"Dad, let's take it!" Henry said. He didn't have to twist my arm too hard. We nestled it in the rear cargo bin to smuggle it south:
No one really noticed until we pulled into Mammoth Caves, five hours later. The boys were eager to return here after our visit last summer. Kate was excited as well, though Jodi was a bit tentative:
We did the historic tour this time, and everyone had a good time over the two hour underground walk:
The twins were especially excited to watch me crouch-walk through "tall man's agony," a section of cave with 4.5 foot ceilings. They had a good giggle walking upright while I hunched along.
After the tour, I learned there's a "crawling tour" available in the summer for kids 10 and up. Sam and especially Henry are very gung ho to try this, excited that they won't have to wait until they turn 16 for the Wild Cave tour. We'll be back this summer, then.
Emerging from the cave, Sam took off at a quick trot up the long climb back to the lodge, so I chased after him, and we ran some more around the hiking trails. We both think cross country might be Sam's sport in the future.
Kate and Jodi eventually caught up to us, while Henry stayed behind:
We stayed overnight in Bowling Green, then continued south on Sunday to stay in downtown Birmingham, Alabama. There were several statues of Vulcan spread around downtown to celebrate Birmingham's ironworking heritage:
We also visited Birmingham's McWane science museum, which we all thought was excellent:
Jodi learned about block and tackle with a little help from Sam:
Kate tried out the bed of nails:
And both twins did the sky cycle:
After dinner that evening, Henry and I broke out the Dahon and rented a local bikeshare bike for a quick tour of downtown:
I thought these were e-bikes, and I pictured myself on the Dahon struggling to keep up with Henry. But after vainly searching for a throttle, I realized the only electric bits on it are the taillights and headlights:
So I took the bullet and rode the rental. It wasn't a great ride. The handling was scary floppy. The Shimano eight speed internal rear hub sounded and felt like I was pedaling a coffee grinder.
Every now and then I want to experiment with an internal hub, but each time I try one, they feel as bad as this.
The disc brakes stopped adequately, and the Big Apple tires rolled OK. That's about all the good I can say about this rental. At least it only cost me $3. I don't think it's going to convert many civilians to cyclists, though.
Monday we continued south to our final destination of Pensacola. We couldn't check into our AirBnB until 4:00, so we wandered around until we found a small beach:
And by chance we caught the Blue Angels coming home from a west coast tour:
That night we had dinner at Sam's namesake restaurant, where the good food made up for the ambiance that hasn't changed since 1983.
Our rental came with five bikes in a shed out back. For a ride the next morning, I picked the biggest frame they had, a large beach cruiser with a coaster brake. Which means Henry again got the good bike:
While the twins stayed home and chilled:
Though Kate wasn't so chill about this pillow. It says: "Home is Where the Beach."
"IS!" she says. "They forgot the IS!" It's now a running joke for us.
Tuesday we had a dolphin boat tour, where we saw a few dolphins, but mostly spent two hours trying to stay warm.
This is Kate between asking, "how much longer?"
After lunch, it was out to the white sand beach for the rest of the afternoon:
After that first chilly morning ride, Henry was a no go for bike rides, so I headed out to explore the neighborhood on my own.
I really started to appreciate the Dahon on this trip. It's not a bike for going fast on my normal park loop. It's a bike for fun rides, to enjoy a ride where you otherwise could not. On those terms, it's a bike that does its job well.
Wednesday morning, we headed to the Naval Air museum in Pensacola.
The twins next to a replica of the Fat Man atomic bomb:
Sam ready to defend us from Japanese Zeros, before we get back in our Honda minivan. Odd how things work out over time.
The boys in the F-14 from Top Gun fame:
After the museum, we crossed the street to climb the 177 steps to the top of the old lighthouse:
Where we saw the Blue Angels take off and do some practice runs. Good timing for us!
I wasn't bothered by the steps going UP, but coming back down the spiral staircase was a bit spooky.
By Thursday, everyone was worn out, and we pointed our Odyssey back north. We ended up driving the entire 840 miles/13 hours in one long day. Everyone was ready to sleep in their own beds, and plenty of DVDs made the long drive pass relatively quickly.
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