Playin' in the mud!

Thursday night Misti asked me if I would be up for another cave scouting adventure. Robby had heard of this cave and didn't know exactly where it was at but wanted to scout it out. I checked with Melissa and got the green light, so I was in.

Friday night Misti tells me Robby isn't going and there was a serious threat of rain and possible flash flooding forecast for Saturday and they may not be going either. Bummer!

Saturday morning the radar looked rather "clean" (read as very few light green patches in the area we would be going). Once again, all systems go. YAY! They picked Ebeneezer Cave for us to explore today.

She also told me she is going to cook up dinner for us. On the way over, I stopped and grabbed a few beers to drink with dinner. I arrived at their house about a half hour before we needed to leave.

We hung out for a bit and then headed over to pick up Christian, a 14 year old that had never been in a cave before. We met up with Gonzo and Jenny at another location and then headed for Ebeneezer Cave.

I have never been in Ebeneezer before but have heard stories about it -- and they all involve how epic the mud is. It would prove *not* to be an exaggeration.

Vince and Misti have been to this cave many times before and so we were able to go right to it. A couple of us donned coveralls and away we go.

photo courtesy of Misti Cardin

photo courtesy of Misti Cardin

It was slick-ery with all the mud. I felt like I was walking on ice.

Jenny had tennis shoes on and was having an awful time trying to navigate through it.

As you can see there were areas where the mud was thick. You place your foot and it sinks 6" into the muck. You  just hope you still have a shoe attached when you pull your foot out.  ; )

This was a beautiful cave with many pretty formations -- especially once you got to the back of it. However, to get to the back of it required crossing over

photo courtesy of Misti Cardin

photo courtesy of Misti Cardin

  "the pit" as it was affectionately called. I was told the way to do that was to hold onto a rope as you go across this narrow strip of muddy rock, then you have to jump and slide. The pit was about a 50' chasm with a "river" at the bottom. Falling would definitely become a bad day!

We got to "the pit", and I looked over the edge. It was intimidating!

I am now concerned about this "jump" thing. I figured I would follow them until we got to the "jump" part and I would make a decision how much I really want to do it when I see how far I had to "jump".

One of the stipulations for Christian being allowed to go with us was that he would not cross the pit. His parents had heard of it and didn't want him doing it. Misti decided she would hang back and keep Christian company. Upon seeing the ledge we had to traverse, Jenny also decided she wasn't going.

photo courtesy of Misti Cardin

It really wasn't that bad. It was a bit slick but there were some handholds and the rope to help should you lose footing. About 3/4 of the way through, where it was slickest, someone had created footholds into the rock to further assist. We got to the end and the jump and slide thing was not across a gap as I had envisioned. Instead, it was over a hump of the rock. Way easier than I had pictured! and I was okay with that!

(The picture doesn't show it well, but that "ledge" is sloped at about a 25* angle and slick. On your knees it wasn't too bad, though)

After "the pit" crossing, Vince led Gonzo and myself down to the river. Gonzo wanted to see how deep it was and went about this far before turning around.

Up above us were where Misti, Jenny, and Christian were.

As I mentioned earlier, the back part had lots of pretty formations. Here are a few ....

This is looking at the ceiling

This is also the ceiling. Notice all the gypsum.

This was a  "wall" that had formed columns

At the back of the cave, there is a chamber that has clay and someone took the time to sculpt this ....

From here, we went back towards the river. It had quite a current and was roaring. On our way there, Vince asked do you want to take the slow way or the "fun way". Not knowing one from the other we told Vince to pick. He chose the "fun way".

There was a slippery sloped rock and he got on his butt and slid down like a slide. Of course that's all the provocation Gonzo and I needed! WHEEEE!

Once at the river, Gonzo, once again wants to check it for depth. He found a calm spot and was up to his knees, when he went to take another step and damn near disappeared! It dropped off .... QUICK!

What a mudley crue!

We had explored most of the cave by now and headed back to "the pit". Jenny told us that Misti and Christian went off to explore another part of the cave. Actually, they had been lying in wait fully prepared with mud balls to throw and were sitting in the dark waiting to ambush us.

I was last to cross and by the time I got across there was a full-blown mud fight going on between everyone but Jenny and I. Once they had gotten that out of their system, we all headed back for the mouth of the cave.

photo courtesy of Misti Cardin
L to R Vince, Jenny, Gonzo
 

Once outside, I went to remove my coveralls (that were now COVERED in mud!). I couldn't unzip the leg zippers because of all the mud caked into the zipper. I waited until we got back to the car, removed my boots and socks so I could get out of it.

We dropped off a very muddy Christian to his mom, who promptly told him he was removing his drawers before getting in *her* truck. Heh!

Then we headed back to Vince and Misti's house. She started on dinner and refused any help. Dinner was great and the company was too.

After dinner we played this wacjt card game she had just gotten. It's a party game and lots of laughs were had. The night got late wayy too quickly and I had to head back home.

My coveralls were SOOO covered in mud, I wasn't going to put them in the washing machine until I had hosed them off. I did that, and let them dry. The hose got *most* of the mud but I still couldn't open the zippers. I set them in the wash on rinse and still didn't get all the mud off. This may take a few washings!  ; )

Here comes the BOOM!

Sitting here yesterday morning and listening to the winds howling like crazy when I heard an odd sound. It wasn't a loud crack or thud but more of a "whoosh" but it didn't sound like the wind. Melissa popped her head out the door and informed that a tree just fell over on Dad's car and the bike shed. UGH!

Believe it or not, there is a shed in this picture. It is hidden by the foliage. Here is proof ...

(sigh!) the bikes are in there! This cannot be good! I was happy to see that the shed wasn't crushed. That's one tough shed! You can see from the above picture that this was no small tree.

I went back inside put on some old "work" clothes and gathered up the chain saw and set about clearing the driveway.

I was planning to go see P.O.D. live (hence the title of this blog)  later that evening, so this driveway HAD to be cleared!

There were a couple "interesting" moments as I worked the chainsaw. I am no lumberjack, and I was constantly hoping that I was on the right side of the tree to make an escape should it give. I guess luck was on my side as there was a branch that had punched a hole in the roof and had it anchored well enough I had to go up top to free the last bit to cut up.



The old work jeans I have are a bit loose on me now. I hate wearing a belt when working, but I may have to start to or find "new" work jeans. I practically walked out of them on one of my trips to the garage as they fell to my knees. I felt like a thug all day as they were very low on the waist. I reckon it's a nice problem to have, though, as it indicates HOW MUCH weight I have lost over the course of the last year.  ; )

After 5 hours of chainsaw work, it was done. I was able to get into the shed and survey damage.

here is where the branch came through                  

1 set of rafters knocked down and are split at the top

the impact knocked one of the rafters OUT of the shed

Again, that's one well-built shed! I am grateful too, because the bikes were just fine. The shed took the brunt of the damage (as you see I have some roofing work to do, but not too bad) and saved the sheet metal caport, and the car that resides under it.

This could've been MUCH worse! If the wind had been blowing in the opposite direction, it would have hit the house. Counting my blessings!

This cleared me to be able to hit my concert too. YAY! I had plenty of time to get a shower and knock out some chores that needed doing prior to leaving.

I was supposed to be at Sean's at 7-ish. I got there right AT 7. Sweet!

We managed to find the place without issue and were there about 20 minutes before the opening act took the stage. This place is a "hole", actually a "hallway". It's TINY! There was room for about 15 people across and maybe, MAYBE 30 deep.

The opening band called themselves The Resolute. They weren't too bad. Along with their own work, they did two cover songs. One of The Foo Fighters and really made it their own by putting a slow spin on it. Then they broke into a Rage Against the Machine song.

The very idea cracked me up. They had a female vocalist that was good, but showed no signs of being able to pull off singing (rapping?) like Zach does. However, she did a very admirable job and showed that she was versatile.

After their set, the stage hands broke down and had P.O.D.'s equipment tuned and ready really fast. The anticipation was building as the fans started chanting "P-O-D ... P-O-D ...." ... this is going to be a good show!

And it was! There crowd showed a great energy level and P.O.D., as always, lit it up! There was a great vibe between the band and the crowd! I LOVE it when that happens!

It's so great to see a band up on stage having a good time, enjoying what they do. Even moreso, when it's a band that has been together and doing this for so long. You could see the guys smiling and having fun all throughout the show.

This was the third time Sean and I have seen them live. Since he has seen them the other two times I have, I was able to ask if it was me or if he thought this was the best we had seen them yet. EACH time we have seen them, they have OWNED the stage, there's no debate there, but was curious if he thought this was the best of the three. He agreed that it was.

What a show! can't wait until I get to see them for the fourth time!