Day two

It's day two on our trip! Today we explored the Lewis and Clark caverns. Slightly misleading, Lewis and Clark didn't find the caves, nor did they step foot in them. They actually walked right by them in a state of blissful ignorance. 

But no matter! They were still very pretty and while the temperature outside was nice and toasty, the caves stay an average temperature of 48 degrees. It was a lovely change from the stifling heat. 

The caves had many rooms and even had bats at the beginning! There was no natural light in the caverns after the entrence so things were dark. But thanks to the Civilian Conservation Corps (shoutout Mr. Hazen for the knowledge on that!) we had lamps to light our way on a comfortable journey! 

While everything was amazing, the pictures do not do the caverns justice. Here are some of the better ones: 

Although it looks like there was natural light in the caverns, there was actually special lighting in spots to make it appear this way. 

The stalagmites and stalactites were amazing! 

The wall formation on the right of the flashlight beam was called "cave bacon" due to its multi-colored layers. 

In front of the "popcorn!"

This was a waterfall formation and it looked like a frozen waterfall. 

Another look at the "waterfall."

This is Crystal Pool--ten feet in diameter and three feet deep, the water is extremely clear. If you look at the bottom of the pool, it may seem like you are looking at a reflection of the cave but you are actually seeing the formations at the bottom of the pool! 

These formations were very cool. While it seems as though the park shone some pink lights on the cave, these are the natural colors of the formations. 

After the caverns, we drove to Bozeman to camp for the night. We went into town and I bought Grapes of Wrath because there is a real, actual Barnes and Noble here! Super exciting! After hanging out and reading for awhile, we went to dinner at Johnny Carino's, which was delish! 

Tonight's sunset was very pretty!