So Doug and I have reached our official resting place for the evening: Econo Lodge, Lebanon, Indiana.  It is past midnight and we have been driving all day.  We began by stopping off in Maggie Valley to say goodbye to the mountains that I so love and will miss so deeply.  I couldn't help but shed a tear or two during our last moments together.  After all, those mountains have really been there for me over the past 7 years; through it all, my heart has remained rooted to their unwavering spirit, and I will be eternally grateful.

Four hours and ninety dollars in gas later (yikes!), we made our second stop at super AWESOME  Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, the longest cave in the world!!!  The cave itself is hundreds of miles long, with untold miles yet to be charted, so needless to say, there are a lot of different tours and expeditions you can go on.  Unfortunately, Doug and I only had a few hours, so we chose the "New Entrance" tour, which was about three hours long and covered 3/4 of a mile.  The beginning of the tour lead us down over 300 steps into the very depths of the cave; the air was cold and moist as water trickled down the sides of the silky smooth limestone, continuing to carve away at the stone.  This was all rather majestic, indeed, but the real splendor came toward the end of the tour, with stalactites and stalagmites bursting out of every crevice.  I suppose I could go on, but I will leave you with some pictures of today's adventures.