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Published: April 28th 2009
Today we went to the Cave of the Winds and the Celestial Seasonings Plant. The Cave of the Winds was very interesting and informative. When we first arrived, we thought we were going to have to put up with a giant group of kids during our tour. Thankfully, the school kids went on their own tour and we went on a tour afterwards. The tour of the cave was really awesome - seeing all the formations was so amazing, and seeing how people originally entered the cave was a little scary - I'm glad its all paved and staired now :P One of the most interesting parts of the tour is hearing about the lore and legends of the cave. One story in particular stood out: There is a section close to the end of the tour where there is this huge mass of metal and coins and things. This is called the Old Maid's Kitchen. Back in the early 1900s, two female tour guides were working in caves - both in their 20's - which at the time would have made them old maids- left hair pins in a cigar box at that spot, making a wish that they would
finally marry. They came back a year later, wishes fulfilled - they had both married prominent citizens. Tradition started, women kept adding hair pins to the pile and eventually turned into coins and other trinkets. They estimate that the current pile of baubles weighs about 800 lbs.
The Celestial Seasonings plant was an interesting tour for me, Brad not so much - he doesn't like tea. We started out in the gathering/tasting room where we got to sample a few flavors of their teas. There was also a gallery in this area, where they display original art for their tea boxes, a dress made entirely out of tea packaging, and there was also a collection of unique tea pots. The tour itself started with a video that talked about the company and how it started. They started with only two teas in the late 60s. "Mo's 24" was one of the two - the 24 signifying the number of herbal ingredients in the tea. This tea later was developed into the "Sleepytime Tea" that is their most popular seller. After the video, we were issued hair nets, and unfortunately, Brad was the only person in our tour group that
was issued a beard net and we set off for the plant. We gathered in the cleaning/milling room and we learned about how the herbs have to be shaken and air puffed clean because they can't wash them with water because the flavors would be destroyed. After that, we went through the storage for the herbs - they were in these HUGE plastic tubs about 3 ft wide. Then we headed to the "Tea" room: a room separated from the main stockroom so the tea leaves wont absorb the flavors of the other herbs. After the tea room we got to go into the infamous "Mint" room. OH MY GOD. It was intense! It was also in a room that was sectioned off from the other herbs - the menthol that both peppermint and spearmint secrete is so strong that everything that would be stored around it would taste more like mint than whatever it was. As soon as we walked into the room, our eyes started to water and I could breathe clear. It was the best part of the tour for me! After that, we went over to the production/packing/shipping area. They have 5 lines and their bagging
machine can make about 1,000 bags of tea a minute!!! They were running only two lines today: Sleepytime and Peppermint teas. Our tour guide says that they have about 100 teas active in their catalog of teas and herbal infusions. It was a great experience for me, learning how tea is harvested and how flavored teas are produced and how it all goes from being individual ingredients to the shelf were we can take it home. Unfortunately, picture-taking was not allowed on the tour, for obvious reasons, so the only photos I have are of the outside.
Not really sure where we are headed tomorrow . . . . but I expect it will be full of fun and craziness.
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Aunt Cindy and Uncle Danny
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Hey love birds!!!
Hey guys love the pictures so far. Looks like your having fun. Bring me home some snow Shanie, you know I love the cold weather. See you guys so. Love ya'll