Bat Watching and More

Have you ever sat in a chair and watched a million bats fly out of their cave for their supper of bugs?  Or look at Saturn and see its ring?  Or shop at all the antique stores on main street?  Have you ever explored a cave?  It's all amazing. 

Dad had been looking on the computer a while back and saw something about Selman Bat Watch in Oklahoma, and was interested, so put our family name in the drawing to get a chance to watch 1 million bats fly from a cave.  As it turned out, we were picked out and got to take a trip to watch some bats.

We went to Woodward, Okla., on the 25th, got a hotel room, and ate supper at Carl's Jr.  Next, we drove out to Alabaster Caverns State Park and hooked up with the right people so that everyone in charge knew that we had made it.  We were shown to a meeting place where all 75ish people were to be to get more information about the bats. 

The tour guide told us some interesting facts, asked and answered questions, and soon divided the big group into three little parts.  (Each group then had its own leader.)  The group names were Moths, Bats, and Owls.  As they said, "do you see the pattern?"  That's right--the moths are eaten by the bats and the bats are eaten by the owls.  Of course, my family and I were in the moths group...

Our guide (white shirt) in the Moth group.

 

 

 

One of the other two groups.

All the Moths climbed into a school bus and were the first to the nature trail.  Thus, we got to hike on the trail, hear the stories, and experience it all first.  We crossed a creek, looked at plants, and heard still more about bats.  We stood somewhat near the cave opening, but weren't allowed to get too close.  They said a human would soon die after entering the cave because of the ammonia. 

When we finished the walk, we got some water to drink and took a seat on our chairs to watch the bats.  The bats had been coming out around eight o'clock, however, on this night they waited until nine.  So as dusk was settling down, the bats began to come out.  They came out as a ribbon or river form and kept coming.  And kept coming.  Wow.  They didn't fade away.  For about thirty minutes the adults came out of their cave to eat bugs.  I mean we hadn't even see the pups yet!

 


This picture shows a lot of bats. See the stream of bats in the bottom right corner?

 

 


As it grew dark, the end of the million or so bats showed itself and the guides rounded up the Moths, Bats, and Owls, and we all headed back to the State Park.

Because of the time of year we were down there, there was a "star party" near by.  If you've never heard of them, it's a spot where a bunch of telescopes are set up (Nice telescopes) and anyone can look through them for free.  There are also really smart people near by who tell you all sorts of information about the stars you are looking at.

We saw Saturn!  It was amazing.  The people in charge showed us major constellations and other stars, including one star that looked blue and another that looked gold.

26th
We slept in as late as our bodies would permit and soon checked out of the hotel before 11 o'clock. 

I enjoy going antique/junk shopping and successfully got my family to take me to a shop on Old Main Street in Woodward.  It turned out to provide three stores of my liking and we went to each one.  

At the first store, I liked almost everything I set my eyes on.  Yes, that happens all the time, and sadly I usually leave the store empty handed.  But this time, I had money and a mind set to buy at least one thing.  I bought a knife, fork, and spoon, all of which don't match; the knife has a heavy pinkish handle, the fork is a common silver fork with a tiny flower carved in it at the end, and the spoon is a baby spoon, but it matches the knife, so you know what happened.  And I mean they were only a dollar...

At the next one, I didn't find anything I really wanted to have.  I looked through some books, but didn't find any good ones.

When we went to the last store, I fell in love with it right away.  It was once a hardware store and just the building itself was gorgeous.  It went on and on!  Each room had a wonderful feel to it.  50's on Five was playing great music over the speakers and the man who owned the store was super nice.  

I found all sorts of things, some out of my price range, some too big to take home, but I did find a cute apron and outfit for Ambrosia, my mannequin.  I bartered with the man and got the Pendleton suit for a very nice sum of money...and by the way, it looks perfect on Ambrosia.

I figured I ought to show you Ambrosia in her new outfit.

After the perfect morning of shopping, we drove back to Alabaster Caverns and with our tickets got a tour down in the cave.  That was fun.  Our tour guide was very interesting and fun, the people with us were all great and friendly, and it was so cool down there!  (I mean temperature cool.)  We walked from a 100 degrees sunny place to a 56 degrees dark cave.  It felt wonderful! 

Cave opening

 

The path in the cave was made from concrete but over time spots have been covered with clay dirt and that mixed with water turns into a sticky, slippery mess.  Thankfully there were rails to hang on to.  And everyone was expected to catch any falling person as if they were long time friends.  (No one fell that badly, however.)
 

 

We saw two salamanders in the cave and a few animal tracks.  A stream ran through the cave and added a really neat sound to the flip-flops on smacking mud.  In one spot at the cave the lights went out on purpose for one minute.  It was really dark but also really neat to know how it felt to be in the blackness.

 

Look closely and you can see the salamander.

The tour ended too soon and we were all thrown back into the 100 degrees, so to speak, but thankfully we didn't have to walk back to the camp grounds, instead they drove a van back for us.

 

 This picture above makes it look like it was a tight fit in the cave, but it was not.  The lowest spot was one of the original trails, a person just had to bend over, and people don't have to take that trail.  The over all spots were nice and big.
  

 

 

 

I know, this is a blurry picture, but I wanted to show the cave and the people.

 

The exit of the cave.

 

Our tour guide (in front).  She was great.

 After the cave, we began the drive back home.  One of the many things that was good about this trip, we didn't have to drive hours and hours to get home.  We only had to drive about two hours to reach home!  So nice.  

This trip was a blast!  I enjoyed every part of it.  : )
 

My family.
(L to R) Mom, Me, Little J. Big J. and Dad

Dad, Big J. (standing in back) and Little J.