The Journey: This Is Gonna Be Good

by Jill Hart

I love traveling. There is something about seeing new sights, exploring new cultures and learning about how others live that I can never get enough of. I traveled as often as I could finagle during my college and young adult years. I saw everything from Alaska to Germany to Israel and more.
When I became a wife and mother it became, quite understandably, more difficult to travel. So, I traded in my traveling adventures for books set in London, Paris and other places I hope to see someday.

This past summer my husband and I decided it was time for some summer traveling as a family. We live in the Midwest, so our kids have seen plenty of farmland, cattle and tractors. They hadn’t yet had the chance to see mountains or the ocean. I couldn’t wait to see their faces when they saw mountains for the first time. I remember feeling awestruck at the sight of the mountains coming into view against the horizon.

As it happened, the kids were exhausted, hungry and bored by the time the mountains first appeared. “Look!” I exclaimed, “Mountains!”

“Cool.” was the response I got from my daughter, Kaitlyn. From my son? A snore.

“Okay,” I thought, “Maybe that didn’t impress them, but there will be other sights on the trip that will.” We were planning a drive up Pikes Peak, visit Garden of the Gods and a few other “touristy” activities. Surely those activities would get them excited about the beauty of God’s creation around them.

None of our activities went as planned, however. Pikes Peak was a frigid-feeling forty degrees with nearly ten feet of snow on the ground. We experienced altitude sickness and, while we did our best to enjoy it, couldn’t wait to get back down the mountain.

Garden of the Gods was breathtakingly gorgeous, but by the time we got there with a picnic one evening, the sun was already setting and it was getting chilly. We sat and shivered through our meal and then clambered back into our van, substituting a drive around the park for our hiking adventure.

The following day, as we sat at a restaurant waiting for lunch to arrive, I dug out the visitors guide that I had tucked in my purse.

“Let’s see if we can find something really fun to do today,” I said as I spread the guide open on the table. Everyone had their own opinion … until we came to the page with a half-page ad for a cave tour.

“Let’s go there!” my four-year-old son son said excitedly pointing at the ad.

“Yeah, that looks awesome!” my daughter added.

“Really? A cave?” I wasn’t so sure about the idea. “Ok, well,” I stammered, “what do you think, Allen?” Maybe my husband would veto the idea.

“Sounds like fun to me,” Allen said as our food arrived. “Let’s eat and then we’ll head that way.”

All through the meal I sat dreading the trip to the cave. The only ‘cave’ I’d been in was the fake cave part of the bat exhibit at the zoo. The smell alone is enough to make me avoid that particular section of the zoo whenever possible. I pictured us in a dark, damp, smelly, cave crawling through the sections where the ceiling was too low to allow walking upright. “Well, it will be an adventure, I guess,” I told myself, trying to psych myself up for the tour.

Soon we were headed down the highway toward Cave of the Winds. As we wound up the driveway to the entrance the kids were chattering excitedly. We headed inside, found the ticket counter and purchased our tickets for the tour.

“I can’t believe I just paid that much to be dragged through a cave,” I mumbled as we got in line to await our tour guide. A few minutes later she appeared and led us into the hollow tunnel that connected the ticketing/gift shop area to the cave itself.

After a somewhat lengthy warning to never, ever, touch any part of the cave and a threat to confiscate our driver’s license should we decide to do so, we were ready for the tour to begin. Just as our tour group took it’s first steps forward I heard my restless four-year-old sigh loudly.

“This better be good!” he declared.

My four-year-old’s words echoed off the hollow walls as my face turned deep shades of red. I guess he had heard my grumbling after all. The entire group was silent for a moment and then, as if it hit us all at the same time, everyone burst out laughing.

“Well,” our tour guide said as she tried her best to control her laughter, “I guess I have my work cut out for me if I want to impress him.” We all followed as she turned and led us into the cave.

The cave tour ended up being the one of the highlights of our trip. We had a blast exploring and making discoveries as a family. The goofy picture they took of us is now my daughter’s most treasured possession.

It struck me that night as I sat watching my kids playing with their dad in the hotel pool. This, my family, is the most amazing adventure I’ve had yet. This journey that we’re on together as a family – this is gonna be good.