The Cousin’s Grand Adventure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! October 22, 2006

Yes, we the six chums on the mountain have recently declared ourselves cousins forevermore and always here after. We are, and will always be related….and you know that family must stick together and cannot disown any other family members!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Therefore, we will forever be………together…….although we may be apart……..because……we are indeed forevermore……………cousins. Is all of this perfectly clear??????? Clear as mud right???? Well, it makes sense to us so just go with it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, well today was quite an adventuresome day as you might have already gathered by the title of this post. I thought I must needs explain the cousin part of the title before I went on to explain the adventure part of the title. Now, the “Cousin” part having been explained in the previous paragraph, we will proceed to the latter…..the latter of course being the part we have yet to discuss, the “Grand Adventure”!!!!!!!!!

Now that we are all on the same page……

Oh, I just happened to think that you might not be aware of who the “six” chums on the mountain are!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How un-thorough of me….do let me explain in further detail. A girl can NEVER have too many details now can she????? Of course not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, the six are as follows: Me, (Naturally) Kristin, (Of course) Laura, (By all means) Josh, (Well, yes Josh, he lives here for pickle’s sake!!!!!!!!) Tim, (No doubt Tim, he lives here too!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and last but most certainly not least, Jon. (Make no mistake!!) So, now you are clear on who the “Cousins” are. If not, please re-read this paragraph and if you still have issues, go see a doctor or return to the 1st grade. Thank you.

So, who’s ready to hear all about the grand adventure???????????????? Or are you just irritated and bored??? Well then, don’t read my post. Makes no difference to me!!!!!!! *sticking tongue out* Wow, am I ever in a mood……..ok, for real here we go…

Today we set out to hike Lost Valley. Lost Valley is a really neato trail that we’ve hiked when we would come to Arkansas ever since I remember!!!!!!!!!!!! There are beautiful rocks and cliffs as well as streams, water falls and……………………………………….this is the adventure part…………………………….are you ready………………………………………..it’s pretty scary……………………………….if there are any children reading over your shoulder, send them away…………………….ok………….and……….caves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There, I told you!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why are caves scary you might be wondering????? HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They’re dark and mysterious and they might have……………………………………………………………………….well, you know………………………….bats in them?????!!!!!!!!! That’s pretty scary……………

So, we were on the road headed to Lost Valley and the scary, bat filled caves in two different cars. I was in Josh Fedelem’s car (One of the guys here….a paramedic actually….very handy to have while hiking) as well as with Jon and Tim, while Josh and the other gals were in the other car. Before we got too far, Josh’s car started smoking and had serious issues. Sooooooooooooo, the poor guy had to wait for someone to come get him and insisted that we go on without him. Know what that meant???? Yeah…………..all six of us cramming into the Honda Accord. Uh huh….good thing we’re cousins and love each other, that’s all I can say. That was a cozy ride!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hey, all part of the adventure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So we arrive in one piece and even manage to avoid any police who might see that there are people spilling out of the little car!!!! Now, we’re hiking along……..we the cousins……………..and Cousin Tim has his really fabulous camera, so of course we’re happily posing for all kinds of great pictures along this beautiful trail and so far everything has been just great!!!!!!!!!!

Then, we spot a cave. So, being the unprepared kind of people that we are, some of us march right into this dark cave without a flashlight. (The guys, just so you know) They get in a little ways and Cousin Tim starts flashing his camera for light. I’m standing in the entrance asking dumb things like, “Is it dark??”, “Can I come in??” and “Are there any bats???” Well, just as I asked that, the guys had discovered a bat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cousin Tim began taking pictures of it and I let out one good scream………I had to….it was a BAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don’t like bats, so screaming was totally appropriate…..even though I couldn’t see it and was outside in broad daylight and I probably looked like a moron to everyone else around.

My curiosity did however get the better of me and I crept in a little ways to see it for myself. But they were not getting me into that cave!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Next, a very interesting lady went barging in there and told Josh to simply pick up the bat. He declined, and most respectfully told her she was a psycho…………then the three guys promptly left the cave.

We hit the trail again and soon came upon a beautiful waterfall. We couldn’t help but sit there for a little while and drink in the sheer beauty of God’s creation. (Not to mention we were ready for a rest after all that hiking!!!!!!) It was great and a perfect spot to take more very needed pictures….of course!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

While enjoying this scene, a very friendly man came along and told us that right around the corner was a cave that we could go in and at the back was a thirty foot waterfall that he assured us was worth the darkness and crawling we’d have to endure to get to it. Well we would go, naturally. I mean hey, we only had two people with knee and ankle issues, two that were claustrophobic, one completely afraid of bats, one with a VERY nice expensive camera plus gear and no one with a flashlight of any sorts. Why, going into that cave seemed like the perfect choice to us. Don’tcha think so????

Well, we get to this cave and there’s a flashlight sitting at the entrance with no fingers or hand attached to it anywhere. We politely asked the people there if belonged to them and they said it was there when they arrived. What did we do??? Steal it of course. After all, finders keepers, losers weepers!!!!!!!!!!! That’s the Christian way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With stolen property in hand, we moved forward. I was PRAYING there would be no bats visible and didn’t really know what I would do if I saw any to begin with. Cousin Kristin had already commanded no screaming once inside the cave, bat or no bat. Yes, she takes all the joy out of being terrified!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Onward we marched…………..the people coming out of the cave kindly informed us that at one point we would have to crawl on our hands and knees………but…………after all, it was worth it!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sure, not a problem. My knee not only has normal issues, but is now banged up from coming into contact with some not so soft rocks the other day. (The rocks here are hard did ya know that??????) But hey, crawling on this bloody injury, no problem whatsoever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Off we go……………………..starting out it was slippery, but with our strong brothers and cousins on hand, it was no big deal. Pushing on……hmmmmmmmmmmmmm…………not so hard………….we can do this………………………….until…………………………..all the sudden our space went from roomy to really small. And we’re talkin the guy’s shoulders were touching both sides of the cave. Jon got slightly uneasy and took about three more steps before deciding he’d seen enough of this cave. Remember the “two claustrophobic people”???? Yeah, well, meet claustrophobic person number one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And then there were five……….So, the five pressed on…………….

I must say when we got to the three foot high crawling part of this cave I wasn’t too happy……….as a matter of fact, I was having a hard time not freaking out. It was hard crawling in that tight space through water and in the darkness. Yep, meet claustrophobic person number two!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hey, did I mention that the flashlight needed batteries??? Yeah well, it did and it wasn’t too bright……………….and it really didn’t help that Josh, the keeper of the stolen flame, was way ahead of me and I couldn’t see anything. I called out that I couldn’t see and Cousin Kristin camly replied, “Just keep going!!” Oh sure, I thought, and if I fall into the deep black pit, y’all can sing “Down in the Depths” at my funeral!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So there I was………………wet, cold and having a pretty hard time crawling on the rocks with my knee hurting so much…besides, it was bleeding again which made it worse………………….and then………………………………………………….are you ready to hear how the story ended????????????????????????? Alright……………it’s not pleasant………………….it’s rather gruesome……………..so don’t say I didn’t warn you……………well……………………….I died by falling into the deep black pit. My funeral is Monday, try to come.

Ok, kidding……………………obviously!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Actually, we made it, there were no bats (Praise the Lord!!!!!!!!!!!!) and the waterfall was beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We enjoyed taking some pictures and looking at it, plus the satisfaction a real adventure but mostly, we enjoyed heading back into the light and the great outdoors…………………..and of course, Jon!!!!!!!!

So there. I was brave. Sort of!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Heh heh heh!!!!!!!!!! The hike back for me was slow and painful, and I’ll be paying for this for a few days or weeks, but hey, we only have one life to live!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!…………and knees will heal……….right????

“And as the autumn sun set behind them in the great mountains of Arkansas, the six cousins, declared to be such forevermore and always, piled into their little cozy car to head toward home once again…another grand adventure stashed in the “never forget/always remember” memory file to be forever remembered and never forgotten and all that sort of stuff. The End.”

Goodnight all-

Lady Lizzy