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Post by paulshiroma on May 5, 2011 22:29:44 GMT -5
Hi everyone!
Finally getting around to introducing myself. I’ve been in this hobby since my Dad and I discovered that the hills across the street, which were undeveloped at the time, had fossils in the sandstone outcroppings. That was almost 40 years ago or so. Back then, we didn’t have a lot of the books or resources that are available now so what we did ended up being a lot of trial and error; we had a really good time! More recently, now that I’ve got my own boys and we’ve got great resources like this site, the Gem Trails books, and others, we’re out and about more often.
Along the way, we picked up a couple of tumblers as well as an old Covington combination unit that a friend from church gave us (and needs some refurbishing but it was free). The garage has slowly but surely been turned into a pretty junior-grade rock shop (lots of boxes of rocks, equipments, etc.). My wife humors me along the way but it also allows her some time with her girlfriends while I take the boys out and do “guy-things”.
Finally, we’re members of the Anaheim Searcher’s club – perhaps we’ll get to meet up and go rockhounding!
Next step: a competent off-road vehicle! The Intrepid is getting us only so far … ;D
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Post by johnjsgems on May 5, 2011 22:59:21 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum. We were vendors at your show.
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Post by paulshiroma on May 11, 2011 20:05:34 GMT -5
Thanks, John! We were out in Newberry Springs back in January, looking for nodules (like everyone else, no doubt). Only found a few plus some other odds and ends but had a great time hiking in the wilderness area.
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Post by BAZ on May 11, 2011 21:47:43 GMT -5
Hi there!
Born and raised in HB! Lived in Costa Mesa a few times as well as Newport, El Toro, Los Al, etc.
Glad to see another OC member!
BAZ
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Post by paulshiroma on May 11, 2011 22:22:36 GMT -5
Hi BAZ - thanks and good to meet you as well. Flagstaff is a great city. Vacationed there a few years back and loved it. Reminded me of where I grew up (Walnut Creek, CA) about 30 years ago ... pleasant, laid-back, friendly. How did you come to land in Flagstaff?
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Post by BAZ on May 11, 2011 22:44:19 GMT -5
In the words of a young girl we met here, also from OC, "Just wanted to make my life a little smaller."
We came here from Newport to get married in Sedona and honeymooned all over northern AZ and just fell in love with it.
I'll be back in Cali in June for my dad's 70th, we do make it back every other year or so to see family.
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Post by paulshiroma on May 11, 2011 23:54:33 GMT -5
That sounds like the refrain we got from about four people we chatted with while we were there (shop keeper, restaurant owners, hotel, etc). All were from OC, at least one lived within a couple of blocks of us. I really enjoyed N AZ.
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Post by BAZ on May 12, 2011 9:23:45 GMT -5
Swing a dead cat in Flag and you will hit someone from OC. Then they will tell you how sick you are for swinging a dead cat, what the hell is wrong with you? Ha ha ha!
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Post by jakesrocks on May 12, 2011 10:21:31 GMT -5
Welcome from another old desert rat. Lived in Riverside most of my life, (now in South Dakota), and spent a lot of time hiking around those deserts and hills. I'm surprised that Newberry nodules are still being found after all of these years. Don
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,685
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Post by Fossilman on May 12, 2011 11:42:42 GMT -5
welcome..........
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Post by paulshiroma on May 12, 2011 22:32:01 GMT -5
Hi Don: Good to meet you. The Newberry site is pretty picked over. My son and I didn't have a whole lot of time to look that afternoon but, oddly, the nodules that we found were found along the gravel/dirt road that you follow into the canyons south of the town. Go figure! That whole Riverside area has grown tremendously. Lots of traffic now. Spent a few days in SD (Sioux Falls) on business back when. State seemed like a great place to live.
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Post by paulshiroma on May 12, 2011 22:33:52 GMT -5
;D Too funny, BAZ! ;D
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amyk
fully equipped rock polisher
I'm a slabber, I'm a cabber, I'm a midnight wrapper.
Member since January 2010
Posts: 1,331
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Post by amyk on May 12, 2011 22:45:16 GMT -5
Welcome Paul. I too am from Southern CA. Born in La Puente, graduated La Puente High. I have spent time living in Riverside, Rowland Heights, and Long Beach.
Moved to Sedona just to get out of LA. It takes 2 hours just to get out of LA. Here, ten minutes and I can be all alone in the middle of nowhere. Made my life smaller. (I like that phrase. thanks BAZ)
My graduating class in 1976 was 1300 students. My son's graduating class here will be around 100. What a difference.
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Post by jakesrocks on May 12, 2011 22:46:29 GMT -5
The Newberry site was pretty picked over back in the mid 90's. Did you climb up to the blue ash ? that's where the best digging was. Most were only the size of a hens egg and smaller, but I've heard of a few softball sized nodules coming out of there. Don't judge S.D. by Sioux Falls. I'm about 3 hours north of there in Aberdeen. No smog. No gangs. No illegals, and the ground doesn't shake. Oh, and our politicians aren't trying to take our guns away from us. Don
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Post by paulshiroma on May 13, 2011 8:41:59 GMT -5
Have to say that I agree with all of you about moving out of SoCal. While I appreciate being 20 minutes from the beach, an hour from the mountains or desert and the immediate proximity to family, this urban environment sure gets old. Growing up in Walnut Creek up in NorCal, it was relatively empty. My Dad and I used to go backpacking up in the eastern Sierras where it was basically us and the bears/squirrels. An old high school friend and I reconnected recently and he too, moved his family out of CA, in his case, to Cheyenne, WY. That looked like another great place to live. I tell my wife that sooner or later the politicians in California - I think I heard someone on another thread call it "Commiefornia" - will force me to leave. In which case, I think I'd like to move the family to Flagstaff. Loved it there. Hi Amy - 100 people. Excellent. When does your son graduate? Congratulations! Hi Don - Sorry, didn't mean to come across negatively about SD or Sioux Falls. I enjoyed my time at the company office there and got a couple of evenings to hang out with the local staff. Seemed like a great place. Probably not pleasant or relaxed as Aberdeen. We did get up to the ash layers at the Newberry Springs site but were constrained by time. We were on our way back from the old Field road site and had about an hour's worth of daylight left so we moved pretty quickly. My boyz are eight and four so any site I select has to be "family friendly" and easy to work ... and accessible to a Dodge Intrepid . If (big IF) gas prices ever come down, I'll have to consider swapping it out for an off-road capable vehicle. Thanks for the welcomes! Do appreciate it. Paul
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Post by johnjsgems on May 13, 2011 9:04:28 GMT -5
My mother went for the nodules in the 70's and was pretty negative (hard work, small nodules). Now it is wilderness area which usually means a farther walk. Also it is about 10 miles away so I've never been.
CA is the most beautiful state in the country. For many years you have to pay extra to rent a U-Haul one way out of CA because they have to pay someone to bring it back. There is a mass exodus out. Most of our influx of residents travel light and hang around Home Depot hoping for work.
I hate Flagstaff. Every time I have to drive the 40 through there I want to stop and see how much real estate costs. I stop at the rest area even if I'm not tired just to stop and smell the pines. Awful! Last Summer we spent 2 weeks in Camp Verde and saw Jerome, Sedona, Prescott and then went to Flag for a show. Very dangerous area. They were having the big fires/floods just North of Flag. My thought was "now prices will fall!"
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Post by jakesrocks on May 13, 2011 10:39:18 GMT -5
Paul, you didn't come across as being negative. I was just pointing out that Sioux Falls isn't at all like the rest of South Dakota. My wife and I moved up to Aberdeen to be near her parents after my mother passed away. If I had my choice, I'd move out to Rapid City, in the S.W. corner of the state. It's rockhound paradise out there. Some of the most beautiful agates in the world in the Black Hills and National Grasslands. And jasper and pet wood by the tons. The only drawback is the snow in the winter and mud during the spring thaw. Don
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Post by BAZ on May 13, 2011 23:05:01 GMT -5
John, Yup, that was my neck of the woods that had the fires and floods. (actually the fire nearly destroyed our subdivision) But dangerous? No more so than the fires and riots I experienced during the L. A. Riots when I was in Long Beach!
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Post by paulshiroma on May 14, 2011 2:07:08 GMT -5
...If I had my choice, I'd move out to Rapid City, in the S.W. corner of the state. It's rockhound paradise out there. Some of the most beautiful agates in the world in the Black Hills and National Grasslands. And jasper and pet wood by the tons..... Don That does sound awesome, Don, minus of course, the mud and snow. BAZ: I remember those riots. I was working for a local government at the time and we had to "stay and assist local law enforcement". Yeah, right ... once we got out of Dodge, I quickly got home to Orange County where nothing was going on. My roommate and I went out for dinner, dropped in at Brea Mall, got some coffee. etc. John: While I agree that CA is a beautiful state, the government here are a bunch of French Socialists. Sooner or later, they'll force me to leave since I don't fit the bill as one of their "model" citizens.
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Post by johnjsgems on May 14, 2011 9:05:25 GMT -5
You are being unkind to the French. I said CA is beautiful, not that anyone in their right mind would want to live here.
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