WST Day 10: Mines, Missions and More States

We left Gardiner very early to make it to the Butte Post Office right after it opened. FB is correct – mailing some presents as you go is much easier than trying to keep track of everything as you travel. Plus the recipients are always tickled!

While in Butte, we visited the Montana Tech’s World Museum of Mining. We declined the “into the mine” tour because I was chicken – I don’t mind the dark, but the thought of being 600 feet underground unnerved me. Also, the first tour didn’t begin until 10:30 and we had Washington in mind for today.

The museum was fascinating. We discovered amazing rocks that glowed when placed in black light.

We found samples of stones we craved to own.

 






But the centerpiece of the museum is the restored mining town of Hell Roarin' Gulch.

 We posed before appropriate buildings and devices.

FB enjoyed this place.

He poked around fire engines, stamp mills, boilers, compressors the size of small houses, old cars and even an Davenport steam engine sitting on rails.

The two parts of the mine-workings that awed me were opposites in every way. The HUGE machine that drove the winder that raised and lowered the cables carrying men and ore left me speechless, especially when I even thought about the noise it must have produced! On the other end of the spectrum was the detailed, finessed, almost dainty sculpture that is a 3-D map of the mine's shafts and tunnels. 

We left Butte and headed west toward Washington. While we were on I-90 still in northern Idaho, I spotted a statue along side the highway and later found it was the Sunshine Mine Memorial. In 1972, nearly 100 men died in the mine during an underground fire. the miner's headlamp points toward the surface, in hope.

Just before we left Idaho, we turned off to view the Mission Museum, actually we turned off for a potty break. The Old Mission is the oldest standing building in Idaho. It was built in 1853! (I inner chortled at the pride taken in that fact. How could I not? I was raised just up the street from Wadsworth Cemetery possessing headstones from the 1600's and I live near St. Augustine, the oldest city in the nation.)

 Regardless the mission is gorgeous inside and out. The Jesuits built it with the blessings and help of the Couer d'Alene Indians who thought it was one home of The Great Spirit. 

 

We passed Spokane, which looks pretty much like another other city from the interstate. I was intrigued by the former generating plant that has been re-purposed into an upscale mall and restaurant. It reminded me of the old plant in Tarboro that now houses a Mexican eatery. Nothing ever goes to waste, I guess.

Washington State looks pretty much like the Dakotas: mountains that take your breath away, then rollings plains. I was surprised as I expected bays and waterways, not miles and miles of wheat fields. I've always thought of Washington as green, guess I better go more north next time.

At dinner tonight, in keeping with the spirit of this trip, I tried a new cocktail: Brave Bull - tequila and Kahlua. Nancy agreed it was pretty good, as she enjoyed her spinach wrap and FB his meatloaf. No, I did not drink dinner, I had my first ever Hawaiian burger.

We have reached two marks in the journey: our farthest points north and west. Now we head south to deliver Nancy to Salt Lake City by Friday.

Final shot: the proofreader hard at work!