I've Been a Miner for a Heart of Gold
Sunday – 7/13
Months after we are back - I am just getting caught up on the last few posts of our trip. I had captured it in a Word doc, but just had not taken the time to post it to the blog.
Called up John and we are all getting a slow start. He has set up a whitewater trip for Monday, but we did not have any firm plans for today. I offer up a trip to an old gold mine, but he says his kids are not really interested. They would rather just hang by the pool and relax today.
When I explained the trip to my kids, they are excited. At the end you get to pan for real gold.
While I am talking to John, I get a call from Shifty. Seems he is in a tent right below us at the Town Square Mall hawking a new property they are building next door to the Hyatt. I head down with the kids to the Square. They have someone on stage singing John Denver songs and a bunch of tents with people selling jewelry, dresses and art. Jon is talking to people about the real estate development next door. I stop and talk for a bit and Charlotte joins in with some other kids doing hula hoop.
We then head into the front desk and talk to the concierge to get directions. She calls Country Boy Mine Tours and sets up the trip for us. We only have to show up for the 2:00 tour. The mine is just a couple miles from the hotel.
We head over and spend some time looking over some of the artifacts and displays showing how mining was done in the late 1800’s. Very educational and the kids are actually interested. Of course it helps that they are talking about sleeping with dynamite to keep it from exploding and striking it rich when they find gold.
They chase the burros and take a couple slides down the ore chute and then the bell rings indicating the start of our “shift” in the mine.
We head over to the entrance, don miners helmets (Charlotte and Georgia need to wear bicycle helmets as their heads are too small for the hardhats provided), and hear the safety talk. We hand them our brass tag that they hang on the wall (so they will know we have left at the end of the shift) and head down the shaft. Our guide injects a lot of humor along the way and we learn about how they drilled, blasted and hauled the ore out. The kids are especially interested in the fact that kids 8-14 were the ones who placed the dynamite and lit it. The average life expectancy of a miner was 5 years. This meant that a lot of families were left without a wage earner, so many of the kids went to work in the mines.
At the end of the tour, they hand us each a pan and let us try our luck in hitting it rich. The kids are bound and determined to stay until they find that big nugget that will pay for their college education. There are a few people that find some small flecks, but mostly it is fools gold in the pans. Still a lot of fun and the kids had a blast.
We then head back into town and meet up with John and Sue and family to celebrate Georgia’s birthday. We head to Downstairs at Eric’s, a family friendly location right downtown and midway between John’s condo and our place.
It was great getting together with John and his family and have a nice dinner. We then do some shopping on the way home before retiring.
Months after we are back - I am just getting caught up on the last few posts of our trip. I had captured it in a Word doc, but just had not taken the time to post it to the blog.
Called up John and we are all getting a slow start. He has set up a whitewater trip for Monday, but we did not have any firm plans for today. I offer up a trip to an old gold mine, but he says his kids are not really interested. They would rather just hang by the pool and relax today.
When I explained the trip to my kids, they are excited. At the end you get to pan for real gold.
While I am talking to John, I get a call from Shifty. Seems he is in a tent right below us at the Town Square Mall hawking a new property they are building next door to the Hyatt. I head down with the kids to the Square. They have someone on stage singing John Denver songs and a bunch of tents with people selling jewelry, dresses and art. Jon is talking to people about the real estate development next door. I stop and talk for a bit and Charlotte joins in with some other kids doing hula hoop.
We then head into the front desk and talk to the concierge to get directions. She calls Country Boy Mine Tours and sets up the trip for us. We only have to show up for the 2:00 tour. The mine is just a couple miles from the hotel.
We head over and spend some time looking over some of the artifacts and displays showing how mining was done in the late 1800’s. Very educational and the kids are actually interested. Of course it helps that they are talking about sleeping with dynamite to keep it from exploding and striking it rich when they find gold.
They chase the burros and take a couple slides down the ore chute and then the bell rings indicating the start of our “shift” in the mine.
We head over to the entrance, don miners helmets (Charlotte and Georgia need to wear bicycle helmets as their heads are too small for the hardhats provided), and hear the safety talk. We hand them our brass tag that they hang on the wall (so they will know we have left at the end of the shift) and head down the shaft. Our guide injects a lot of humor along the way and we learn about how they drilled, blasted and hauled the ore out. The kids are especially interested in the fact that kids 8-14 were the ones who placed the dynamite and lit it. The average life expectancy of a miner was 5 years. This meant that a lot of families were left without a wage earner, so many of the kids went to work in the mines.
At the end of the tour, they hand us each a pan and let us try our luck in hitting it rich. The kids are bound and determined to stay until they find that big nugget that will pay for their college education. There are a few people that find some small flecks, but mostly it is fools gold in the pans. Still a lot of fun and the kids had a blast.
We then head back into town and meet up with John and Sue and family to celebrate Georgia’s birthday. We head to Downstairs at Eric’s, a family friendly location right downtown and midway between John’s condo and our place.
It was great getting together with John and his family and have a nice dinner. We then do some shopping on the way home before retiring.