Summer Vacation 2014: James Ranch, Silverton & The Mayflower Mill: Day 7!!!

Day seven already?! What the heck?! Anywho...what a fun day today was! We woke up, kids played at the playground, then Samantha and her daddy chased the train. Adorable. We then drove to one of my favorite places...James Ranch! We arrived just as it opened, and we decided to grab lunch, at their Harvest Grill. Best decision ever! I had their signature burger, Jeff had their smoked hotdog, Kent a burger and Samantha a cheese melt. I can't even tell you how amazing that food was. The roll baked from a local bakery; their lettuce from their organic gardens, onions too...100% grass fed organic beef, from their own raised cattle...hello the cheese?!!! They make their own cheese there, from their adorable jersey milk cows. So freakin fantastic I could just pass out! Can you tell I get very passionate about food? Now Jeff and I have had their burgers and cheese before, and brought it back to our trailer for cooking...but we never ate at their own grill, and I highly recommend it. After we had our lunch, we walked around on their grounds, and then, yes, bought more frozen burgers and cheese to take to our trailer, for some more goooooood cookin' on our trip! It was finally time to get back on hwy 550, and head up to Silverton! We checked out the trains arriving in town, watched a helicopter land; which normally wouldn't make us pause, but to see a helicopter land in Silverton, is so out of the norm. So I reacted like any normal person would...played tourist, and took some pictures. Mind you, it was also a very windy day, so that was risky for that helicopter to be flying. Okay, enough about the helicopter. We walked the town a bit, and then finally, after eleven years of coming and going in Silverton...we took the "Mayflower Mill" tour. That was one of the coolest, self-guided tours I've ever seen! That mill just kept going and going, and they really allow freedom for people to explore all aspects of this mill! I took some pictures, not of everything, because there really was a lot to see in there! Crazy. With the wind whipping too, it was loud, and brought excitement and a little "nervousness." Something about old historical, mills, mines, towns, you name it, that already have that mystery about them. What's the story here? How did the people live/work? Was their tragedy, etc. The kids sure enjoyed the tour as well. It's important for them to see history of the old west, and that thirst and drive for "them that thar gold!"