I had read about some caves in Sonora Texas.
It wasn't far, so I thought I'd pay 'em a visit.
Warning: Excessive cave pictures ahead...
I was the only one there, but I had to wait a while for my tour.
The peacocks kept me company.
My tour guide, Nick, was really cool. He knew a lot about the cave.
This is one of the most open spots in the cave. Reminded me of Lord of the Rings when they go down in the Mines.
This cave is "alive." Which means it's still growing.
Water seeps through the rocks and leaves sediment and chemicals behind, "growing" more cave formations.
Some rooms were really dark, so I used the night vision lens in my camera. Here's a picture WITH the night vision lens...
And the same thing WITHOUT it.
The most common formation here was "Cave Coral."
This is called "Cave Bacon" for obvious reasons.
These are called "Helictites."
They grow in all directions, not just straight down.
They call these "The Draperies" because their flowing shape looks like cloth.
More draperies.
These are called "Soda Straws." They form like straws, long hollow tubes, and water drips down through them.
Eventually they get clogged and start growing outward, forming a "lion's tail" like this one. It takes thousands and thousands of years.
The Cave Coral reminded me of the breading on Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Some formations appear clear and smooth.
Others nearby are covered in the clumpy Cave Coral.
You can see the shine of wetness on a lot of the rocks.
But if you were to touch any rock - even for just a second - the oils in your hand would clog the rock's pores.
It would "kill" it. Nothing more would grow from the part you touched.
This was pretty cool. It's hard to tell, but this is actually a solid flat sheet. Some parts of the rock just formed crystal clear.
The dominant part grew like triangles, frozen in ice.
You could get right up close to the formations here. This picture was taken from one inch above this formation. Very intimate.
This is what the Caverns of Sonora are famous for - the Butterfly. This helictite formed NATURALLY in the shape of a butterfly! It's the only one of it's kind in the world.
After the tour, Nick (left) and the other tour guides checked out my car. Those guys were really cool. Then I hit the road west.
There's Paisano Pete, the giant roadrunner that guards Fort Stockton, Texas.
I got pulled over nearby. The State Trooper said it was because my rear license plate light was out, but admitted he just wanted to see my car.
I stopped for gas at a creepy unmanned gas station in the middle of nowhere. About a dozen stray cats inhabited the place... They kind of freaked me out.