Rocks, rocks, everywhere...

Since it is obvious there is a mud problem, they needed something to make it a little better. The answer? Rocks. Lots and lots of rocks - from the tiniest pebbles to pill-bottle sized river stones. The exact same kind you would use for landscaping in your yard/garden. They are everywhere that we would normally walk or park a vehicle. Sometimes, they are even used as "grass" where no one ever walks or parks (picture, below right). There are still piles and piles of them that haven't been spread yet.

I do have to credit my experience here for teaching me something that I never realized. I used to think that these river stones actually came from, you know...rivers. That, somewhere, a company extracts them from dry river beds and sells them. Now I know that this can not be even remotely true. Why? On this one single base, we have enough river stones to account for the output of half the rivers in North America. There is no way that these stones could have been naturally generated unless there is an entire layer of the Earth's crust filled with river stone. No, the companies that provide the river stone must have huge industrial tumblers that turn rough rocks into these smooth stones. Remember those drum tumblers they used to sell in the Christmas Catalogs that turn common rocks into shiny stones? I always wanted one of those...