Underneath Nowhere

"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." -Philippians 2:9-11

Just when you think you've seen and done it all...
What could you possible do in the middle of this desert (nowhere), besides testing a 4-wheel drive truck while bouncing around like rag dolls?
A great rift in the middle of nowhere. For perspective, you might be able to spot the 4 people wandering in the desert, looking for...
...this! Ryan checks out the entrance (in the least safe manner) to Crystal Ice Caves.
The crazy crew gearing up. L-R: Chris, Joe, Shayna, Tyler and Ryan. Has anyone seen Ryan's helmet?
Chris (the Father figure) sets up the ropes because...
...if the fall doesn't kill you, not having a way out will!
Chris gives a fake "I'm sick and should have stayed in bed" smile.
Shayna makes her way down.
Tyler smiles for the camera...
...while his brother brings down the brick-loaded bag.
This cave used to be commercialized. However, they have closed off the entrance and now it is only accessible by rappelling through a vent shaft. This picture shows the tourist walkway which overlooked the...
...cool (literally) ice formations. You can see all the red rock dust on this one.
The #1 stalagmite ice formation.
Tyler and Shayna under a strange red glow.
Ryan takes a moment to think...
...a moment which has long since passed.
More eerie glowing ice formations.
I'm secretly contemplating a handstand...
...while Tyler enhances Shayna's ears.
After following the cave for a while down the mostly frozen stream, we came to another shear drop-off. Tyler keeps his foot on the rock to hold the rope while Ryan explores. (Mom - don't ask what the rusty stake is on the orange webbing.)
Action shots on the way back out.
There it is against the old cave entrance. (At least we didn't have to pay admission!) After climbing out of the Crystal Ice Caves, we followed the GPS coordinates to another cave entrance...
...which consisted of this tiny hole in the middle of the vast desert...
...and some rocks to tie off too.
Heading down into Sullivan's Cave.
Kids - Do NOT try this at home! But you can see that the hole opens up into a large room, which turns into...
...a large open lava tube. It took about 15 minutes to walk to the end, or at least to where rocks had fallen and blocked the tube. Who would have guessed there was such a large tunnel underground with just a little hole for an entrance...
...and beautiful colors and interesting features all the way through it?
What does a chinchilla eat and drink in a cave (besides our rope)?
Wondering if Nissan has any interest in this picture-perfect sunset.
The sunset as we make our way back to civilization.

Once again, I can only marvel at God's handiwork above and below the earth. Yet, it doesn't even begin to compare to our future home in heaven!

Now that I'm caught up on my adventures, you'll have to be patient for the next batch as I'll be home for the weekend!