Winter Holiday Trip (Part 4 of 4)

Our last day of vacation was one of my favorites.  Papa Echo had been told to 'make sure you drive up through the tablelands'.  We had seen little brochures about things to do on this drive so we stopped at a store for lunch items and headed out for yet another drive.  We showed the kidlets a brochure with "The Crystal Caves" shown and one of the kidlets (I won't say which one...) said it looked like it was just a rock store. We conceded that yes it was probably just a store.


The kids were less than enthused.  Big sigh...  we pulled the 'parent card' and said we were going anyway.

The drive was lovely and we came into the little town called Atherton.  The kids knew there was no reason to complain, we were going to go to the rock shop.  And frankly?  They always enjoy themselves once we go in.  The shop looked like any other rock shop.  Lots and lots of pretty stones...  geodes to crack open...  jewelry that I like but won't spend money on...  same old, same old shop.  As we were looking around, I knew that the 'crystal caves portion' was in the basement and I thought that I would just send Papa Echo in with the kids and I would wait upstairs. (I wanted to save the $25 adult admission price.)  But, as we went towards the back of the store, I saw that it wasn't just a boring stairwell going downstairs.   It was decorated to look like an actual cave. I was intrigued and decided to pay the money and take a look.

We were given hard hats with lamps to wear and told to enjoy and touch everything and take lots of pictures.   As we walked down the winding walkway into a man made cave with real gemstones placed in the faux rock wall, we realized we were seeing something incredible.  The kids were THRILLED!!  You felt like you were discovering these gems for the first time and the kids were encouraged to touch all the beautiful rocks.  The cave system was HUGE with over 600 crystal formations.

 

Towards the end of the tour, we came upon "The Empress of Uruguay" which is the worlds' biggest amethyst geode.

 Impressive, right?

So, here's the thing.  Finding amazing wonderful things to do in the middle of nowhere is happening all the time here.  We looked at and touched the world's largest amethyst geode in a tiny town 1-2 hours west of a smallish tourist town called Cairns. And the only way we knew about it was from little blips in some of the tourist pamphlets.  If this attraction was in the U.S.,  it would be located in a big city and admission would be higher.  Nobody would be able to touch the geode and to get your picture by it would be extra.  This entire cave was designed just as well if not better than anything I've seen at Disneyland.  And for anyone that knows me, knows that 'that' statement is saying a lot. 

The kids admitted that they were glad we went for the drive.  We ate a picnic lunch (in the car because it was starting to rain) and went to find some waterfalls.

We found our way back to Cairns with plenty of time to catch our flight back home to Brisbane.  I'm so glad that we chose to drive north and fly south.  It was a wonderful adventure to drive but flying home was a good way to end the vacation.

And speaking of flying?  Does anyone remember what it was like flying in the states before 9-11?  Because if you don't, come to Australia.  When we got to the airport, the kids were getting nervous and worrying about what was in their carry on bags (like lotion bottles and a lack of ziploc bags).  We told the kids that they didn't need to worry about that.  They also didn't need to take off their shoes.  And, if for some reason they set off the metal detector, they wouldn't get an invasive pat-down.  They would just go back, take off their belt and try again.

It made me get a little teary because I know that the security system in the states will NEVER go back.  And it makes me sad because we have lost so many rights because of the TSA and I don't think we are any safer.  It's really sad.

I'll get off my soap box now.  Thank you Australia for reminding me of what once was.

9-11

I remember.

I had spent the weekend in Billings, MT to see my first nephew who had just been born. My mom and I drove back to Salt Lake on Sept. 10th and I was to fly out that evening. There was a problem with that flight, and so I spent an hour at the airport trying to figure out how I was going to get back to Sacramento to my family. Flying out the next morning on American Airlines to LA or United Airlines to San Francisco and then taking a small plane to Sacramento were options floating around. At the last minute (and I mean LAST) they found a spot on a flight to Vegas and then a connecting flight to Sacramento. I literally ran through the airport to catch that flight. I threw my carry on and purse on the x-ray machine and then ran to the gate while my parents waited for my bags. I made that flight and landed in Sacramento just after midnight, Sept. 11th. Jason picked me up and we went to bed very, very late.

The next morning, Jason jumped out of bed (he had heard something on his alarm/radio that caused a jump out of bed instead of the normal, slap the snooze) and I laid there hoping that the girls would sleep in so that I could sleep in. Jason went downstairs and then yelled for me to come. I got out of bed thinking, "this had better be good buddy, because you probably just woke up the kids by yelling". I walked down the stairs and was confused because he was standing, frozen, in the middle of the living room, watching TV with the remote still in his hand. I asked what was going on and he had to tell me a few times because my brain could not wrap around what he was saying. We both stood there watching it replay over and over again. Then, we hear from our innocent little four year old coming down the stairs, "what is that?" (on TV) And I slowly turned and looked at little Jessica with her eyes wide, watching a plane fly into a building. We turned off the TV and gave an explanation... How we explained, I don't remember. How do you explain something that terrible? How do you explain that things will never be the same?
I was still glued to the TV, but not with Jessica and Alyssa in the room. We tried to keep them away from the details.

I tried donating blood that night, but the lines were long, and they had started a list to donate at a later date. I was finally called five months later. (That's how long the list was...)

I bought a red white and blue ribbon to tie to the antennae of my car a few days later.

The following week, one of my neighbors organized a little march . Very little. There were probably only about six families, but we walked around the neighborhood with flags and "patriotic" music.

Another neighbor hung a big sheet on his garage that everyone could sign. Once it was filled, it was sent to New York.

It was actually a blessing to move to Montana a year later. I couldn't begin my day without turning on the TV to see if "something else had happened". If I heard a crop duster, I froze. I didn't even enjoy going into San Francisco anymore because I was afraid. Moving to Montana helped me release the panic feeling I harbored.

I use to LOVE flying in big jets. I now have a lot of anxiety. We almost didn't go to the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake because I was afraid of what might happen during the games. (Thank goodness I didn't let fear get in the way of that!!)

I don't hold a candlelight vigil anymore on Sept. 11th (like I did for a few years), but I still remember.

I still remember.