Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Lord of the Rings/Cave Adventure

During my Sunday night Bible Study with Kristen and Cassie ( 2 volunteer teachers) we were talking about Lord of the Rings, and found out that Cassie had never seen it. She also didn't know anything about it, so we decided we needed to watch it. So, this past weekend, we had a Lord of the Rings marathon at the McCoy's home theater. We watched the first 2 on Saturday, and the last one Sunday afternoon. Cilla and Jessica joined us for all of them, and Judy joined us for the 1st one. Jessica had never seen them either, but enjoyed them enjoyed laughing at Gimli and Merry and Pippin. It was a long 12 hours of watching (extended versions), but we all enjoyed them.

While us ladies were enjoying the movies, some of the guys took the time to go to the big bat cave. Earlier this year, I went to a cave with Bill, Sam, and Kevin (see the spelunking blog), but they went to a different cave this time. This cave is a large hole in the ground that went down about 150 ft. As far as I know, no one had been all the way down it before, but Scott Dooley, Sam Bennett, and Ben Kumor (visiting med student) wanted to go. They practiced using the harness and climbing gear in a tree at the Dooleys this week and set out early Saturday for the cave with John, a national who was guiding them there. They all got down okay and got to explore the cave, however they had some trouble on the way back up. Apparently, the ascending apparatus wasn't working correctly. It took Ben 1 hr 45 min to get up after he had to fix it on the way up. Scott got up okay, but Sam was the last to come up, and was unable to make it.

He was suspended about 15 feet from the ground, and the others tried to pull the rope and him up, but were unable to do so. Once again, we are thankful for Digicel. They called for help and Andy, Jeff, and some college of nursing students took off to go and help them. Unfortunately, it was getting dark, and it takes about 2 hours (20 minute drive, 1:30 walk) to get to where they were and they really didn't know where this cave was. We were all praying and the Lord answered our prayers. Sam stayed suspended for about 2 and a half hours in the dark cave by himself with lots of bats (see red eyes above). Thankfully, they weren't flying at him, but he did get some bat droppings on him. Once the extra help got there, they were able to pull him out in about 15 minutes. They, then, all walked back to the vechile and drove home. Thankfully, only a few minor scrapes and bruises, but no serious injuries occurred. Despite the fun that they had, Sam doesn't think he will go again. I don't think I will go ever.