Ohio Vacation: Day Four

Today was the day of the Kauffman family reunion - the main reason we made the trek east to Ohio - and it was held at the Ohio Caverns.  I've been slowly learning a little about Valerie's family but will not claim to be an expert by any means.  Valerie's father was Nelson whose dad was Alfred.  The reunion is for Alfred's family and all his sisters and brother's families.  All in all, there are not a lot of true Kauffman's around since Alfred only had two sons, Nelson, (who had daughters) and Vance, who had just one son.  It was neat to see how they had everything organized with separate books for each of the original Kauffman siblings.  Megan just got added to the book today and her and Alexa are of the 5th generation.  Valerie spent a great deal of time talking with other relatives and finding out more family history.  She was shocked to find out that the Kauffman's really came from Switzerland contrary to the original German belief.  They were Amish and then became Mennonites.

While Valerie soaked in all of this wealth of family history, John, his dad, Megan and I toured the caverns. Megan's naptime was really an hour prior so she was pretty cranky during the tour and fell asleep in my arms about two thirds of the way through. Sleeping babies are heavy!! Despite that, we really enjoyed the caverns. We had toured many caves growing up but I thought this one was especially fascinating. I couldn't believe all of the stalagtites hanging from the ceilings. They even introduced us to what's called the "soda straw" which is like a column but hollow in the inside where water flows through.  Here are some of my favorite cave photos.  I just realized that they all start to look the same after a while but they are still unique in their own special way.

Above the actual caverns was the picnic area where the gathering was.  I fell in love with this pile of rocks with the most gorgeous marigolds and red geraniums I had ever seen so I had to get a few photos of them.

At the end of the cavern tour, John found Megan a "pet" caterpillar.  I think she liked it.  I'm glad that this was Megan's "pet" instead of the bat that we found as we were climbing the staircase to exit the cavern!

And one more thing I need to add before I forget... I have now officially been in a Kroger grocery store and an HHGregg electronics/appliances store.