Almost 2 weeks later, I am finishing my recap on the weekend my parents visited for my pinning ceremony. The rest of the weekend we got to kick back and relax a little -- and had a great time!
Saturday we headed to the east side of Tucson to check out "Colassal Caves Mountain Park". This is something we've known about all 2.5 years we've lived in tucson - but Ryan & I have never checked out it.
So history lesson time:
Colassal Cave is considered a dormant/dry/"dead" cave. There are visible stalagtites and stalagmites, but they're just not dripping and live - they look more petrified. However, if the ice age were to return, and the area was underwater - this cave would come out of it's dormant stage.
It was "discovered" in 1879. However, during the discovery - they found artifacts to prove it had been used for many years prior. They found tribal Indian artifacts such as mortars/bowls and symbols throughout the caves. They also found artifacts from "old west" bank robbers/cowboys hiding. Things such as bottles of Whiskey, tobacco cans, etc.
In the 1930's the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp) reconstructed the caves and made it "tourable". They opened walked ways, added small wooden bridges, and brought it stones for "stairs". It's pretty incredible.
It was very beautiful and mysterious and defintely spurred my interested in caves. Apparently there are a lot of caves around the Tucson area, and Ryan and I are seriously considering checking out some other ones!
Here are some photos from the caves!
Saturday we headed to the east side of Tucson to check out "Colassal Caves Mountain Park". This is something we've known about all 2.5 years we've lived in tucson - but Ryan & I have never checked out it.
So history lesson time:
Colassal Cave is considered a dormant/dry/"dead" cave. There are visible stalagtites and stalagmites, but they're just not dripping and live - they look more petrified. However, if the ice age were to return, and the area was underwater - this cave would come out of it's dormant stage.
It was "discovered" in 1879. However, during the discovery - they found artifacts to prove it had been used for many years prior. They found tribal Indian artifacts such as mortars/bowls and symbols throughout the caves. They also found artifacts from "old west" bank robbers/cowboys hiding. Things such as bottles of Whiskey, tobacco cans, etc.
In the 1930's the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp) reconstructed the caves and made it "tourable". They opened walked ways, added small wooden bridges, and brought it stones for "stairs". It's pretty incredible.
It was very beautiful and mysterious and defintely spurred my interested in caves. Apparently there are a lot of caves around the Tucson area, and Ryan and I are seriously considering checking out some other ones!
Here are some photos from the caves!
Snapping a photo before going in!
Stalagtites and some rock formations. If you see this in real life - the formation looks like a witch's face. Kinda weird!
After walking the caves, we worked up an appetite. Since Mom & DAd were in Tucson - we decided some Sonoran-Mexican cuisine was neccessary. So we took them to our favorite mexican restaraunt in Tucson: Mi Nidito. (Spanish for "My Little Nest"). Many celebrities visit this restaraunt when visiting Tucson.
The rest of the day was spent just relaxing and catching up! Finishing the evening with a firey game of International Rummy! We really had a great weekend, and I cherish the weekend that get to be spent with family! They are so missed! Thank you Mom & Dad for a wonderful weekend!
Comments
I heard a little bit about the Rummy game from dad... He called after things went downhill w/ E and long story short, he said he was actually right about something for a change and that he knew how many cards to deal or something like that? :) Kind of funny.
The cave tour was so interesting and a "cool" place to be! :)