Empire mine

This picture is a bit of an illusion.You are looking at a mine shaft that is actually on an angle looking straight down into the earth. It has been dug down over 5000 feet, and branches off into many other areas underground. it's 5:30 AM on Wednesday, and I am still reflecting on this latest adventure. On Monday, I drove my little scooter all the way to the Empire Gold mine in Grass Valley... a distance of 150 miles. It was a fairly easy ride and the traffic was not hard to navigate. The scooter ran great and I got good mileage all considering. I stopped at a few places like Noah's Bagels in Davis and In & Out burger near Sacramento, filling up with coffee, pizza bagels and double burgers on my way up. When I got there around three thirty, I had an hour and a half before they closed the gates, but was able to get a great personal tour of the grounds (after I introduced myself as an employee of Greystone). The ranger took me through the Bourn Cottage, the Social hall and the museum area. I was then free to explore the mine shaft myself. I took many pictures of the surroundings. Even the garden was a beautiful sight in the winter. There were Ponderosa Pines, Magnolias, Gladiolas,Chinese Wisteria and even Olive trees. Bourn must have been one charismatic guy to have his workers create such magnificent properties like Filoli, Greystone and this place. The drive back was a bit cold, but with my Itunes keeping me company, the trip went by fairly quickly ( I was home in three and a half hours). I should do things like this more often.