Jouney to the Center of the Earth.

In Jules Verne's book, Journey to the Center of the Earth, the German professor and his party travel to the center of the earth via volcano tubes. Yesterday, some friends and I traveled similarly, except we traveled via a cave and only went a few dozen feet below the surface.

Yesterday we traveled to Longhorn Cavern State Park. Our journey began in Austin and we traveled to the park via US 183, TX 29, and US 281. At the junction of TX 29 and US 281 lies the town of Burnet. My friend Chris, the driver of the vehicle, maintains a collection of county courthouses, so we stopped so he could photograph the Burnet County Courthouse.





We also attempted to visit TeaLicious, but it was a sit down restaurant and we didn't have the time. So instead we went to the antique shop.



We then continued to the park.

Our first stop was the visitor center to purchase our tickets. Tickets were $12.99/person, with a $1 discount for active duty military. Tours are every hour from 10AM-4PM on Saturday's, and vary on other days, so be sure to check the schedule on their website.

Since we had 55 minutes to kill until our 2PM tour, we explored the park. We found lots of interesting buildings built by the CCC in the 30's.

The CC Pavilion includes an exhibit on the CCC.




This observation tower was built by the CCC. The sign said it was built for water and observation.




After exploring the buildings, it was time to explore the cave. We headed to meet our tour guide, Josh.



Josh briefing us before we entered the cave.

One of the things he told us about was how Sam Bass had hidding $2 million in the cave that was never found. He said if we found it that he would be happy to split it 60/40 with us. Well the kid in yellow was pretty smart and realized that that meant the guide was taking a larger cut of the treasure. He called Josh out and said that it should be 50/50. Josh disagreed so the kid in yellow threw a rock at him.

The rock slinger


The main reason you need the guide is that he has the key.

Josh led us into the cave and we spent about 1.5 hours on the tour. Many of the formations are below.

Formations

Abe Lincoln.

The Wishing Well. They use to let you throw pennies in it, but the copper was contaminating underground water sources.


Sam Bass' Bootprint

Bear nose. They let you rub the bear nose, which is why it is darker.

Calcite crystals.

My favorite formation, the rockweiler!

Whale flipper.




One interesting tidbit about the cave, it is supposedly haunted. Now I do not claim to believe in ghosts or the paranormal, but there is certainly things that occur that we cannot explain. I use to not even want to hear about this stuff, but recently have been listening to Coast to Coast AM, a late night radio show that explores the paranormal. Because I listened to it, it has made me more interested in hearing the stories. Longhorn Cavern has some stories.

The first story we heard was by the gentleman in the visitor center. He told us that he once saw a lady in a white party dress. He didn't know who she was but knew she was a ghost.

The other story we heard was by Josh, our tour guide. He said he was changing light bulbs in the cave once and was the only one in the cave and had locked the gate. While changing light bulbs, he was hit in the head with a rock. I inquired if it might have been the kid in yellow.

Everyone made it out of the cave, but saw no dinosaurs, treasure, or ghosts.