Howe Caverns!
I was surprised by how much I really liked the tour of the Caverns. The brick walkways meant that we could walk through the cave without walking in the very cold and fairly deep underground steam.
The theatrical lighting gave enough light to see all the neat cave formations while keeping the rather of magical atmosphere caves naturally seem to have. The pictures we took didn't do the mood much justice, unfortunately...Being an interpreter for an educational/entertainment venue, I felt a certain kinship with our rather young tour guide. He must say the same things tour after tour, day after day, but he gave us plenty of enthusiasm. And I learned that Mr. Howe, who originally discovered the natural entrance to the cave around the turn of the century when he investigated what made his cows all congregate on hot days near a certain bush in their pasture, rather than seeking shade elsewhere. He started explored the cave himself and eventually began giving tours for a nickle a pop. In addition to exploring the entire length of the cave (a few miles, as I remember), the tourists's nickle got them a lunch about half way through the cave and a pair of coveralls so they could handle the water and mud. During our tour, I kept imagining those turn of the century spelunkers. I wonder if there were many (or any?) ladies who took Mr. Howe's underground tour in their long skirts and corsets. And how fantastic would those cave formations have looked in lantern light?
I'd say one of the coolest parts of the tour came at the half way point. The tour guides took us in big boats down a passage of the cave completely underwater and pushed us out to a pretty dramatic waterfall. This was the part of the cave damaged by mining and off limits to the public. The light didn't get very far into the depths of this "unconditioned section" but it didn't look like a place I wanted to go.
And then they turned out the lights. Our guide mentioned that with no way for natural light to get in, you literally couldn't see your hand in front of your face. When they flipped the lights back on, I, along with Brett and most everyone else, was caught holding my hand in front of my face. Just to check, you know...We all had a great time, and thought I think I would have enjoyed being able to walk around unsupervised and really enjoy the otherworldliness, but of course that would be dangerous and the Howe Caverns people would be liable. Brett managed to hang back enough to be sort of alone on the way back to the entrance and said it was totally awesome. The last part of the cave was the best part of the actual cave- the Winding Way.
It was sinuous and feminine and intriguing and really really beautiful. Because it was so curvy, there were lots of points in this passage that you could have all to yourself. I've always felt happiest in small places full of charming detail tucked into wider landscapes. I felt better and better with each corner I turned. Yay for Howe Caverns!
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I'm feeling a little claustrophobic just reading about the caverns. Are caverns different than caves? Sounds very cool, but not sure I would like it too much. Makes me think of Tom Sawyer hiding from the scary Indian.
Yup, that's souding pretty claustrophobic. Especially with the lights out. But you look very cute and happy to be spelunking. Are there lots of caves in New York?
Kate, I am one of your mom's quilting friends. I dyed white wool yarn with egg dye. I was amazed that it worked!!! Beautiful colors, cheap when you can get it from the clearance bin after the holiday, and easy to do just small batches with no toxic problems. Your mom said that you might be interested. If so, I will send you some photos.
Hello again- Do you know if Barbara's egg dye will be permanent on yarn? I colored my eggs with food coloring. Would that work/be permanent on yarn? On fabric?
Yes to wool. No to cotton. The egg dye and the food coloring usually have vinegar added to set the dye. The acid is necessary to dye wool. Kool aid will work on wool, too. It will color the cottons but it will not be intense or permanent. There are great conversations on several web sites. Just google 'kool aid dye'. The egg dye idea came from one of the comments.
Barbara- I'd love to see some photos! I dyed Easter eggs myself this year and wondered if it would work on wool. I figure, since egg shells and wool are both made of protein, it would have to be possible. I was worried, like Karen, about permanence and also the ratios of wool weight to dye stuff, so I didn't do anything on dye day. Now I think I need to invest in a dye pot and get crackin!
Kate, since egg dye and kool aid are 'food stuff', you have no need to worry about a dedicated dye pot. I used a pyrex casserole with a glass lid. A glass lasagna pan works, too. I will e-mail some photos to your mom and she can forward them to you.
Okay - the photos have been forwarded to Kate and Karen and the yarn is yummy. You three must get together!
Thanks for the photos- the yarn looks beautiful. Sounds like a fun project. Whenever I've dyed things in the past, I always start looking around for other things I can throw in the pot (or washing machine) with the main project. I've never dyed yarn though.
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