Field Trip

Last week we went to Bisbee, AZ to take a tour of a copper mine.  The Copper Queen mine.  The history was fascinating and our guides had actually worked in the mine before it's closure in 1975.  We were at level three and there were four more below us.  We learned about the mining processes and the changes and hazards.  

It boggles the mind that men worked underground with nothing but a candle for light back in the earliest days.  Ten to twelve hour shifts were worked and the conditions were so dangerous.  

Riding the rails into the mine.

We ended up in a great big open space of connecting tunnels and I was so aware of pressure in the air.  I don't have claustrophobia but I almost felt a panic attack like feeling trying to overtake me, which was so odd as I have been in caves and as I said this room was very, very large.  I had to ask, and we were 600 feet below the surface.  I think I was feeling sad for the mountain or the miners that died there.  It was almost overwhelming until I made myself focus on what the guide was saying.  

We had hard hats, safety jackets/vests and big leather belts that held the battery packs for our flashlights that each of us had to wear.  It was cold down there.  

The town from the mouth of the mine

Copper Queen Hotel

 After our tour we went to the Copper Queen Hotel restaurant for lunch and took a teeny walk.  We didn't have time to walk the town and the shops/museums as we had to get back home for Gracie.  We did stop in an olive oil shop so I could pick up a bottle of roasted garlic oil.  The owner was a talkative sort and we learned interesting things about Bisbee.  It has an art/music scene that draws people from all over the world.  Seems odd, old little town perched in the desert mountains, far from anything, but it's worth a wander.  If we find the time we may go back for a wander through the shops.  Our time here in Benson is already half gone.
 

The mining museum had large rocks on pedestals from the mine

 

Turquoise, malachite and azurite are in these stones

On our way back to Benson, Larry had to slow to a stop on the highway as these little pig looking scruffy beasts wandered across the road.  They were javelinas.  They are not pigs, they are of the peccary family.  They top out at about 45-50 pounds and you don't want to mess with them.
 








 

This beauty had opened it's flowers while we were gone

We are enjoying our month here in Benson.  Not a whole lot to do but we love this RV park and the people are all great.  It's been emptying out though as the leaseholders head to cooler parts of the country for the summer.  May through September this place only has about 90 people stay through the summer.  There's 347 lots here.