See Ya Later Alligator

We're officially on the road! Edie dressed for the occasion...

And this is the view we left behind, it will definitely be missed...

One more pic from our departure, this is the whole family ready to go...

Day one is done.  We drove about 400 miles to Sonora, TX.  The drive was not bad at all and Bear and Edie slept most of the way.  OK, Bear slept the whole way, and Edie took a couple good naps between stops.  Our first pit-stop was Schulenburg to feed Edie and gas up, and then we stopped in Kerrville and stretched our legs, made some sandwiches, and bought a Texas State flag (yes, we plan on being "those people").  Edie even got a turn behind the wheel :)

Well, she got to stand behind the wheel, while I finished eating my lunch...

Our next stop was Sonora.  Neither of us has ever heard of Sonora, but we learned from billboards along I-10 that it houses "Mother Nature's Mona Lisa."  We just had to check out the Caverns of Sonora.  The website touts it as "the most beautiful cave in Texas and one of the most beautiful show caves in the world."  How could we read that and not go see it?!?  Yes, we were tired.  Yes, we had a baby and a dog in tow.  And yes, it was 15 miles from our hotel.  We went anyway, and man are we glad.  It was truly amazing.  I have never seen anything like it in my life.  If you're going through Sonora, I highly recommend stopping.  They even have kennels for your dog to stay in while you take the tour.

We were worried when we arrived, because the employees kept telling us how hot it was, and recommending that we strip Edie down to her diaper, but if you're from anywhere near Houston, it will actually feel cool to you.   The tour took about 1 hr and 45 min, and in that time we saw some pretty incredible cave formations.  Here are a few pics that I took while we were down there...

This was the first open space we came to

Alex and Edie (they gave us a cooler carrier to use so Edie wouldn't get so hot)

Alex and I and the top of Edie's head (you never know what you're going to get when you hand your camera to a stranger)

Edie taking in the sights

The following are some of the awesome formations we saw...

This was taken looking up at the ceiling.  I know about stalactites and stalagmites (they grow down from the ceiling or up from the ground), but these were growing out to the sides. They're called helictites.

These are underwater formations that were uncovered when they were trying to connect two of the rooms

We may have been tired, but this was a stop that was definitely worth making.  Plus, it got us out of our hotel room.

Ok, we're turning in for the night, but hope to have time for another update tomorrow.  Until then, know that we're thinking about all of you back home and we miss you already!