Lessons learned

I'm sure it's taken time to calm down after my thrilling telling of my first real camping adventure. But hold on to your socks; it's time to hear about my first time caving.

OK, truth: I have been caving before. Kind of.

In Rexburg, we have ice caves. (What other kind of caves would we have up there in the good ol' Burg?) I went in them once. It was pretty much a straight shot to the end of the cave; located at the end was an ice slide. It was great, but it was nothing compared to this experience.

Honestly, I would have considered it a good day after the drive up there. Two-hour trip talking with three of my favorite girls? Yes, please.

We arrived at the caves, put on our head lamps and prepared to dive into the unknown.

First lesson learned almost immediately: headlamps were definitely necessary. I'm almost positive that I would have died in there had I not been properly outfitted. (Also, knee pads would have been a nice addition ... maybe some elbow pads, too.)

Second lesson: any further into the mud and I would have ended up barefoot. I barely went into the mud, and it took a surprising amount of strength to life my foot (and shoe) up.

Third lesson: I must stay thin. Those cracks, crevices and holes are SMALL.

Fourth lesson: stay out of any place with "hell" in the title. It wasn't really worth the terrifying moments of claustrophobia.

Fifth lesson: Hansel and Gretel knew what they were doing with those bread crumbs. I never thought I would be relying on intoxicated people to lead me out of a cave. (On the bright side, they did get us out.)

Sixth lesson: a white shirt was definitely the way to go. How else are you supposed to see how dirty you got?

Seventh lesson: a slide with rocks at the bottom is not worth the bruise. Trust me.

Eighth lesson: even though I have chicken-like arms, those babies can lift and pull me with the best of them. I definitely had some "I am woman, hear me roar" moments.

Al in all, it was a delightful trip. I learned valuable lessons but had fun in the process; that is the best way to learn.

Goal for next trip: come out of it less bruised.