Monday we faced a long drive home from Butte, but we made it interesting.
The Berkley Pit was closed, but we hiked up the hill to take a look at what we could.
The headframes are lit with red lights at night and were visible from our hotel, so we wanted to get a closer look. It was interesting to see evidence of both mining styles - the underground and the pit.
The weather was cool, but the trek uphill felt good, especially knowing how long we would be in the car!
No way I could have been a miner - or married one.
Handsome fellas
Back in the car and driving west, the kids joined their class meets. No absenteeism on our watch! There must be perks to distance learning...and road trips are one!
We stopped in Wallace to do a silver mine tour (it proved to be educational for many unplanned reasons!). Into the hillside we went!
A token canary. Turns out they aren't needed when not mining organic matter, so this one was just for show.
It was damp inside the tunnels and tight quarters. No thanks.
We learned about tailings ponds, mine disasters, watched some equipment run, and simulated a blast. It was a great tour.
Afterward, we kept going home. It was a special road trip, strangely made possible by Covid restrictions. We will be back to school in person in a hybrid form next week so this feels like stolen time. Huzzah - a bright light in 2020!
No comments:
Post a Comment