Appalachian Caverns & The Virginia Creeper

Our family took a vacation this summer to see my parent's new house in Tennessee, someplace they've lived in for nearly a year but we'd only seen pictures of to that point. My brother and two sisters were there with their families, and it was a wonderful time catching up with my folks, marveling at how big the nieces and nephews are getting, and enjoying a week with no deadlines or spreadsheets. But if you think we didn't sneak in a few adventures while we were down there, then I haven't been doing a very good job of explaining what our family is all about.

Part one of our adventure brought us to the Virginia Creeper, a wildly popular rail-trail through the mountains of western Virginia. The main attraction is to shuttle up the mountain in vans, hop onto rental bikes and enjoy a winding 17 mile ride down the hillside and back into town.

This is meant to be a leisurely ride with various lookout points and sights along the way, and halfway down you can stop at a diner that does more business off the dessert menu than the lunch. I've seen plenty of double-fisting in my days, but never in a situation that didn't involve lots of beer. My dad is a trend setter though, and here was his logical solution for whether to get an ice-cream cone or a brownie square for lunch.

This was my dad's third time riding the Creeper, and although mom wasn't able to join us on this day she'll proudly show you her scars from wiping out the last time she rode it. But don't let that scare you, this is a smooth and relaxing ride that is enjoyable for all ages.

Having spent some time adventuring above ground we now decided it was time to spend some time below, so we visited the Appalachian Cavern's in nearby Blountville TN. Our drive there featured a spirited conversation with my southern-transplant sister Becky on the proper pronunciation of Appalachian. Like most northerners I was saying "a-puh-lay-shun", and like most southerners she kept trying to correct me with “a-puh-latch-un”. I finally ditched them both and started calling it "a-puh-la-chee-an", which wound her knickers right up tight and made for a quiet rest of the drive there.

Although it's a commercial cave now, Appalachian Caverns has been known and used for as long as people have lived in these parts. We're talking pre-Columbus days too - carbon dating of burnt wood found inside has been dated all the way back to 675 AD. In later years the caves were used by soldiers throughout the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, and in times of peace they proved to be a handy spot for the local moonshine business. Equipment from this was still on display, but to my mother's disappointment this particular rig was only a mock-up.

For my parents - whose weekend trips include likes of Luray Caverns or Mammoth Cave - this system is on the smaller side, but for us New Hampshire folks, whose largest caves are cubbyholes created by boulders, this was an impressive system with many beautiful rooms.

Unlike most commercial caverns where touching is not allowed (lest your hand leave a layer of slime that stunts the growth of stalactites and other cool formations), much of Appalachian Caverns is open for exploration. They even offer a mud-tour, which is exactly what it sounds like - bring old clothes because they'll have you crawling through every nook and cranny you can fit into, and possibly a few you can't. Our guide welcomed the kids to a taste of this by letting them crawl through this tunnel, and since I didn't see any signs defining what they considered a "kid", down I went after them.

The first half I managed pretty well but it soon pinched me down to my stomach, and only the combination of my breakdancing worm skills and my nephew's encouragement got me through the last squeeze.

An even more unique thing about Appalachian Caverns is that they have a mascot, a cat that is given free reign of the caverns and pops in and out of view throughout the tour. In additionally to that furry guy, one of the pools featured a couple large turtles, and unlike the cat they were happy to stop and pose for our pictures.

Any day spent wandering an underground tunnel is a day worth getting out of bed for, and thanks to the handiwork of a river that millions of years ago dried up, this day was just that.

It was great to do some exploring during our vacation, but it was even better spending time with family who I don't get to see nearly often enough. If anyone is to blame for my own sense of adventure, it's those two in the bottom right corner of this picture. Whereas too many people go into retirement with the mindset of, I've finally arrived, now I get to relax, my parents went into their twilight years full speed ahead, still looking toward the future rather than over their shoulder at the past. Always ready for that next chapter in life, this one has brought them to brand new state and an area that's full of fresh experiences to be had, and when you're the original Rondinone Adventurers, what else could you ask for in life.

Links:
Virginia Creeper Trail
Appalachian Caverns