Sinkholes and Caverns

Dave and I decided that we needed to be outdoors today, so I found that two state parks were within 1 hour of driving. Yesterday was spent sightseeing historic, often sad since they were battlefields and people died, and yet - very much part of United States history. Today definitely nature stuff. The first state park that we visited was Florida Caverns State Park in Marianna FL. This park was founded in 1937 when a private citizen's tree on his property fell over during a storm, and when he went to cut it up found that a hole was formed and it was hollow and caves were below. For the next 5 years the government hired people at $1/day to dig out the caverns to make it accessible to the public. Yesterday there were many tornados and huge storms (we missed them, thank goodness) in this area and all the rain caused major flooding in this area. As we toured the caverns we were dripped on by the stalactites with rainfall seeping through the earth. Pretty wet below, but awsome. About 1300 acres of the park, of which we saw just a small amount that was open to the public. Campground that was part of this park was flooded and the canoeing that is usually done was closed due to the high velocity of the water's current.

From there we drove back towards the campground (headed back west) and stopped at Falling Waters State Park in Chipley. This park houses the largest waterfall (73 feet) in Florida. We are spoiled - we have seen the largest waterfall on the eastern coast of the US - saw Hueston Woods waterfall in Maine last September. This FL waterfall has a 100 foot drop into a 20 feet wide hole. Amazing thing is we could not see the bottom of the sinkhole, and where did the water go? Underground - but where then? Also, this state park does controlled burns to keep the unwanted vegatation at bay, allowing the pines to florish.

Tomorrow, Sunday March 14, we will sit tight at the RV, relaxing, then Monday possibly head to Panama City Beach to a museum that houses diving exhibits and see the Gulf of Mexico.