Copper and Salt

We spend our morning touring the Kennecott Copper Mine in Bingham Canyon near Salt Lake City. It is not only the largest open pit mine in the world, it is also the largest man-made hole in the world and visible from outer space. It is actually a really interesting stop. They have a visitor center with a small museum and a movie to explain copper mining. But the neatest thing is to see these incredibly HUGE dump trucks hauling dirt around (from power shovels the size of a small office building). All of this to get some copper out of the ground.

We leave the mine, stop for lunch and then continue onto Antelope Island State Park. It's an island in the Great Salt Lake. Jere and Joe want to stick their feet in the Great Salt Lake and this is the place we were told to go to do that. We stop at the visitor center and then head down a trail to the edge of the water (the level of the water is low so it's a long walk to the water). We learn why people say the Great Salt Lake is a lake made for beauty, not recreation. It smells, and it's not a good smell, plus it is really buggy. Jere and Joe do manage to get their feet into the lake.

We take a drive to the other end of the island to see the historic ranch with it's huge buffalo herd. The buffalo are too far from the road to see very well, but we stop at the ranch and walk around.

Beside the road there is a very strange contraption. It has all kinds of fabric hanging on it, at least eight bicycle wheels, 4 solar panels and what appears to be a freezer in the center. We ask the ranger what it is and she said she is wondering the same thing. They're shooting a Harley Davidson commercial at the ranch so maybe it's related to that.

We drive back to the campground with hopes of a late swim, but the pool is drained and closed for repairs. Oh well. We spend the evening watching television.