Ever since moving to Virginia, I've passed signs for Luray Caverns from time to time. It seemed like a safe bet that Luray Caverns were probably a cave rather than a mummified crusty body thing, so at least it had that in its favor. So last weekend involved a visit.
In a word: Amazing.
My only previous cave experience had been with Peppersauce Cave outside of Tucson, which involved belly-crawling 20 feet through a dark muddy hole in a mountainside in order to reach a dank slimy vaulted room. It was eery to be somewhere so dark and enclosed. A cool experience, but it convinced me I'm not a born spelunker. Alas.
In contrast, Luray is all lit and clean with a slick headphone-guided tour and some of the most surreal rock I've ever seen.
This set of drapery formations was at least 10 feet long. It grows about 1 inch per 100 years.
This is "Dream Lake," which is a perfectly still pool of water about 18 inches deep that reflects all the stalactites from the roof of the cavern and makes it look like there's a valley of stalagmites way down in a valley beneath you.
This cool beastie is a pipe organ that's hooked into a system of solenoids that trigger little rubber mallets to hit certain stalactites throughout the cavern. Each stalactite was specially selected for its musical pitch, so the notes you hit on the organ are actually what you hear back from the corresponding stalactite. 
This pool of water is used as a wishing well. The copper from the pennies reacts with the water and turns the underwater stone that green tinge. Every year, they clean out the well and donate all the money to charity. For example, they've donated nearly $200,000 to the American Heart Association.
Dude. Luray Caverns is way better than The Thing could ever be. 
My mom was diagnosed with cancer and needed to have surgery. It took several weeks to find a surgeon willing to do the operation for an uninsured patient, and it felt like I spent every minute of free time calling doctors and hospitals trying to find someone to help her. I've never felt so disappointed in the medical system. The bright side of the story is that we did finally find a wonderful doctor at UMC in Tucson. In an unexpected act of kindness, my residency program helped set up a 5-day leave of absence so that I could go help out. (Mom and Dad aren't exactly savvy city folks. The idea of letting them wander around Tucson unchaperoned is sort of terrifying, in and of itself, even without adding the layer of complexity involved in clinic appointments, surgery, post-op care, and hospital billing.) First things first, upon reaching the city two nights before her operation we went to Taco Bell. Mom basically considers this the Holy Land and actually said, "Well, if I had to get cancer, at least I got a taco out of the deal."
The truly beautiful side of the story is that the surgery went perfectly, there was no evidence of cancerous spread to the lymph nodes or elsewhere, and she recovered quickly after the procedure. 
In fact, by the next afternoon, she was sitting up in a chair cheating at cards again.
...and as of Monday evening, she and my Dad are back in Round Valley, puttering around in the podunk rural paradise they're much better suited for. Couldn't ask for a happier ending.
