Today we hung around the house reading, watching TV, playing, sledding, and such. We also went on a short gold mine tour at Country Boy Mines. That was exciting and very interesting. My favorite parts were petting the donkeys who are allowed to roam the property, which isn't even fenced in, and watching the boys trying to pan for gold after the tour. The tour itself was nice. We were brought into an old mine which is now only used for tourism. We went 1,000 feet into the mine and saw into a couple other areas. It didn't seem very far from the front to the back while we were in it, but when we turned to go back it seemed like we could see forever down the long cave. It was wet and is about forty degrees year round. During the warmer months they pump air into the tunnel so that there is plenty of oxygen, but during the winter there is plenty naturally. They have also set up electricity for the purpose of the tours. We saw a couple "miners" (manniquians) working in the mine. Otherwise we were told the history of the mine and how it worked and were the gold was found. Now, no more gold nuggets are found but there was a lot of gold flakes in the panned water.
Here are a few pictures of the tour and our mining adventures:
The mine.
Me in the mine. Shaun was shooting the pictures from behind us.
Inside the mine, showing the tools used.
Part of a donkey. I told Shane this was the only time I'd let him use the word "ass" but he decided he'd rather not. Good boy!
Part of the mine that was blocked off from tourists.
The boys in the mine.
Danger in the mine! Although there wasn't usually any danger as the rocks take years to pile up. No deaths were reported in this mine, but there may have been unreported deaths. They may not have been reported because the mine owners wanted financiers.
Shaun panning for gold. The boys were hopeful.
The boys panning for gold. They each got a couple tiny gold flakes which they kept in small viles that Shaun bought them.
This is our "old fashioned" picture. They do take them there, but they weren't doing it while we were there so when we were left alone for a few minutes we snuck over to the costumes and took our own picture, with just hats. We were almost caught! The boys thought it was great that I did this. I can be sneaky now and then, as long as it's legal.
The sun was in our eyes. Logan was "heehaw'ing" as the donkey. The boys fought momentarily over who got to be the donkey. I steered clear of that one.
As we were leaving the mining area we saw the Breckenridge ski slopes so I got a good picture to share. We could see the area we were at for lessons, but I can't tell in this picture exactly were that was. If you see blue fences, that's where we were! I'd need a magifying glass and to have it blown up a lot.
Here a are couple pictures and videos from the evening's sledding:
Shane sledding. There were a couple kids on the sled hill beside our house when we got home from the mine tour so our boys ran out to play. The other two kids were visiting their grandparents who live on our block full time. Earlier in the week there were a few other kids visiting at another nearby house who sledded with Shane and Logan and then built a snow man while we were gone. The snow man is mostly melted now. You'll see Logan playing on it later in a video below.
The boys on the snow dump in front of the lot. This lot won't be built on as it's designated to be only a snow dump. It's nice because it's right next to our house and that means less neighbors and a good hill for the kids to sled on. When the snow is dumped there from our road and circle it becomes two hills, the lot and the snow dump, which the kids slide down one after another by combining the two. They make a good "bump" to start the second, smaller hill.
Logan walking the top of the snow dump. You can't tell how tall the lot and the snow dump are in these pictures and videos. Believe me, they're big enough for lots of fun!
Logan loves to sing and dance and is quite a ham when Shaun is shooting videos with his camera. Shane went down the hills a couple times during Logan's show. There are two videos of today's sledding but it takes too long to upload the videos today so maybe I'll try another time. After more than an hour of trying I'm giving up and going to bed so that maybe I can be awake during part of the drive home.
Happy trails!
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