He Said: Again - from the future. Only two days now. Turns out, those hooting yelling no good kids riding around on their bikes waking everyone up in the morning are actually ranch hands herding the horses in each morning. I learned this as I jumped out to put a stop to their tyranny not just for me, but for every parent. Today we did the Mystery Spot where the laws of gravity no longer exist. Well - no longer function in their proper form. Well - function, but look weird due to forced perspective. One of those roadside attractions where perfectly level surfaces shrink people, balls roll uphill, etc. Everyone got in on the act. Shannon and I a couple times. Ryan had to balance on a chair on the wall that might tip over if he lied. It was an awesome time. Everyone laughed, everyone enjoyed it. Great tour guide. The usual "if you liked it my name's Bill; if you didn't it, my name's Fred". (why are those the best imaginary names I can think up?)
Then we did Mount Rushmore Cave. We took the easy tour. It's still about an hour underground and mostly steps, one ladder. Some huge caverns. The kids enjoyed it. It also has a 7d interactive blaster movie/ride/game and a zipline that's a bit like a two person chairlift so kids can do it. The 7d movie was cool. G says it's what we already have at WEM. She went a second time by herself and some strangers and scored first place! Ryan backed out on the zipline at the last minute so it was G and M, then me and M. After that, back to the campsite where we took in the pool. This trip involves more splitting up than usual. We've sort of hit that age. It's a noticeable gap. Ryan isn't old enough and G's too old. Shannon took G and M to the water slide while Ryan and I hung out at the pool. I love hanging out with him, just like I did with Gillian and Mara at that age. Really, all he (they) need is someone to listen. That's asking A LOT though. He never stops. He's trying to make up stories, emulate my sense of humour (poor guy), think and deduce. "There's a tire in the water. I'm going to see if it's still there today. Because water can't move a tire. Only a bear can. Or hands."
She Said:
I was ready to not like the mystery spot because I know it's just tricks and optical illusions, but the feeling of standing on sloped ground when your eyes are telling you it should be level is quite queer. You can't convince yourself that it's just an illusion (kinda like when the moon looks larger on the horizon - you know it's not actually bigger , but can only see it as huge). Even when I closed my eyes it took a few moments to get over the vertigo feeling. It made us all giggle. Gillian wanted free time to play in it I think, but they wouldn't allow it.
The caves were cool. I thought I'd be claustrophobic but I wasn't. The tightest space was just enough to make me have to duck a bit. The "adventure" tour required being able to squeeze into a 10 inch space. I am quite sure I would not do well in that circumstance. But I wasn't nervous on our tour at all. Even at the deepest point where it was a half an hour through windy awkward spaces with 40 other people to get through if something bad happened. The zip line on the other hand. Forget it. If it was necessary for me to go on so that my kids could go, I would have. But was quite relieved to know I didn't have to. When G and M went together they screamed and screamed and M was thrilled to take Ryan's spot to go again.
The 7d gun slinging movie thing was alright. I beat Brad. Ha.