650 Feet Underground!!

July was probably my most fun filled month ever in my life. 5th July, just a day after good fun with fireworks, was another long, tiring and fun day. We planned out a small trip to Hutchinson a town about an hour's drive from Wichita. This was the second time we were going to Hutchinson to visit a 'famous' tourist attraction. Hutchinson is tiny, but it's got enough to force you to go a second time..

This time we were taking a tour deep into the Earth. One hell of a scary place if there's no lighting and ventilation! We were going to the famous Hutch Salt Mines where Salt is extracted, mostly for Industrial purposes. Though it's still an active mine, there's an actual Museum and Storage Vault 650 feet underground.

After the short drive, we bought tickets that included a "dark ride". Just moments after entering the lobby at ground level, we did really have a proper dark ride. And I'm talking about "absolute" darkness. There was not a speck of light. Suddenly in this kind of darkness we feel a kind of emptiness though we know there are lots of people standing around us. Once we got to the level we were supposed to get off, the scary sounding elevators opened and we moved on.

The view was close to what I expected and actually better. The floor was flat and done with some kind of a salt-sand mixture. I'm not very sure what that was. The walls were rough and jagged and had beautiful layers. Typical Earth-clock that shows how each era passed layer after layer.. freeze-unfreeze.

We had a guide that kept describing some of the 'phenomena' that would occur this deep down. It was all very interesting. There was a certain patch of darker rock that strangely looked like a sea horse. That was the closest resemblance to any kind of life in such a salt-filled world. Obviously, it wasn't a fossil. Just a random shape that co-incidentally looked like a sea-horse.

The museum was built into the mine or the mine was converted to a museum.. whatever. We came across some of the 'tools' the miners use. 'Tools' is very inappropriate in terms of size. Mega-tools maybe.

As we moved on, we found rock samples that had different compositions. The rest of the displays were pretty general for basic understanding of the Earth's history and evolution.

We finally came to the more interesting part of the tour. An entire Underground Storage Vault that preserved some important stuff for the country. Original drawings, movie costumes (like the ones from Superman, Batman, Charlie's Angels, etc..) and original film roles. Apparently the moisture content here was good enough to preserve these pieces for ages to come. And most importantly, they were free from most natural disasters that occur on the surface. And I don't think an earthquake would occur in the middle of kansas.. just assuming.

Then came the 'Dark Ride'. We hopped onto a small motorized train that was driven by one of the miners. He took us deeper into the mine where there was no lighting. Once again, if not for the train's headlamps, the darkness was absolute. No leaking light anywhere. We were shown how the earth constantly moves inch by inch and how the 40 foot wide pillars the miners left untouched to avoid roof-falls would slowly compress.

We saw and collected more samples and finally got back into the light. There was some interesting merchandise for which I was in no mood to spend. So we made it straight back out and 650 feet up to ground level.

Once out, we wasted no time in finding a restaurant and Bogey's it was. After a typical American lunch, we headed back home. The short drive back was sleepy and tiring. Once I got home, the day was done for good!