Skiing February 2012

February 5, 2012. Eleanor's parents had a pair of passes for skiing at Whitetail but they realized they were not likely to have the time to take advantage of the them. So benefited and headed up to Whitetail the first weekend in February. It was a lot of fun: we got our beginner's lessons (I liked it better than than the last time he was on downhill skies -- last century, on the ice at Masanutten). But we were all focused on what we were doing and ended up with a dearth of photos.
Sarah arranged for a hotel not too far away so we could recuperate in the hot tub and pool. The next day, instead of going back to the slopes, we head to Luray Caverns. While our eyes adjusted to the lighting and we could see pretty well, even at an absurd Exposure Index of 51,200, the photos are still pretty murky. It's really impressive to me how well we could see in very little light. Of course, when the lights did go out (they are on timers and I guess our group asked a few more questioned than expected), it was really dark. February 5, 2012.
February 5, 2012. February 5, 2012.
February 5, 2012. After the lights did go out accidentally (and not for very long), Robert stayed very close to Sarah. And there was lots of wide-eyed looking around. The guide was good with some interesting and maybe a little bit scary stories but mostly just sticking to the facts.
What's hard to see in the photo below is those are curtain formations of stalactites. They hang down from the ceiling and look for all the world like shower curtains scrunched together. There is a light behind one of the folds to show that it's translucent -- very thin rock. February 5, 2012.
February 5, 2012. February 5, 2012.
February 5, 2012. February 5, 2012.
February 5, 2012. February 5, 2012.
February 5, 2012. February 5, 2012.
February 5, 2012. February 5, 2012.

It was a fun way to round out the weekend and really surprising that we've not been there before as it's pretty close to home. I'm tempted to see if I could get more time to take photos in the caves -- it might be a good place to try another trick of my new camera (the absurdly EI is cool): automated High Dynamic Range photos -- but that would require a tripod (and that the lights not go out on me).

Vacation notes:

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