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Today I had a pretty long day of driving, from Houston to Fort Stockton, Texas. Another sign that I'm getting closer to home: the scenery is really starting to look like the West again. This was taken out of the driver-side window. I love this electronic camera! I just hold it up and click. Take several, then just choose the one that comes out the best!
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Along the way, I stopped in Sonora, Texas to go to the Caverns of Sonora. Another sign that it's the off-season in the South: I signed up for the tour of the caves 30 minutes before it started and I was the only person on the tour. These formations or the texture that covers everything in this picture is called Popcorn.
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These formations are called Curtains. Not the scientific names, I'm sure. I'm not even sure if that's just what the locals call 'em, or if that's the common name used in all caves...? Anyway, my tour guide was a young guy, probably high school, probably doing this for a summer job. Not exactly Mr. Personality. Or Mr. Enthusiasm. I got the feeling his Mom was making him do this.
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But it was kinda cool having it all to myself. I have to admit he was willing to take all the time you needed to gawk. The only thing he seemed enthusiastic about was turning off all the lights and experiencing total darkness. We sat and listened to the water drip for quite some time until I said I was ready to move on. This is one of the few "lakes" we saw.
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He also wanted to walk through with just the flashlight, but I wanted to actually see the cave! I know, I'm such an old killjoy - no fun. Here are stalactites (top hanging down) and stalagmites (bottom pointing up). How do you remember? C for ceiling and G for ground. It's amazing how organic it looks. It looks like it should be a set for an "Alien" movie.
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This is the largest pillar (I guess a stalactite and stalagmite joined?) in the cave. The tour took about an hour and a half. It was a nice break from driving and nice and cool in the cave. Drove on to Fort Stockton which took another couple of hours, so I got in later that I usually do.
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