My mother and I got E a go-kart for his 16th birthday. He loved it. It didn't last a year before he totalled it, but he'd really out-grown it by then too, so I suppose that's the way it was supposed to be.
Anyhow, I thought if my friend didn't mind him riding around on the go-kart for a while, that would be a great day for him... and almost worth scheduling something on a weekend I didn't want any official plans.
As it turns out, the grass was really tall in their fields, so riding the go-kart was out of the question. However, my friend suggested that we visit the salt mine in a nearby town. Sure, ok... that would be something different to do.
About an hour before we were supposed to be there, I got a call that my friend was not going to be able to make it. So it was just going to be E and I. Even though I'd already purchased the tickets I gave him the option not to go. (See 1st paragraph) But he said he wanted to go.
So, we're sitting in the waiting room and E starts to freak out a little. He gets claustrophobic and the thought of going down 600+ feet was getting to him. Even though we only had about 10 before the tour started, that was too much time for him to think.
So we asked the lady at the info desk some questions. I was pretty convinced that it would be ok after that, but E was still apprehensive. Fortunately the tour started a couple minutes later.
First, they show a safety film on how to use the "breather" they give you "in case of emergency." It's the same piece of equipment that they give the actual miners. It's in a little pouch that you wear around your shoulder. The film showed how to place your lips on the mouthpiece to get oxygen. However, then it said, "You may notice that your lips begin to burn. Do not remove your lips from the mouthpiece, even if the burning is so intense you want to remove your lips. This proves the chemical reaction is working...." Yikes! E whispered in my ear, "I really don't want to do this." I had my doubts at this point, too, but I felt like it was important for E to go through with this.
Next, we were issued our breather pouch-thing and a hard hat. For some reason the hard hat really perked him up. Must be a guy thing.
Then we get on this clunky-looking lift. E was behind me. It may have looked clunky, but it was really fast. It was like taking off on an airplane. My ears were popping most the way down. But also, since we were descending over 600 feet, it was totally pitch black most of the way. Like, you can't even see your hand in front of your face, pitch black. As soon as it went dark, I felt E's hand on my shoulder.
Most of the tour was on a tram. And while it was underground, the pathway was huge - tall and wide. So E didn't have any claustrophobic issues.
Since it's perfectly environmentally controlled, many of the movie studios store their originals there. So we got some pics of the actual costumes from some movies.
 Mr. Freeze |  The Matrix |
 Batman Returns |  Talledaga Nights |
Then there were these two crazy kids:
Sorry, the picture is dark, but, hey,we were in a MINE ya know!
A funny note on the way back up... there was a group of girl scouts that happened to be there at the same time we were. The girls took the first lift. The left-over leaders / chaperons were on the same lift as E & I. They were crackin' jokes and having a good ole time. They were flirting with the guide (who was probably 20 years their junior). It was pretty entertaining. So we get to the super dark part of the ride and one of the leaders says, "I've got a light right here in my pocket." The guide, who was the only other male on the lift besides E, says, "Uh, m'am, that's my pocket." Maybe you had to be there...
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