Post by connrock on Sept 25, 2004 17:48:26 GMT -5
Holy Cow,,,I can't believe all the postings in such a short time!!
This HAS to be the MOST active Rockhound board on the web!!!
I've been on a 2 week vacation and have been goin' nuts trying to sell my mom and dads house.Real estate agents,lawyers,banks,dump runs and the like!!
To say the least it hasn't been much of a vacation for me or my wife.
Wednesday evening I took a break from what I was supposed to be doing and went down to my messy rock shop to "play" with my rocks.I just about got really into it at about 6:30pm when my wife came down and said "Lets go"!!I asked her where? and she said"anywhere"!!
By 6:45pm we were on our way to VT!!I was dirty,had on old close with all holes in them,a 3 day growth on my face and had absolutely NOTHING packed!!
Well when "Screaming Eagle' (my wife) says "Lets go" she means just that and off I went,,,,with her of course!!
We hopped in my pick up and headed north.We got to Manchester VT at about 8pm,got a room and went to eat,(after I cleaned up and changed my clothes).
The next morning we went shopping and ended up in a book store where I bought just about every book and map related to VT rockhounding and the geology of the area.
You see I didn't get ANY time to do any research when I was "summoned" for the trip!! LOL
The total for the books and maps came to somewhere around 45 bucks!! (tell me I ain't a rock nut)
As they guy who sold me all this information finished ringintg me out and had my money he told me that if I wanted to collect some very nice quartz I could do it right up the road a piece!!!(a sucker born every minuete)
He gave me directions and off we went.The collecting site is actually a road cut on Rt 7 just north of Manchester.
I was shocked to see that previous collectors had dug a cave about 3' high and 15' long into the side of a solid milky quartz ledge!!
I was so excited and couldn't wait to crawl in and see if I could find any quartx XL's.I took my tools,rock hammers, small pick,chisels,pry bar,5lb crack hammer,small bucket and a flash light and crawled in.
The water was seeping down on me through the upper seams and at first was very anoying but after working the seams and sweating bullets it felt quite refreshing!!I worked like a mad man for about 2-1/2 hrs and just ran out of gas.I crawled back out and got a drink of water from the truck,wiped the mud and the like off of me and my bifocals and sat for a while.
Phewwwww,,,Was I beat!!
I crawled back in the diggings and took my tools out and called it quits,,,,,for the inside of the ledge!!! LOL
My wife Nancy had been collecting some very nice pieces of water clear quartz for tumbling while I was working the seams so I joined her.
We collected clear,milky and snow white quartz for about another hour and headed for NH.
We got to Gorham NH at about 9 pm or so,got a room and went to see friends who were camped at Dolly Copp Campground which is in the White Mountains National Forest.Nancy,our 3 children and I had camped at Dolly Copp for about 20+ years and have made a lot of friends there.
We found our long time friends Jay and Ginny and sat by their camp fire and "gawed" until almost midnight!!
The next morning I hurt EVERYWHERE so I had the "Breakfast of Sissies",,,,,,,
A big bowl of Ibuprofen!!(ahhhhhh,,,the golden years)
We went back to visit Jay and Ginny for a short while and left to go to a small but VERY nice rock and gem shop in Gorham.
The shop,which is called The Alpine Valley Gem Shop, has some of the nicest minerals,slabs and hand made jewelry I have ever seen!!I should have taken pictures but was so awed by everything I forgot all about the camera.
I bought a beautiful wolfenite specimen for myself,a fluorite specimen for my BIL and a pyrite specimen for my sister(i'm bating them into the rockhound trap).
My wife was VERY interested in an opal and diamond ring!! (can ya see what's comining next?? LOL) I tried as hard as a man can to keep my back to the jewelry counter and slither out the door!!
Just as I grabbed the doorknob I heard a very soft and sweet,,,,,
"Hey hon,,,,Look at this beautiful ring".
I was snagged!!,,,,,,,,,,, She hooked me right in the wallet and reeled me back to the jewelry case!!
WOW,,,,,Did it ever HURT!!
Let me tell you,,,,,,I "melted some plastic" on that deal!!
When we left the shop the back pocket in my jeans was still smokin' !!
Here's me,,,,,,,,, diggin' my fat butt off for over 2 hrs in a dark,wet hole in the ground looking for a little quartz crystal to take home and SHE goes minin' for opals in a Gem Shop and strikes it rick in less then 30 minuets!!
You tell me it's a "mans world"!! LOL
We drove home and arrived around 9 pm or so.
I was VERY tired but it was a "good" tired.
I didn't find any crystals and took a "bath'" on my credit card but we had a GREAT time and that's all that counts!!
I have some pix in the camera and will post them asap.
Take care all and good hunting!!
Tom
Ps: if you guys go to a rock shop,,,,,,,,DO NOT take your wife!!
This HAS to be the MOST active Rockhound board on the web!!!
I've been on a 2 week vacation and have been goin' nuts trying to sell my mom and dads house.Real estate agents,lawyers,banks,dump runs and the like!!
To say the least it hasn't been much of a vacation for me or my wife.
Wednesday evening I took a break from what I was supposed to be doing and went down to my messy rock shop to "play" with my rocks.I just about got really into it at about 6:30pm when my wife came down and said "Lets go"!!I asked her where? and she said"anywhere"!!
By 6:45pm we were on our way to VT!!I was dirty,had on old close with all holes in them,a 3 day growth on my face and had absolutely NOTHING packed!!
Well when "Screaming Eagle' (my wife) says "Lets go" she means just that and off I went,,,,with her of course!!
We hopped in my pick up and headed north.We got to Manchester VT at about 8pm,got a room and went to eat,(after I cleaned up and changed my clothes).
The next morning we went shopping and ended up in a book store where I bought just about every book and map related to VT rockhounding and the geology of the area.
You see I didn't get ANY time to do any research when I was "summoned" for the trip!! LOL
The total for the books and maps came to somewhere around 45 bucks!! (tell me I ain't a rock nut)
As they guy who sold me all this information finished ringintg me out and had my money he told me that if I wanted to collect some very nice quartz I could do it right up the road a piece!!!(a sucker born every minuete)
He gave me directions and off we went.The collecting site is actually a road cut on Rt 7 just north of Manchester.
I was shocked to see that previous collectors had dug a cave about 3' high and 15' long into the side of a solid milky quartz ledge!!
I was so excited and couldn't wait to crawl in and see if I could find any quartx XL's.I took my tools,rock hammers, small pick,chisels,pry bar,5lb crack hammer,small bucket and a flash light and crawled in.
The water was seeping down on me through the upper seams and at first was very anoying but after working the seams and sweating bullets it felt quite refreshing!!I worked like a mad man for about 2-1/2 hrs and just ran out of gas.I crawled back out and got a drink of water from the truck,wiped the mud and the like off of me and my bifocals and sat for a while.
Phewwwww,,,Was I beat!!
I crawled back in the diggings and took my tools out and called it quits,,,,,for the inside of the ledge!!! LOL
My wife Nancy had been collecting some very nice pieces of water clear quartz for tumbling while I was working the seams so I joined her.
We collected clear,milky and snow white quartz for about another hour and headed for NH.
We got to Gorham NH at about 9 pm or so,got a room and went to see friends who were camped at Dolly Copp Campground which is in the White Mountains National Forest.Nancy,our 3 children and I had camped at Dolly Copp for about 20+ years and have made a lot of friends there.
We found our long time friends Jay and Ginny and sat by their camp fire and "gawed" until almost midnight!!
The next morning I hurt EVERYWHERE so I had the "Breakfast of Sissies",,,,,,,
A big bowl of Ibuprofen!!(ahhhhhh,,,the golden years)
We went back to visit Jay and Ginny for a short while and left to go to a small but VERY nice rock and gem shop in Gorham.
The shop,which is called The Alpine Valley Gem Shop, has some of the nicest minerals,slabs and hand made jewelry I have ever seen!!I should have taken pictures but was so awed by everything I forgot all about the camera.
I bought a beautiful wolfenite specimen for myself,a fluorite specimen for my BIL and a pyrite specimen for my sister(i'm bating them into the rockhound trap).
My wife was VERY interested in an opal and diamond ring!! (can ya see what's comining next?? LOL) I tried as hard as a man can to keep my back to the jewelry counter and slither out the door!!
Just as I grabbed the doorknob I heard a very soft and sweet,,,,,
"Hey hon,,,,Look at this beautiful ring".
I was snagged!!,,,,,,,,,,, She hooked me right in the wallet and reeled me back to the jewelry case!!
WOW,,,,,Did it ever HURT!!
Let me tell you,,,,,,I "melted some plastic" on that deal!!
When we left the shop the back pocket in my jeans was still smokin' !!
Here's me,,,,,,,,, diggin' my fat butt off for over 2 hrs in a dark,wet hole in the ground looking for a little quartz crystal to take home and SHE goes minin' for opals in a Gem Shop and strikes it rick in less then 30 minuets!!
You tell me it's a "mans world"!! LOL
We drove home and arrived around 9 pm or so.
I was VERY tired but it was a "good" tired.
I didn't find any crystals and took a "bath'" on my credit card but we had a GREAT time and that's all that counts!!
I have some pix in the camera and will post them asap.
Take care all and good hunting!!
Tom
Ps: if you guys go to a rock shop,,,,,,,,DO NOT take your wife!!