Family Reunion - Day 2

 Yesterday we had “a day of recovery” to get over our jet lag. We hung around the area in Kellogg, ID.  

Our destination is Bozeman, Montana for our four days with family and extended family and this is the sight-seeing part of our trip.

To recap we flew in to Spokane Washington on Friday and are making our way east for a few days before the reunion. Meanwhile we get to see some great sights, interesting places and are glad to enjoy beautiful weather which is forecast to continue.

On Sunday we left Kellogg ID for Columbia Falls, Montana and had plans to check out things there and along the way.

The little town of Kellogg, ID (pop 2230) has some things going for it. It is another example of seeing a great little town we never heard of that has a lot of personality.  It is near the Silver Mountain Recreation Area and we can see the ski resort chair lifts going up the mountain from our back yard.

This is the view from the hot tub at our AirBnB in the foreground to the mountain and tiny gondola going up the mountain in the distance.  The back of the garage is painted with “Aloha Idaho”.  When we first arrived I saw the front door with “Aloha” on it.  I messaged our host and asked the significance of Aloha here in Idaho and she said that is her moniker as a real estate person in the area because she lived there for the last 10 years before moving here.  It seems a little out of place but it is memorable so I guess that is the point.

Our main activity for the day was our much anticipated trip to a gold mine.  Back in the 1880 and 1890 this place was ripe with miners and the hunt for silver and gold was prime.  

The Crystal Gold Mine was only three miles away and very convenient to get to.  

https://www.goldmine-idaho.com/history.html

It was not very crowded and we were very pleasantly surprised how well the experience turned out.  Before the tour of the gold mine, we had 30 minutes or so to pan for gold. Our docent showed the boys the art of panning.

They didn’t strike it rich this time but it was fun sifting through the sand and they got a few souvenir gems.

Next was the tour of the Crystal Gold Mine and the first thing we had to do was pick out hard hats.  In our group shot below you can see the names on the hats which was kind of fun.

The tour was approximately 900 feet underground and took about 40 minutes. One great thing about it was that the walking path over the ore cart rails was all concrete.  It was damp in places but the concrete made it very good walking.

Once again, our docent was very well versed.  I found a succinct version of most of his key points on the internet:

Gold extraction at Crystal Gold Mine

The Crystal Gold Mine in Kellogg, Idaho, operated as a hard rock mine during the 1880s, focusing on a gold-bearing quartz vein. The methods used at the time were rudimentary compared to modern practices and involved considerable manual labor and harsh conditions. 

Mining the quartz

• Miners drilled into the rock by hand using tools like "Hand Steels," "Single Jacks," and "Double Jacks" (types of hammers).
• They worked by candlelight and followed the quartz vein, which was often identified by its reflective properties compared to the surrounding rock.
• When necessary, they might have used small amounts of dynamite or scaling (chipping away at the rock) to access the quartz.
• The extracted quartz was then brought to the surface, likely using mine cars on tracks, an advanced feature for the time period. 

We actually could see some gold embedded in quartz on this particular lighted glass:

It was 73 degrees up top outside and only 53 degrees inside the mine tunnel.

Had to take a group picture.

After our tour we found a picnic table and had lunch.

In fact we usually make it a habit every day to pack a lunch, whether we are at a specific place or just driving.  

After lunch, the boys took their turns at the shooting range.  They each got 100 BB pellets and the goal was to hit the target so none of the red star was showing.

They both did about the same and left tiny spots of red on the target so no prize this time.  But they had fun.

Our next event was to go back to our place and have some serious hang out/nap time to get over the jet lag.  I spent longer that usual napping on a blanket in the back yard.  It was great.  Everyone else had some quiet time inside.  Afterward I walked three blocks to the “downturn” area that had been blocked off for the annual 3on3 basketball tournament.  

Pam and I first learned about 3on3 basketball in 2011 when we had a Warner Bros and Wives Reunion in Spokane.  Spokane hosts an annual “Hoopfest” and hundreds of teams from all over participate each year.  Who knew? They advertise as the “Largest 3on3 basketball tournament on earth”  3000 volunteers?  it is huge!

In Kellogg, their version is much smaller but still entertaining and fun to watch. I got to watch the dunk 

http://www.silverhoops3on3.com contest.  Bouncy Ben came out the winner this time.  I guess he has done this before and well known.

On the next block I saw The Silver Valley Veteran’s Memorial was very impressed.

Apparently a group of regular coffee drinkers had been talking for years about 1st Lt Frank Reasoner (a local guy) whom they felt was never properly recognized for his service and ultimately giving his life during the Viet Nam War.

The memorial expanded to include all veterans from the local area who have served and were honorably discharged.  One thing I liked was that each person gets a 8” x 10” plaque which is placed on the inside of the wall (shown above) that surrounds the memorial.

Later, we had time to wander around another town nearby.  Wallace is smaller but seems to have more shops and restaurants.

It again was a beautiful evening and we enjoyed a walk about town.  One thing we have noticed in these parts are the huge and magnificent flower hanging baskets.  

We ended up for dinner at The Fainting Goat restaurant which had something for everyone:

 - bison sliders

 -mountain nachos 

- mountain man pizza

- mac and cheese 

- butter noodles

With that, we returned to our house and the boys jumped in the hot tub and we had a quiet everning.

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!