i had already known what to expect once we got there since i had read nathan
connor's book, exploring the mines several times growing up. in his book, he
compares the underground mines to a massive cave, waiting to be explored (connor
45). i must say, with my first visit to the coalmines, that's exactly the feeling i got as
the mine elevator slowly took us down into the dark, cool underground maze. i can
still remenfiber squinting to try to adjust to the darkness, and even feeling a little
scared inside as we went down that first time.

i need more information about this article .

the present continuous is a verb tense which is mainly used to indicates that an action is in progress at the moment of speaking.  

it is formed using: person + verb to be (am/is/are) +verb + - ing form  

example: i am studying at this moment .

in addition, the present continuous is also used in order to express things that will or will not happen in the near future.

example: i am having dinner with some friends tonight.

the speaker sometimes   uses it   to express that an action is repeated and it causes irritation on the part of the speaker

example: my sister is constantly complaining about everything.

the first option is the answer