Mitchell Caverns

I haven't had the desire to go out or once out go home, but thankfully I've got some friends forcing me out and then distracting me once home.

Recently, I explored Mitchell Caverns about 2 hours away in California. Fascinating little story of how they became a tourist attraction. Basically some guy named Mitchell moved his wife out to the middle of nowhere CA to start a tourist site. I'm not sure how enthusiastic his wife was about the idea because as soon as he died, she sold the caves.


Path to the cavern


Inside

One of the rooms inside the cavern was used by Oliver Stone in The Doors to replicate a cave in New Mexico. Stone asked the park service if he could put cave paintings inside as the caves did in NM. Though he was told NO, he had them painted anyway. After the shoot, his efforts at cleaning the walls, made the paint sink in and deepen in color. The CA Parks Service demanded that he get the paint off the walls. Stone gave the same company that screwed up the first time a 2nd chance. They tried to sandblasters, but were caught and promptly banned from the caverns. So now one of the caverns is permanently marred with faux cave paintings.



This formation is called the organ, but oddly....


This is called the gnome. Whatever.

I've been looking to make a homemade face exfoliant for super dry skin. I found this one from beauty.about.com

Ingredients:

* 1 bag cat litter (must be marked '100 Percent Natural Clay')
* Water
* Drops of your favorite essential oil

Preparation:
Mix in a couple tablespoons of the cat litter with water and drops of oil (we find the oil helps make the experience somehow less kitty litter-ish)
Apply mask to face
Wash off after 15 minutes.