep flat).  One other couple’s checked baggage will filled with snacks, so who knows specifically what type of contraband security was looking for.  Once the check was done, we just wandered back through security again.

Now the whole reason for getting up at this unnatural hour (and not staying another day), was to be back home by Friday evening fort Aislynn’s concert.  We had a two-hour layover in Miami (as extra time was always needed when you go through customs), then a flight to Dallas, followed by a hop to Austin.  That would get us back around 4 pm, and after waiting at baggage claim and the drive home in Austin rush-hour traffic, that would put us close to the start time of the concert.

That was the plan.  Reality ended up being different.

The last time we flew from Provo to Miami, it was the middle of the day, but due to the hurricane the flight we had to deal with, the flight was twice as long, and it was pitch black when we landed.  This time, it was a nice smooth flight, and Dave got to watch the sun rise from the plane.  It was bright out, so Dave and Lee were able (this time) to see what Miami looked like from the air.  The plane was about three-quarters full (and most of them were Canadians).

Nothing against the denizens of the Great White North, but we seemed to notice more Canadians this trip than previously.  Before there were far more Europeans present.  Canada may be trying seriously to annex TCI (so they have a Caribbean port), and actively encouraging their citizens to holiday there to generate interest.

Once off the plane in Miami, you go through a maze of passageways that seem like you walk around the parameter of the airport in order to get to the Customs Desk.  Last time, people were running to get through to make their connecting flights and generally being mean to the customs officials (who then decide to go slower as a response).  This time there wasn’t much of a line, and Dave and Lee got through pretty quickly.

We had a decent amount of time, so we were able to stroll through the airport without too much of a rush.  Yeah, we had to go through security again, but that’s the process when you’ve come through Customs.  Still amazed at the number of people who weren’t paying attention when the airport officials told them (and posted in many places) that carry-on items from the Duty Free store needed to be placed in your checked baggage.  While there was a lot of grumbling when people had to get out of line to head back to the ticket counter to fix things, but that’s due to their stupidity.

After were cleared security (with the minimal of searching), we made our way to our gate.  As we got nearer, one of the airport utility vehicles beeped its horn in order to clear people out of the way.  At first we thought it was carrying a zombie in the back, and then we realized it was Steven Tyler (of Aerosmith).  Okay, it was pretty close to being a zombie.  There was a young girl sitting on the car with him, who obviously wasn’t Liv.  That was clear from the way she was draped over him, and she appeared to be younger than Liv anyway.  We’ll call her a nameless groupie.

Not surprising there was a slight delay in our departing Miami, but not due to a problem in Miami.  Seems there were thunderstorms in other parts of the country which was delaying incoming planes.  And thanks to the domino effect, delayed ours as well.  Soon we were in the air heading for Dallas.

And that’s when the real fun began.

Where possible I’ve tried to write log as things happened, or as close to those things as much as possible, in order to keep the freshness of the thoughts.  What happened next I can only highlight the major points of, due to the stress level involved.

Flights in and out of Dallas were being delayed due to weather, which made this a zoo.  So close to home, yet so far away.  If this was our final destination, then it wouldn’t have been an issue, but we still had to fly to Austin where the car was.  The people at the ticket counter were obviously not happy about this, because it was a situation they couldn’t do anything about.  Flights were being delayed, and they were trying to get people moving (both on “first come first serve” and connect those they could to lessen the sheer volume).

One gentleman we talked to had an interesting outlook on flying.  He reminded me of one of old co-workers (Armando), and since I can’t recall the gentleman’s name, I’ll refer to him that way.  He traveled for the an insurance company (Nationwide), and since he took a lot of trips, he’d gotten in the habit of travelling without luggage.  Armando had a small carry-on with him (about the size of a large purse), but that was it.  He let us know that wherever he was heading to, he just had his luggage shipped to his hotel (or home, whichever the case was).  Sounds expensive, but not so bad when he’s writing it off as a business expense.

Armando also had an ideal of always being in motion.  If a connecting flight was delayed, he’d then try to get on another plane.  It didn’t matter if that other plane wasn’t heading in the direction he wanted to go, he’d rather be in motion that spending time waiting in the airport.  He informed us once he reached an alternate destination, he’d then usually be able to make arrangements back to his original target city.  Nice ideal, if you had a lot of extra time and cash to do it with.

He was able to get a connecting flight some where, and off Armando went.  During the wait time, you get to hear a lot of life stories from the various strangers waiting with you, and by the time you flight is ready, you have a bunch of new friends.

After a couple hours of waiting, we finally got boarded on the flight to Austin.  When we finally arrived home, our travel time had been twice what it’d originally been scheduled to be.  Sure it was annoying, but I’d rather have stuff like that happen at the end of a trip.  The vacation started off good, and stayed good the entire week.  So there was a little stress getting home.  I’d rather have that than stress in trying to get there.

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