Caves are cool

Day 73

This is how my day started out. Typically working on an RV at a RV park is frowned upon. So I started a stealth repair in the luggage bay. A little JB weld goes a long way when it comes to fixing stuff. The pin that came out of the door latch yesterday was hammered back into it's hole with a little helping hand from this epoxy to keep it in place. 
We've been doing laundry since we parked yesterday. Our little washer/dryer takes about 2 hours for a full cycle and only holds about 1/2 of a load when compared to a large front loader. The only  thing sitting in the way was an 18 lb cat (that's not a typo).

 Morning chores aside it was time for today's adventure. Out in the wilderness lies Ape cave. This old lava tube made from a basalt flow 2,000 years ago is open to the public to explore. At 2.5 miles long and a balmy 42°, we tiptoed our way into the unknown.

Walking through the tube was a wondrous trip that was also a little reminiscent. Ten years ago I came out to Washington state with my old man and we walked this same path today. My old man isn't perfect, but I will say he has always taken us out to do cool shit. Now I'm doing these things with the love of my life and couldn't be happier about our decision to leave it all and live it up. 

The hike was long and the rock formations were unforgiving. Huge boulder piles blocked half of the tube and required us to traverse over them in order to forge forward. The expansiveness is hard to capture on camera. Some points of the tube were 40 feet tall and 50 feet wide. Another part was so small that I crawled on my hand and knees to get to a dead end. Tube accomplished we pointed shirley towards the next attraction down the road. Lava canyon lay ahead and had a surprise for us. 

I know what you're thinking. Those are some short shorts. Damn he looks good.

A suspension bridge straddled the canyon walls and was about 150 feet from the deck. It was built to mimic a rope bridge and it did that very well. The entire bridge moved and swayed as you walked. It was one of those things that you think is no big deal until you are in the middle of the bridge looking through the treads.

Tomorrow we bomb down to Portland in search of culture. I guess we'll see what turns up.