Natural Bridge Caverns

On March 27th, 1960, four intrepid students from St. Mary's University in San Antonio geared up for another weekend of spelunking in the Texas Hill Country. They were about to make their fourth journey deeper into a network of narrow passages beneath an amazing 60 foot natural limestone bridge between San Antonio and New Braunfels. What they discovered that day was nothing less than the mother lode of underground majesty and wonder: Natural Bridge Caverns. Chamber after chamber of spectacular formations, one the size of a football field. Gigantic towering columns. Emerald pools. Delicate, crystalline soda straws. All living and still growing.

Since it was first explored by those four daring young men, millions and millions of visitors from around the world have discovered the awesome beauty of Natural Bridge Caverns. Governor John Connally christened it the "Jewel in the Crown of Texas' Attractions" and it has been designated as a National Natural Landmark. When Ashton was just a few months old we vowed to visit a National Park each summer. 

On August 14, 2010 four adults, two kids and one child geared up to enter the notorious caves.  This was our NP adventure in Texas. Initially the thought of crawling into the belly of the Earth where bat guano dates back 5K years, yet the rock formations are so sensitive a single touch could set their development back thousands of years seemed daunting. However, we were all quite comfortable in the 80degree cave (compared to the 105 heat wave above ground). Jake, as usual, was in awe and made love to his camera the whole time. Izzi might have his genes, as she was equally entertained by the the stalagtites and stalagmites. Okay, I liked it too. The first few pics show the initial decent, and then the rest speak for themselves. The lighting was tricky--to flash or not to flash--that is the question.

After all was said and done, capitalism got to us. Twenty-five steps after the earth birthed us to light again a cute little ice cream cart  taunted our whismy through a cloud of muggy Texas heat. Izzi savored her strawberry pop with "the boys"--Matthew and James Sayers.