This is our homeschool group at the entrance to Mitchell Caverns. Roger and I are not in this pic. See if you can find Ethan, Jenny, Paul and Beth.
Roger took this picture of the stalactites shooting upward toward the ceiling of the cave.
Jennifer (pink sweatshirt) is sitting in front of the visitor center at Mitchell Caverns. It was an hour and a half drive east of Barstow along interstate 40. Definitely worth the trip but I wouldn't do it in summer, it gets too hot.
This is one of the Park rangers explaining how the formations developed from mineral deposits seeping into the cave. Originally the whole cave was filled with water he said from the sea but I think it could have been a big flood also.
This was taken along the 1/2 mile trail we took to get to the opening of the cave. The elevation here is 4300 feet. We could see the whole valley below it was beautiful.
This is close to our campsite called Hole in the Wall campground.
Paul and Beth were clowning around near the visitor center.
See the clouds in the background? That was the tail end of the rain/hail storm we had the night before. It pounded our tent all night and we ended up with water in the tent. Several of us had wet sleeping bags in the morning. The kids were still cheerful in the morning "happy campers" I guess you call them!
Beth is standing next to a vine that had several gourds on it that she and Paul discovered that morning. They thought they were pumpkins at first and picked them before I could tell them they weren't supposed to. Later at the caves the guide told us the Indians used them for bowls when they dried and musical instruments you shake.
The caverns and campsite were in the Providence mountain range. There were different varieties of cactus. The round barrel cactus were red..very pretty. This is home to lots of animals also; big horn sheep, ringtail cats, mountain lions, deer and the desert tortoise. Outside the state park boundaries people hunt.