Mt. Airy, NC Part:2

While in Mt. Airy, NC we stopped at the Granite Quarry.  It has been in operations off and on since 1743.  In 1889 it was purchased by Mr. Thomas Woodroffe and has been in continuous operation ever since.  They make curbs and landscaping, slabs/counter tops, blocks, crushed stone, and architectural stone.  Stone from this quarry was used to build the The National World War II Memorial and surrounding sidewalk in Washington D.C. as well as the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel Ventilation building, the United Arab Emirates Chancery, The Hyatt Center in Chicago, and the Aon Center (Amoco building) in Chicago.  Who knew?!

This is a look at the quarry from the observation area.  It goes around on the right behind the trees.  This picture show how much snow was coming down when we got there.

 We drove to the top of the observation area and ate lunch in the van while our Dad read some fun facts to us about the quarry.  Granite is formed when molten magma is forced to a higher plane where it gradually cools and solidifies under the weight and pressure of natural mountains.  The Mt. Airy deposit is a homogeneous mass free from natural bed planes and vertical cracks.  They never use dynamite in this quarry.  They use a method call "lifting."  With heat expansion in the summer and then contraction in the winter it forces large beds of granite to lift.  They give it a little boost sometimes to get the process started by using a little black powder.  Since the grain in granite is horizontal the light force can start a split. 

Can you see the ford explore parked among the granite blocks?

By the time we finished lunch it had quit snowing so we got out and looked through the fence.

There was a big drill just down over the edge from us.  It was pretty loud as it drilled holes in the granite to form the blocks.  Daniel needed a boost to get a look.

This picture shows part of the big driller.

Eliza needed a boost to see better as well.

She thought it was pretty high and cold!

Naturally we had to play in the snow.  I may or may not have started a snowball fight.

Bradley thought the snow on his shoe made it look like an elf shoe.

Daniel took great pleasure in trying to hit me.  He is getting to be a pretty good aim!

Daniel and Nathan running to attack Dad, who was attacking Bradley.  :0)

Everyone running as Dad starts getting ammo!

Bradley about to get hit by Dad....

and again.

Daniel ran by and drew Dad's attention...

Then he became the target.  We had a family snowball fight for a while before getting back on the road and heading to Aunt Shellie's house in West Virginia.

Everyone was enjoying the snow so much that I had to catch the moment.  It is a little bit long, but it documents the abuse I have to put up with from my own husband!  What isn't documented is the abuse he got in return.  :0)  At the end Daniel gets Andy in the head and neck sending snow down his shirt.  Andy screaming is the last thing you hear.  (Appropriate don't you think?)