Awake: 7:05am Temp 63 sleep 7+34 overnight in Newell service bay, Miami, OK.
Another good night's sleep on our Murphy bed; in fact, we both slept so well, we heard nothing during the early morning when the workers drove in & reported for work. This was the shortest Newell visit yet since we've been with Newell.
We left the Newell campground @ 8:18am, heading north on US-69 & then traveling west on US-400 to Wichita, Kansas. We should have taken state road-96 to catch I-135 north but I thought it better to continue on US-400 & glide right onto I-135. It cost us a good (30) minutes due to heavy road construction (maybe a stimulus package) in action. Unfortunately there were no detour signs.
Finally we headed north on I-135, & @ the town of Newton we turned west & followed US-50 to Hutchinson, Kansas, arriving @ 1:21pm @ the Melody Acres Mobile & R.V. Park.
Today's travel: 258 miles 5+41 time 44 gal used 5.9 mpg 45 mph avg speed.
Remember that I turned down a wash job on our coach yesterday because our coach was fairly clean from the washing on Sunday; well, about ½ of our drive to Hutchinson was in drizzle & @ times, heavy rain. So now, our house on wheels is a mess again. And this campground is a muddy mess as well.
En route to Hutchinson, Kathy made a few cell phone calls to the Underground Salt Museum...asking about tour times, clothing to wear, location, etc.
We detached our Suzuki tow car & headed down the road to the Kansas Underground Salt Museum, a mere (2.5) miles.
There were (2) other couples along with us taking the 3:00pm tour today. We met with our tour guide, Al, & proceeded into a room where Al explained the wearing of a hard hat. He also showed us how to use the emergency breathing unit that we each wore over our shoulder in the unlikely event something would go wrong & we would need air to breathe.
Then Al led us to a double-decked elevator that whisked us down into the mine; 650 ft below terra firma. Al asked all of us if we would like to go down in darkness, as was the custom of the miners, or with light; we all agreed on dark. Inside the elevator as we rode down we heard a clanging, banging, rattling noise inside this bare metal box that sounded as if it was being whacked with a sledgehammer.
Then suddenly, we were in a calm, exotic underground environment where it's always 68 degrees with about 40 % humidity. From floor to ceiling is about 9 feet & above that is some 300 ft of salt, which is so hard, you can't even drive a nail into it. Once in the mine, however, everything is spacious, comfortable, and very quiet.
We all climbed into an electric-powered tram & Al toured us through a maze of chambers created by decades of salt mining. Our ride was a gentle, headlight-lit excursion that made frequent stops at exhibits that illuminated as we approached.
The tunnels go on for miles; the Museum has developed only 100,000 square feet of this, but it's still big enough to get lost in. Fences around the underground periphery ensure that visitors can't wander off and disappear forever.
The tour wound its way past a wall made of old dynamite cases (empty) and a sinkhole that formed when water got into the mine (the mine would melt if it ever got wet).
One exhibit was a stripped-down, post-Apocalyptic Road Warrior-type car that was typical of what the miners still drive down here. It's over 70 years old.
Another stop was for us to pick out a piece or pieces of salt to take home as a souvenir
The mine's perpetual 68 degrees and 40 percent humidity make it a great place to stash stuff once you screen out the salt. A company named Underground Vaults and Storage has been doing that here since 1947.
After our tram tour, Al left us off to further look at some of the machinery that is still used to mine more salt during the nighttime hrs. We had about an hr to casually walk around, to listen & watch short videos of the techniques & equipment miners used to mine the salt during the early yrs.
Toward the end of our self tour, Kathy began complaining of a wicked headache. She didn't know if it was the air, lack of air or what. Then she removed her hard hat & in no time of all, her headache was gone.
I took quite a few pictures during our tram ride & self tour. It was so fascinating for us......realizing just how much we don't know about our earth & the universe we live in.
After the clanging, banging & rattling noises of the elevator brought K & me back to our normal altitude level, we ran thru rain to our car, toured some of downtown Hutchinson & then returned to our motorhome.
Dinner: leftover chili.
Evening movie: "Abandon Ship." We watched about ½.
Lights out: 12:25am.
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