Sunday

Today was full. Britt and Shana flew in this morning, rented a car and saw some Salt Lake City sights on their own. Ross, Taya and Isaiah will fly in just after noon. We will pick them up and head 120 miles SE to Price, Utah.

Since we had a bit of time in the morning we decided to drive up to the copper mine. This is something we saw with the kids on our '92 US tour. After 9/11 they closed the visitor center, but last year they reopened it in a new location.

The drive there was pleasant until we got to the access road and saw it was being oiled for chip seal. It is one of Gary's greatest banes to drive on that. We talked to the flagger and were told to drive on the far right where it was not down. She assured us we would not have to drive on oil, and since we so badly wanted to see the mine we did.

It is very hard to describe the sight of this open mine. It is beyond any word I know to describe big.

A few quick facts:
• Bingham Canyon Mine is the largest copper mine in the world - 2-1/2 miles across at the top and 3/4 of a mile deep.
• has produced more copper than any mine in history - about 17 million tons.
• giant electric shovels in the mine can scoop up as much as 98 tons in a single bite -- about the weight of 50 cars.
• each shovel cost $8 million and weigh 2.5 million pounds.
• The trucks that haul the ore are larger than many houses and weigh more than a jumbo jet. Standing over 23 feet tall and can carry from 255 to 360 tons of rock.
• The truck driver rides about 18 feet above the ground -- nearly two stories high.

It is really something you have to see to appreciate. The trucks crawl along the switchback roads methodically working. They look like small toys against the massive size of the mine. So glad we saw it. Later that day Britt took Shana up there as well.

On our way out we discovered that the access road had now been completely covered with that evil chip seal oil, and we had no choice but to drive on it in 90 degree heat. Aughhhhh! That is all I will say about that.

Gary and I took the pick-up and went to the airport to pick up Ross, Taya and Isaiah. It was so fun to see him so excited that we were there. He has grown in the two months since we last saw him. I think he talked the entire ride to the "resort", and couldn't wait to see the bbow.

As soon as we could we were on the road to Price. As soon as we left I-15 on to Hwy 6 it turned to two lane road. I don't do well on narrow, winding roads in oversized vehicles. Parts of this trip were stressful, especially when Gary start's enjoying the scenery. Poor Isaiah tried to sleep thru this. We came upon a working coal mine that was quite amazing. You could see the vein of coal running in the side of the mountain. If we had time I would have loved to have stopped and looked a bit.

We arrived in Price around 4:30, found the kids hotel, found the Wal-Mart Supercenter - our stop for tomorrow - and got everyone settled. Gary and I found quite a "resort" for the bbow - right next to train tracks.

We found a place to eat and then hung out with the kids at the hotel. Taryn found a letter in the Gideon Bible in Brandon and Greta's room. It was two pages long written in Dutch. Greta decided we should translate it, so for the next hour we all worked on it thru Google Translate - didn't know there was such a thing, but Greta works with it often in her work. It was written by a woman who was traveling with her husband in the area. She marveled at the size of the US compared to the Netherlands, the beauty and blessing of America which points to God, yet the despair we also see in the world. I was not able to stay to complete the translation but it appeared to Greta that she was Seventh Day Adventist. That was a fun experience.

We left the kids to get a good rest before our big day tomorrow