After having spent over a month away from Florida between DC, Greece, and Boston, I decided I was in desperate need of another OAR trip. Who really wants to stay in Florida anyway, especially when there are caves and waterfalls elsewhere? Mike and I were both in Jacksonville, so we carpooled and met up with everyone at a Walmart in Lake City. The plan was to leave my car there and hop into the other cars. However, Nina's engine caught fire or something (I know less than nothing about cars), so we had to take mine. I was ok with this until we reached the campsite. It was down an old wagon road not intended for normal cars. It bottomed out at least six times, even when I let Nina drive. Still, the cave was really cool. I still prefer vertical but horizontal has its merits as well. In this cave, there was a room with a bunch of little lakes and puddles, divided by formations. It was here that either 1) Mike was clumsy and fell in of his own accord or 2) Nina pushed him into the water. No one will ever know the truth since they were the only two witnesses and they vehemently defend their own view of the situation. I tend to encourage the rumor that Nina pushed Mike because it is funny to watch him get so indignant about it. After going to that cave, we all changed and hung our dirty clothes in trees. We went to another cave with a waterfall. I made the mistake of trusting Jeff and wore flip flops. It was manageable but I moved very slowly. That night, we decided to go for a swim in a nearby natural spring. We spent at least an hour roaming through someone's pastures, fields, and forests in search of the spring until a random dog led us there. A bunch of people jumped in, claiming it was way too cold as soon as they surfaced. I'm not one to admit defeat, so I acted like it was no big deal and jumped in. As soon as I hit the water, I was certain that my body was revolting and I thought I might have collapsed a lung or stopped my heart. Yet when I emerged, I sputtered out that it wasn't so bad and swam to shore as quickly as possible. Pride is something I clutch on to very tightly, even when I'm being an idiot. 
The next day, we set off for De Soto Falls. This was another instance where I regretted having my car. Even though I swear I wasn't even speeding by more than five miles per hour or so, I got my first ever speeding ticket. It claimed I was going 73 in a 55, which definitely isn't true. Either way, that $154 combined with the $350 bill from my mechanic post trip made me really regret taking my car. At least De Soto was worth it (sort of). We set up a rappel over the water that stopped in midair about 20 feet up. The thought of rappelling of the end of my rope terrified me. Everything I had learned up to that point about rappelling and safety highlighted staying ON the rope ALWAYS. Once again, I let some idiots talk me into risking my life. After they had all done it, of course. It was AWESOME. The only part I didn't like was swimming with my harness and gear still on but it was worth it. The climb back up to the top was also a lot of fun, climbing rocks and scrambling almost the whole way. Events occurred: July 20-22, 2012
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