Planning outtings has always proven to be a challenge for us over the years. Sam and I tend to wait until the last minute to decide if we are going to make an adventure out of a day, and what we found was the lack of anticipation. Anticipation is one of life's greatest gifts to a child and Drew and Liv deserve to have something to look forward to.In an effort to join the masses of 'planners' who surround us - I sat down with a calendar, looked up a few cool day trips and put them in the Outlook Calendar. I included my dear husband as an 'invitee' and wasn't sure how it would go over until I started recieiving his "accepted" responses and a note: "Keep 'em comin'!!"
Indian Echo Caverns was our first day trip. It gave us all something to look forward to and it gave us a new look at this beautiful Mid-State.
The Caves are separated into 'rooms'. The photo on the left is of the focal point of the largest of the rooms, The Ballroom. Many weddings have taken place in this room and the stilagmite you see is called 'the guardian' of The Ballroom and is the result of 3 millions years of dripping water from the cave's ceiling. With the water comes a minerial deposit called Flowstone. The micro particiles of the Flowstone slowly pile over time to create an emense vertical rock formation like this one. 
This room, to the right, is called The Wedding Room. Beneath the wooden bridge, where Sam is standing, there is an untouched body of water - crystal clear. In the 1930's, the tours of Indian Echo Caverns allowed it's patrons to drop a coin in the water and make a wish. The story is that of a little girl, who's wish was to marry in this magestical room of glittering stone formations, with diamond water at her feet.
Nearly 20 years later, it was a wish that came true. She vowed her life to the man of her dreams in that very room - the groom, a little boy who stood at her side when she made the wish 20 years ago. It was this story, coupled with the dramatic layering of gleaming flowstone that inspired the name: The Wedding Room.
Nearly 20 years later, it was a wish that came true. She vowed her life to the man of her dreams in that very room - the groom, a little boy who stood at her side when she made the wish 20 years ago. It was this story, coupled with the dramatic layering of gleaming flowstone that inspired the name: The Wedding Room.
These are just a few of the many pictures we took this day. It was a wonderful time for us all. Drew and Liv enjoyed the tour and before long, the guide asked Drew if he would like to take the flashlight and finish the tour for himself. As an active participant in the tour, the guide took a shining to Drew and he to the guide. Liv skipped along the walkways, taking in all the information and the stories of each room. For her, it was a magical land of far away - created too long ago for her young mind to understand its legacy, but too beautiful to be ignored. Sam and I found the tour to be wonderous and enjoyable, but not nearly as magical as watching our children embrace the experience, learn from it and grow into themselves.
