My Adventures Living Daily Life & Traveling the World

Bingham Canyon

She took us around the huge church yard, explained what each building is, and what made Mormons different from other Christians. It’s all very interesting, actually. When I thought of Mormons before, I could only think of polygamous marriages. But I found out that only a small subgroup practices that, and most Mormons are monogamous people who value harmony and unity within the family. I had a lot of fun on this tour and learned a lot. I can see why people are into religion so much. They promise that you can live with loved ones through eternity. That’s powerful stuff, but I just have trouble believing such far-fetched claims I guess.

Afterwards, we went to the Bingham Canyon, a mine for mostly copper, but has some gold and silver as well. There wasn’t much to see in the mine itself, but the gift shop was absolutely awesome. My mom and I purchased over $100 worth of stuff here, and we usually aren’t into tourist shop junk. The difference is that almost everything in the shop here is made from minerals collected in the mine. I found a bracelet with a gold chain, silver chain, and copper chain tied together. I was really drawn to it. Then, after buying it, I saw a necklace with a jagged stone pendent that matched my white shirt really well, so I bought that too. So suddenly I went from wearing zero to two pieces of jewelry in one day.

Colter Bay

After loading all the passengers on the bus, we headed off to our first destination – Colter Bay. On the way, we stopped at some old volcanic craters. They were not all too different from the geysers we saw just the day before, only stinkier and less grand.

Colter Bay was a beautiful as well as peaceful place. The bay surrounds magnificent snowy mountains, the same ones used by Paramount for their logo design. Cute little boats can be seen here and there on the water. What I would do to own one of these boats! I would let it drift in the water, relax, and do… stuff!

There was a long biking trail around the bay. I had no bike, but I decided to walk on it anyway. We didn’t have much time scheduled there, so I only got about 1/4th of the way through before I had to turn back. This trail was especially nice because tall pine trees lined both sides of the streets, blocking out the glaring sunlight. The water provided a nice cool breeze. I rarely say this but I think the bay was in every way, perfect. It’s definitely a place I’d go back to.

Watefall

Our last two stops of the day were two waterfalls. They were really majestic and scary at the same time, especially looking at one from the top. I thought they’d make great sex spots if there aren’t so many people around all the time. The air was cool, almost cold even in August, and the rumbling of water sounded like a lullaby.

After the two waterfalls we were done for the day as far as our itinerary goes. We drove up to the cabins where we are going to stay at for the night. It was freezing cold out, a huge contrast from Montana just the day before. I’d have to guess it’s about 55 to 60. I liked it better than the scorching heat until I found out our room was half a mile from the nearest restaurant. I didn’t bring any warm cloths, and walking in the windy, chilly night was not fun. But still, we had to eat since our schedule was so busy today that we didn’t get to have dinner at the normal time.

George told us that all the shops and restaurants are open 24 hours. But he was a damn liar, as we barely made the 10 P.M. closing cutoff of the only restaurant that stayed open. Some unfortunate folks who came after us didn’t even get to eat, as the place was closing, and we hadn’t had lunch since one or so. Everyone was pretty pissed at him. I expect interesting drama tomorrow morning on the bus.

Anyway, first, Devil’s Tower. It was another one of those monuments, like Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore, except this one is naturally occurring. I guess it wouldn’t be called a monument! It was basically a huge piece of rock jutting out from the ground. It actually looked pretty cool, and I could see at least 10 people rock climbing on the sides. There was a long trail here, yay! About two miles, I heard. I love trails, and so of course I got on it immediately, taking pictures on the way. Around the trail, I could also see the countryside of whatever state we were in at the time. I believe it was still South Dakota. It consisted of hills with little houses scattered here and there, very beautiful scenery that couldn’t be accurately captured by my camera.

I wish my mom would shut up for once and let me enjoy the walk in silence. But she always talks and asks me unrelated questions. She also walks way too fast. Walking slowly and taking my time is part of the fun. Oh well!

Our first destination today was the Crazy Horse Memorial. A sculptor and his family have worked on this sculpture of Crazy Horse, a famous Indian warrior, for over 100 years now. It is still only 15% completed.

Understandably, since it is projected to be something like 500 meters tall. The monument, even unfinished, looked quite grand from the observatory deck, and the breeze made it all better. I took so many photos that my phone battery went from 5 bars to 1 bar. It doesn’t matter much since I got no signal all day. T-Mobile can really suck my ass.

Next, we headed to Mount Rushmore, a tourist location I’ve actually heard of so far! Like the Crazy Horse monument, Mount Rushmore was pretty damn impressive. There was a little trail, called the Presidential Trail, in front of the monument. I love taking walks, but my mom didn’t want to because she’d have to walk up and down too many flights of stairs, so I went alone.

The tour guide himself was nice, but could not speak English coherently. He explained stuff no one really cares about, such as the history of Denver, our destinations, etc. Well, I guess our destinations were important. For the day, we were going to the state capitol, Coors beer brewery, and Red Rock Amphitheater.

I’m sad to say that none of these places are worth writing about in detail. The state capitol was just an office building whose exterior looked more old-fashioned than most, and whose interior was filled with photos of already dead but important government people. The beer brewery was an even bigger waste of time, since their guided tour wasn’t available on Wednesdays. All we got to see was the gift shop, basically.