And now, we present to you... 

"The Adventures of Water-Can Man, Map Woman, Backpack Boy and the Flashlight Kid!"

On Saturday, June 30^th, we find our foursome hitting the trails once more… this time to discover Iowa’s best-kept secret: 

MAQUOKETA CAVES!

Little does anyone know… there are actually caves in Iowa!  Or so we had heard.  Now, the Fearless Foursome want to find this out for themselves.

As they creep slowly down the wooden stairs, they can feel the cool breeze and smell the damp earth.  Also, the trickle of water can be heard from somewhere down below.

Sure enough, after reaching the bottom step, they realize that they are in the entrance of a mammoth cave.  Following a path that parallels a shallow stream, they find that some places are large enough to stand up in as they walk along.  In other places, they need to bend over… or the spelunkers will get thunked in the head.

After enjoying the cool, and a little eerie, walk through the cave, the fearless foursome once again step out into the warm sunshine.  Seeing that the trail continues, they keep walking.  It isn’t too long before they see another cave just up ahead.  The sign on the post announces that they have reached the Rainy Day Cave.

“Rainy Day Cave?”  Map Woman questions, consulting her map again.  “I thought we were headed north!”

“We were,” the Water-Can Man calmly answers.  “But once we entered that last cave, it turned south and went under the road.  Remember?”

“Oh yeah, that’s right,” Map Woman quietly acknowledges, carefully folding the map back up.

After some deliberation, Map Woman decides to remain outside while the other three venture into this smaller (and wetter) cave.  The Flashlight Kid leads the way and Backpack Boy follows behind him.  Water-Can Man is on the tail end with his non-reliable camera, which by-the-way has the wrong date posted again.  (ugh!)

When the three guys are through exploring this cave, they all move on down the trail to the next cave.  This time, all four squat down to enter.  And, true to its name, Ice Cave is very refreshing… especially on a hot, summer day!

Next, it’s on to the Shinbone Cave and the Barbell Cave.  But, where-oh-where is the Wye Cave?  We can’t find a sign for it anywhere!  Perhaps we are on the wrong trail.

“Come on, you guys.  Be serious,” Map Woman pleads.  “I really do know where we are!  The map’s just too hard to follow!  It doesn’t show all of the trails.”

“Well, first of all, let’s figure out which direction we are going,” Water-Can Man calmly replies.  Turning to Backpack Boy, he asks, “Did you bring a compass?”

After thinking for a few seconds, Backpack Boy says, “Nope.  Sorry.”

Surprised, Water-Can Man stares at the bulging backpack and asks, “What do you have in that thing then?”

Without hesitating, Backpack Boy replies, “Tape, a dart gun, some silly putty, my plastic dinosaurs, some paper and crayons, nails, string, twistie ties, glue, bars of soap…”

“Okay, okay, that’s enough” Water-Can Man interrupts and then mutters under his breath, “we’re definitely going to be learning about survival techniques when we get back home.”

At this point, the hot and weary foursome decide to take a lunch break.  After finding their way back to the starting point, they drive back into town and eat at the air-conditioned McDonald’s.

And now, back to our adventure...

Refueled and rested up, the foursome head north this time on a different trail.  This one brings them past the first cave to a natural bridge. 

As they make their way through the bridge and into the valley, they are pleased by the many interesting sights that greet them.  A couple of fawns try to hide themselves in the tall foliage, but then curiously poke their heads out to study the human beings.  A chipmunk scurries about and some other type of round, furry animal wobbles over to his hiding place in the rocks.  But what was truly amazing were all the snails sitting atop the leaves of the tall plants on the valley floor!

The foursome continue to visit one cave after another, from the Up-N-Down Cave to the WIDE MOUTH Cave.

The Window Cave is “pane”-less, but the Match Cave looks a little more challenging.  Water-Can Man decides to take the lead this time.

As much as Map Woman would love to crawl right in with the others (cough, cough), she stays behind to study the map.  After all, it is her duty.  “Now, why couldn’t we find that Wye Cave?” she still ponders.  “It looks so easy to get there.”

Not ones for giving up and having explored all of the other caves, the determined foursome head back south to try, once again, to find the mysterious missing cave.  For indeed, it did appear to be missing.  Other hikers along the trail were confirming it by stating, “No, we haven’t seen it either.”

Finally, lost and certain that they had walked 26 instead of the 6 miles of trails, they stumble upon the last cave.  But, in order to enter the Wye Cave, they discover that they will need to climb DOWN into it.

“Uh, you guys go on ahead,” urges Map Woman, a little timidly. 

“Are you a chicken?” asks the Flashlight Kid, beaming from ear to ear.

“Yeah, maybe I am,” acknowledges Map Woman.  But deep inside, she understands her duty.  This time it is to hold back and allow her boys this opportunity to grow into men… for them to realize that they, indeed, are brave and bold. 

And perhaps that, and not the caves after all, was the greatest discovery of all!

~Connie~