Mining Rocks

Nana took the girls and Grandma Ora out past the Utah / Arizona line to a secret little find that Grandpa and Nana stumbled upon a couple of months earlier when we were out on a mountain bike trail.  It is some kind of little mine where they found a vein of a crystal type of rock that is used in medicine, computer parts, etc. as a filler because it is a neutral substance.  Can't remember what it is called!  But it is so cool - like a glass rock.  This is just the left over rocks.  They mine the same thing in another area that is miles away towards the Gorge.

When Nana told the girls we were going to collect rocks they thought that sounded like fun, but when they saw this big mound of shining glass like stuff their eyes popped and jaws dropped.  They couldn't wait to get out of the truck!

We climbed to the highest points to take a look and start gathering with our bags.

Nana got her love of rocks from her own mom, Grandma Ora, who doesn't let age slow her down from a good drive out to the boonies and a pile of cool rocks!

This bottom area shows the big pick marks left from the machines they used to break up the veins of rock.  It is so hard that you can't chip it away with a little chisel.

The next day we rinsed the rocks off so they would be ready for us to put in a cute tray with candles for the girls to take home for their bedrooms.  We had our swimsuits on because after this we went to a new Rec Center in the area that has a huge indoor fun pool with a hydro tube, lazy river, little slides, giant buckets that dump water on the kids, another pool for swimming laps, rock climbing wall, and snack bar.  We had a blast there!