Memphis International Airport Superthread

[Alisaura]

Hey Reggo and Chass and Liam

Chass ... people are fuckwits.

Also, I can't believe we're still in this airport.

 

[Alisaura]

OMG, metre-long gypsum crystals in a salt mine on a doco on TV...

 

[DreamOutLoud13]

Ali, you're adorable.

 

[Alisaura]

I can do that, but it's not much fun posting to yourself. And what if I have an argument with myself?

I guess that depends on who wins the argument.

 

[liamcool]

You missed the day I posted to myself. Nobody talked to me for a couple hours after that.

XD

I can't blame them.

 

[DreamOutLoud13]

Oh, did I ever show you my Mammoth Cave pictures?

 

[liamcool]

I guess that depends on who wins the argument.

I lost it.

 

[Alisaura]

Don't make me rockspam to finish the thread!

Come on!!

Woah, that pic is from Mexico... I wonder if I could get there in March...


I think I saw one of your Mammoth Cave pics, Chass, but not any more...?

 

[Alisaura]

I lost it.

There's always next time.

 

[DreamOutLoud13]

Oh man, Ali. That's that giant ass crystal cave in Mexico! I saw that on TV, they were actually able to go INSIDE the huge crystal. It was amazing.

Anyway, I only have a few photos that I snagged from my brother-in-law, since my camera chose that moment to die.

I'll do one photo per post to make this thread go faster

 

[Reggo]

Did everyone in the US with a credit card take stupid pills this morning?

 

[DreamOutLoud13]

Okay, this is the end of the main entrance passage. Ahead it opens up into the rotunda, a huge round-ish room, where sodium nitrate was mined for the war of 1812.

 

[DreamOutLoud13]

This is some of the mining equipment leftover, past the rotunda. It's all wooden and perfectly preserved in the cave atmosphere.

 

[DreamOutLoud13]

Going down a moderately narrow passage.

 

[DreamOutLoud13]

A pretty formation/pit.

 

[DreamOutLoud13]

The beginning of 180 stairs, straight up, to get back toward the entrance. We were 300 feet underground at this point.

 

[DreamOutLoud13]

That's it, unfortunately I'll be back though, and with a camera that works!

 

[Alisaura]

Oh man, Ali. That's that giant ass crystal cave in Mexico! I saw that on TV, they were actually able to go INSIDE the huge crystal. It was amazing.

Anyway, I only have a few photos that I snagged from my brother-in-law, since my camera chose that moment to die.

I'll do one photo per post to make this thread go faster

Wow, that sounds incredible.

 

[Alisaura]

Did everyone in the US with a credit card take stupid pills this morning?

I don't know...?

 

[Reggo]

You couldn't pay me to go in there, too claustrophobic.

 

[Alisaura]

Okay, this is the end of the main entrance passage. Ahead it opens up into the rotunda, a huge round-ish room, where sodium nitrate was mined for the war of 1812.

Nice... Is that a Christmas tree I can see at the back? *L*

Sodium nitrate... that makes things go boom, right?

 

[Reggo]

I don't know...?

The answer is 'Yes', Ali. Yes, they did.

 

[Alisaura]

A pretty formation/pit.

Woah, cool...

Was it cold in there?

 

[Alisaura]

The beginning of 180 stairs, straight up, to get back toward the entrance. We were 300 feet underground at this point.

That's a bit cruel, making you climb up all those at the end... *L* Did you have to climb down that many at the start?

 

[Alisaura]

That's it, unfortunately I'll be back though, and with a camera that works!

Thanks for posting them!

 

[Alisaura]

You couldn't pay me to go in there, too claustrophobic.

I think I'd be okay in there, it looks fairly roomy... what makes me freak out is the idea of squeezing through those tiny tiny gaps in caves, with like a foot of space between the floor and the roof, wriggling on your belly... No thanks!
And even worse if it's underwater or something... argh.

 

[Alisaura]

The answer is 'Yes', Ali. Yes, they did.

How come? Or rather, what makes you say that? Customers all being morons?

 

[DreamOutLoud13]

You couldn't pay me to go in there, too claustrophobic.

It's actually REALLY huge in there. There are only a few narrow places. But I can see how being underground could get at ya.

Nice... Is that a Christmas tree I can see at the back? *L*

Sodium nitrate... that makes things go boom, right?

Yes, a Christmas tree. This was the weekend before Christmas.

And yes, they use it to make gunpowder.

Woah, cool...

Was it cold in there?

Well, it's winter here, and it was actually warmer in there than it was outside. It stays a steady 56 degrees or so in there year round. That's 13 celsius. It's actually really refreshing to go in there in the summer.

That's a bit cruel, making you climb up all those at the end... *L* Did you have to climb down that many at the start?

There were hardly any stairs down on the way in. Well, there's about 50 stairs down that lead in at the entrance, and then a lot of the main passageways just slope down with a few stairs here and there. That huge lot of 180 was killer though. It goes straight up Mammoth Dome, which is a big vertical passage. It's really pretty though.

 

[Reggo]

How come? Or rather, what makes you say that? Customers all being morons?

Yup. And not the usual gang of stupid questions. The ones that make me wonder if they're wearing a helmet on the other end.

 

[DreamOutLoud13]

I think I'd be okay in there, it looks fairly roomy... what makes me freak out is the idea of squeezing through those tiny tiny gaps in caves, with like a foot of space between the floor and the roof, wriggling on your belly... No thanks!
And even worse if it's underwater or something... argh.

They offer 'wild caving' tours where you have to climb and squeeze and stuff. They require a chest and hip size no greater than 42 inches. My chest fails to meet that requirement. But I'm not fit enough/brave enough to do anything like that anyway.

The narrowest place on the tour we did was Fat Man's Misery, which got as narrow as a little over a foot in some spots, but it's actually only narrow below waist level. Above that it opens up at least a meter, so it's not so bad. I had to turn sideways at the narrow spots to squeeze my bigass hips through

Oh, and there's one place that's only a little over a meter high and you have to duck through it.