I'm getting behind and I hate getting behind! I still have a birthday letter post for Abby to write and tons of other stuff to get in here before August comes to and end. So, let's take a step back to mid July when we took a trip to Iowa for a Ritterbusch Family camping trip. For quite a few years now we've worked to get at least one summer event planned with the three families, getting the kids together to play and enjoy some time together. Even though we only live about 3 hours apart, we don't get together nearly enough and we have to get better at that. But! We were able to pull off a camping trip to Spook Cave this year and boy did the kids love it!
I remember visiting Spook Cave as a kid, so this spring when I was frantically looking to replan our entire set of summer vacations, getting in as much camping as I could, I was excited to see that we could get sites just 10 miles away from Spook Cave. Having been back there now as an adult, maybe we should have camped right there on the privet campground, but we ended up booking sites at one of the state parks near by - Pike Peak state park. The campground itself was small, which meant that even though it was full that weekend, it didn't feel overly crowded.
We arrived on Friday afternoon and my parents were already there and set up....Joey and Andy came the next morning and I swear it was as good as Christmas morning for the kids. They could not WAIT to see their cousins. We had a low key weekend, hanging out at the campsite, hiking, geo cache-ing (the first time we were successful at it...the kids are now hooked), and we even snuck in a round of Mall Madness. Yep, the game from the late 80's/early 90's. I recently sprung for a vintage set and I can't tell you how happy it made me to bring it out and play it with Joey and the girls. It was so fun...and so worth every penny I spent on it. I'm not typically a keeper of things (especially toys we've grown out of...but playing this, now 25 years later makes me rethink throwing the kids stuff out....).
In the afternoon we loaded up into the cars and drove over to Spook Cave. It's funny because I remember going there as a kid...I remember being in the little flat bottom boats and going through the cave tour, but what I remember most about the place was how close it sat to the railroad line. My memory of us waking up in the middle of the night to a train zooming past just feet from our campsite flashed back immediately when we drove into the park. I can't tell if they are my own memories, or Mom's (I know SHE vividly remembers it...she was sure we were about to die from the train skidding off the tracks or that we'd accidentally set up ON the tracks somehow) but either way, Spook Cave was a hit for the kids for sure!
The little boat tour lasts about 30 minutes in which they take you in through a TINY little hole (you basically have to crouch down in the boat to get through, I think they said there is 10 inches of clearance), and you get to see the inside of the cave. Apparently, it's somewhat man-made, the pump water in to make it deep enough to accommodate the boats - but otherwise it's a naturally made cave and they've been doing tours there for quite some time. Over the years, the infrastructure around the campground has grown...there was a huge swing-set area that the kids loved, an ice-cream shop, oh, and they sold beer that you could take along on the boat tour. All it all, it was worth it, but not inexpensive! I think the kids will remember it just as I remember being there as a kid.
If nothing else, it was a great weekend with family and a tradition that we just have to commit to sticking to! I'm glad we were able to get everyone together and to enjoy a nice weekend as a family. As we head into fall here soon, I'm already feeling a little mournful about what the holiday's will look like during COVID. I feel like lots of the traditions we're used to might not happen this year. But, I'm really trying to stay positive, focus on the good (and the present) and trust in our ability to still make the year (and holiday's) fun for the kids.
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