Kennecott Bingham Copper Mine

One of the attractions southwest of Salt Lake City is the Bingham Canyon Mine, also known as the Kennecott Copper Mine, an open-pit mining operation in the Oquirrh Mountains. It is the deepest open-pit mine in the world, and has been in production since 1906, resulting in the creation of a pit over 0.75 miles deep, 2.5 miles wide, and covering 1900 acres. Employing 1,800 employees and hundreds of contractors, 450,000 tons of material are removed from the mine daily. Electric shovels can carry up to 56 cubic yards or 98 tons of ore in a single scoop. Ore is loaded into a fleet of 64 large dump trucks which each carry 255 tons of ore at a time; the trucks themselves cost about $3 million US each. There is a five mile series of conveyors that take ore to the Copperton concentrator and flotation plant. The longest conveyor is 3 miles long. As of 2010, Kennecott Utah Copper is the second largest copper producer in the United States and provides about 13-18% percent of the U.S.'s copper needs. Kennecott’s Bingham Canyon Mine is the largest man-made excavation in the world, and is visible with the naked eye from space. It is one of the top producing copper mines in the world with production at more than 18.7 million tons. Every year, Kennecott produces approximately 300,000 tons of copper, along with 400,000 ounces of gold, 4 million ounces of silver, about 20 million pounds of molybdenum, and about 1 million tons of sulfuric acid, a by-product of the smelting process. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966 under the name Bingham Canyon Open Pit Copper Mine. Although not much here to appeal to one's sense of aesthetics, the sheer magnitude of the operation is impressive, and the high cost of copper on today's market makes it a tad more interesting as well.

Salt Lake City, Utah

As we continued our trek westward, we stopped in Salt Lake City, Utah, towards the end of August 2011. Unfortunately we only stayed a couple of days, and had to squeeze in a visit to the Capitol, the Copper Mine, and Mormon Square all in the same day. First stop in the Beehive State was the State Capitol. (Most of the nicknames associated with Utah are related to the Mormons that first settled in this territory. Deseret, in The Book of Mormon is actually a honeybee. Early Mormon settlers have been described as having carried "swarms of bees" with them. This nickname commemorates the industry of the people of Utah.) Utah's Capitol building, constructed along the same lines as our nation's Capitol, has an interior dome reaching 165 feet above the rotunda floor, with a luxurious chandelier hanging down off of a 95-foot chain. The beautiful pathway circling the Capitol Hill Complex is lined with 100's of Yoshino cherry trees and connect major monuments around the complex. The inside of the capitol is beautifully adorned with murals, Corinthian columns, stain glass, and marble.

Palisade Peach Festival

Living and traveling in an RV gives us the wonderful opportunity to visit a variety of local fairs, festivals, concerts, and farmer's markets. It is so much fun to see how people across the country observe their unique customs, what foods they grow, how they celebrate, and what makes this or that corner of the world special. So it was when we arrived in Grand Junction, Colorado in mid August, 2011. Our primary reason for stopping here was to visit with our good friends, Janness and Nate, before continuing on towards California. But as we were getting checked in at the RV Park, we picked up a flier for the nearby Annual Palisade Peach Festival and decided this would be fun to explore while we were in the area. Palisade sits along the Colorado River with gorgeous mountains and breathtaking views everywhere you turn. The day of our visit was perfectly warm and sunny, but not too hot. Just right for strolling the festival grounds, sampling the locally grown peaches, shopping at the vendor booths, and taking in the beautiful scenery.

Celestial Seasonings

Celestial Seasonings tea has been a part of my life for more than 30 years. Not only do I love their wide variety of delightful teas, I've enjoyed the beautiful art work on the tea boxes, and any number of logo items, including sleepwear, mugs, teapots, magnets, and decorative tins. I can't remember a time when there wasn't a box of Sleepytime tea in my kitchen cabinet (among many others), and I always look forward to reading the quotes and quips on the wonderfully decorative boxes. While we were in Golden, Colorado we were just down the road from Boulder, home of Celestial Seasonings, so of course we took advantage of this and set aside time to take the tour! I had heard that the original artwork for the box designs hung on the walls of the Tea Shop, and I was really looking forward to finally seeing this in person. Our tour consisted of free samples of several teas being brewed in the Tea Shop, a short video that gave us a history of the company, a guided tour through the factory (no pictures allowed inside), and ended up with an exit into the store where all their teas and accessories are on display and for sale. We had lunch at their on-site restaurant, and after conferring with our server, we were prepared a very delightful vegan meal (Tempeh and Citrus Stirfry). I just had to post all the pictures we took of the artwork, as there is no way I could chose one over the other. So, please enjoy all 22 shots of our visit.