Chapter Text
Chapter 11 – Nebraska
"Wake up, everyone! Time to get ready for our sight-seeing for today," Ziva hoped the smell of the cinnamon rolls and the orange rolls would get her family out of their beds. "We want to get to the cave early to get the cave tour we want before it sells out."
Tony stretched as he brushed his lips on his wife's. He put one of each roll type on his plate and poured a mug of coffee. "I got smart… I went online and make our reservations for the 0915 tour."
Ziva raised an eyebrow at him as the kids started coming into the kitchen for food. "I did not know that was an option. Thank you, neshama."
"I aim to please, Sweetcheeks," he grinned with a mouthful of orange roll.
The kids were discussing the unique geological features of the area in and around the Black Hills. The mountain range rises out of the Great Plains in western South Dakota and extends into northeastern Wyoming.
"It's like everything we've seen lately has been big, weird rocks, some with carvings on them," Anthony summed up the sights they'd seen the previous day.
"Or big mountains that the road has all sorts of twists and turns to climb up and down," Tali added, think of the Rockies and the Continental Divide that they had crossed over multiple times in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. "Jagged mountains that are very different from the rounder mountains near home."
Riv nodded her agreement, "And more colors in the rocks in the mountains and gorges. Pretty colors. The mountains at home are just gray and tree-covered."
Ziva joined her family at the table, "Remember that the Appalachians are nearly five hundred million years old while the Rockies are less than one hundred million years old. The Appalachians have eroded over time to the current rounder shapes. The Rockies stretch across the country almost twice as long as the Appalachian Mountains: 1,500 miles compared to 3,000 miles."
Tony looked over at his wife, "Impressive, Ms. Encyclopedia… Where did you acquire all this knowledge?"
"I read the displays at the parks…" she retorted. "You should have learned the same things."
Beth and Rivka shared a look before blurting out, "Definitely older than Abba!" All of them, even Tony laughed at that comment.
The father smirked at his children, "These old bones are going on a cave hike today. Try to keep up…"
"Seriously, Abba? A cave hike?" LJ perked up at the unusual activity mention. "Where?"
Ziva opened the website on her tablet, "It is called Wind Cave National Park. The cave is under the prairie and forests. We will be able to see bison, elk, prairie dogs, antelope, and many species of birds if we are lucky. Since we are going inside the cave, you will need to wear jeans and your walking shoes. You may want a light jacket to wear inside the cave as they say the temperature is about 55 degrees year-round."
"Why is it called Wind Cave? Did it form from the wind instead of water?" Anthony remembered learning about caves being formed from water eroding limestone.
"The cave gets its name from the strong air currents that blow alternately in and out of the caverns. The direction of the wind depends on whether the air pressure in the cave is higher or lower than the atmospheric pressure outside. The cave was not found by settlers until 1881, when two brothers, Jesse and Tom Bingham, heard a loud whistling noise. The sound led them to a small hole in the ground, the cave's only natural opening. It was regarded as sacred by the Native peoples of the area," Ziva read from the website for the park.
"If I remember correctly, we will go past that natural opening on the tour of the cave. I think we pass by it on the way to the man-made entrance where we enter the cave," Tony added.
The family dressed for the day and Ziva reminded everyone to bring a light jacket for inside the cave. She checked that each of the kids had on appropriate footwear for the cave hike as well. Since they were going to be traversing about three hundred stairs, mostly going down, and navigating tight places, shoes with sneaker-like soles and a closed toe are highly recommended. She also reminded everyone that no backpacks or large bags were permitted.
"Fanny pack, or carry it in your pocket," she suggested to Tali for her phone, knowing the girl would want to take pictures in the cave. "Anthony, make sure the camera strap is around your neck for the digital SLR, if you are planning to take pictures."
"Got it, Ima!" the boy held out the camera with a grin. "I'm ready to go."
Rivka sighed loudly as the group exited the van to pick up their reserved tickets and meet up with the rest of the group going on the first tour of the day for this particular tour. "More walking, why do we always gotta walk everywhere?"
"We get to see the interesting stuff by walking," Beth reminded her twin. "I don't mind at all. I kinda like seeing all of the cool things."
"I guess… well, if Abba can walk it, so can I… but I don't hafta like it."
LJ overheard the twins' conversation, "It's good exercise and fun. And Ima says it gets the squirmies outta me…"
The group including the DiNozzo family followed their tour guide to the shuttle tram that would take them to the tour start. Rivka smiled to herself as the shuttle started moving; at least one part was not walking on the tour!
At the natural entrance to the cave, the guide pointed out the small ten-inch by about eighteen-inch hole that made the largest natural entrance to the cave. He told them the story of how the Bingham brothers allegedly discovered the cave when the wind that was exiting the hole from the cave knocked the hat off one of the brothers. The more likely story was that they noticed the loud whistling sound made by the wind as it blew through the hole in the rock.
"We will be entering the cave via a man-made passage," he continued as he led the group further along the walkway. "When we enter, there will be a slightly declining walkway and then some stairs down into the cave. Please remember to hold the railings as you descend as the stairs can be slippery."
"How deep are we going into the cave?" Tali asked the park ranger.
"The tour we are on goes to about two hundred and ten feet; the cave itself has spots that are six hundred feet below the surface," he replied. "We will be in the mid-level of the cave."
In the many rooms and passageways of the tour, the family learned about the features of the cave and how they were formed. One rare feature, the boxwork was prevalent on the tour. The boxwork was formed when calcite filled tiny cracks within the limestone. Later, when the cave formed, water dissolved the limestone and revealed the delicate crystal fins that had filled the cracks. Wind Cave has more boxwork than all of the other caves in the world that also have this formation.
Cave popcorn, or coralloids, are small nodes of calcite, aragonite or gypsum that form on surfaces in caves, especially limestone caves. LJ thought the popcorn was funny, and he had Anthony take multiple pictures of the popcorned ceilings in the various rooms.
Several places on the narrow, winding passageways, the adults had to stoop down to pass through without bumping their heads on the cave's ceiling. Ziva squeezed Tony's hand a few times, using his rock-like presence to stave off claustrophobic impulses in the narrowest and most closed in passages.
The Methodist Church room had intriguing boxwork formed into a cross-like shape, hence its name. Tony, Tali, and Anthony captured many images in the room along with the other rooms and passages. Ziva had several images from the Post Office room showing the almost precision regularity in the delicate rectangular shapes of the boxwork.
At the end of the tour, the group split in two to ride the elevator back up to the surface. Tony glanced at his watch as the family exited to the outside; it was now about 1045, which meant after a quick drive around the surface of the park to see some of the bison in the herd on the park lands, the family would need to stop for lunch before heading to the next stop on their trip.
~Nebraska~
As Tony drove into the Oglala National Grasslands, Tali and Anthony noticed a cluster of prairie dog holes on one side of the road. Tony pulled off the road so they could all enjoy the sights. The kids could see the animals poking out of their holes to check out the surrounding areas. They all laughed at the critters popping up and down in their prairie dog 'town.'
There was grasslands for as far as the eye could see, with the exception of the Toadstool Geologic Park. As Anthony noted, the area was more 'weird rock formations.' A short hike allowed them to discover the unique, unusual geological formations, some in the shape of toadstools, and scientifically valuable fossil deposits. Once back on the road, as they traversed the park, several more prairie dog colonies and herds of pronghorn elk were viewed.
The final drive was back to Denver for the night. The following afternoon, the family boarded the flight back to DC.
"We saw quite a bit in just eight days," Ziva noted as the family waited near the gate for boarding. "Five states and eight National Parks. I am glad we got to see it all, even though I am tired."