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Wonderful Wonderstone

Wonderful Wonderstone

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With only a week left here in Nevada, I couldn’t picture leaving without a last trip to my favorite wonderstone sites.  Because, ya know, you can never have too many rocks to haul when you move.   So on one of the first sunny and actually warm days in months I headed out for a day on the rocks.  While my present camera isn’t the best, I did get some pics that will give you an idea of what’s out there.

Part of a good day out.

When I got to the publicized site, I was amazed to see the traffic.  The first time I ever went to the location mine was the only rig there.  And so it was all that year.  This time I just shook my head and passed by all those people at the main site and traveled out further where the rock is colorful, but not the pink and yellow of the one I would go back to later that afternoon.  I was out to get some of all of it.  And I did.

With just a few days left until I head out for Oregon, and a few strength limitations, I was cautious about picking up the boulders I wanted.  If I’d had a jackhammer with me, I could have taken half a hill of beautiful stone.  As things were – I picked up only one actually too big to carry stones. The rest were of varying sizes.  From 3 fist sized to a few just small stones with nice banding.

At my first stop the stones were pretty vivid.

The second site I visited had the pink and yellow stone that the place is known for.

And of course the boulder. I had fun getting this thing back to the rig. Trust me on that one. I’ve carried heavier, but this was a struggle. It’s pretty thick and I’m turning into a little bit of a whimp.  Still – this is the one I HAD to have.

Looking forward to showing a few of these rocks after they’re cut.

Why Rockhounds Love Halloween

Why Rockhounds Love Halloween

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T’is the season to be spooked!

Of course, summer is usually a rockhound’s biggest hunting season, but there’s a lot nature does to help us celebrate that night the spooks and goblins break through their vortex and invade us here on earth. If you don’t believe it – I have the proof right here.

There are some pretty spooky places attached to where people go to hunt rocks — and they aren’t all  ghost mining towns and eerie graveyards.

Where else will  you find as spooky a place to be close to dark than this location in Succor Creek, a favorite rockhound hangout. You can’t look at Screaming rock in the near dark without a chill or two running down your spine.

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And exactly who is this that has been sent from the netherworld to protect a great crystal hunting area in California? If you’re in the area near dark, you can almost hear the banjo playing.

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It’s not just places that are ripe for the halloween loving crowds – it’s the rocks themselves that lend us such a willing hand at decorating for fright night.

Bat cave, in Oregon, isn’t just an apartment complex for the local bats. It’s also full of jasper just screaming to be cut and included in the season’s decorations.

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Where there is someone celebrating Halloween, there’s need for a Jack 0′ lantern.  This agate nodule takes on that job for Halloween rockhounds very finely.

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Along with ghosts and goblins, and spooky places – Halloween isn’t complete without some form of zombified remains.  What could be more apropo for the savvy Halloween celebration than a diseased, leaky, lesioned brain?

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It’s so great that nature is so willing to help chill and thrill us on the night we unleash reality and run with the demons.  If you have any natural spookers – please feel free to post them in the comments!

Happy Halloween from all of us at Rockhoundstation1.com

Life’s short –  Rock hard

Watch Out Quartzite – Here We Come

Watch Out Quartzite – Here We Come

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Well ya had to know that if there’s a going to be a huge rock and gem jamboree going on that someone from RSH1 would cut loose and invade the place. Some of us aren’t happy going and browsing, either. They have to haul trailers of rock down and put up their own booths.

Then there’s Tony Funk (RHS1 member catmandewe). He doesn’t just put up his own booth – he stakes territory!

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What the heck is Tony going to do with that much space? I had to ask, of course.  I got  a big answer:

I have several tons of rough, thousands of slabs, and quite a bit of

used equipment. I am also a Diamond Pacific dealer and can get customers a decent discount on equipment or material from Diamond Pacific which is right next door.

New stuff this year is a fresh batch of Amethyst Sage dendritic agate, a large Oregon Opal Butte thunderegg that was just split open with some killer opal in it, Sugilite from the Calahari Desert, some old stock Needles blue, Bruneau jasper, Morrisonite jasper, Davis Creek sheen obsidian, and much more.

Not only is the rock going to be spectacular – it looks like he’s planning on some live action while he’s there, too.

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If you want to get in on some of the action down there, here’s Tony’s show address for you.

Desert Gardens Gem and Mineral show in spaces A22/B22 in the front row right next to theDiamond Pacific building.

 

Mike Quinn (RHS1 member MikeyRocks) is also going to be part of the show there and has staked ground at:

D-17-18 in Desert Gardens.

We haven’t heard hide nor hair from Mikey since he started getting his excrement coagulated…I mean…um…..getting his stock ready for the show, so hope we’ll get some pics from Mike before everyone heads down to Quartzite to see what deals they can grab.

Don’t be surprised if you just happen to run into a few of the other members from RHS1 hanging around the place, too.

The more the merrier – drop by and say hi to a few of our favorite guys at RHS1 while you’re at the show.  They are extremely knowledgeable and entertaining.  It won’t take you very long to find out why we love em so much!

We’ve also found out that Diane (RHS1 member Drocknut) will also be visiting the guys there, so would like to put out a public service request to please keep your trees leashed at all times.