August 27th

We left Herkimer at this morning at 8:30 and took a different route home. We came through Troy, NY (the home of Uncle Sam) then to Bennington, Brattleboro,  and into Keene. We had lunch in Keene and then headed up Rt10 to 89 to Concord the north to Freedom. No traffic to speak of and got home around 3:30. 

Trailer is unpacked and put away until the next adventure. 😛😛🤪😛😛

August 26th

This morning we headed to the mine again feeling we had a much better idea of how to maximize our luck. You know what they say about the best laid plans...

We figured that breaking the big rock was the best hope for big diamond but heat, 12lb sledgehammer and age wore us down quickly. By 10:30 we had gone thru the 4 bottles of fluids and had only found a few small diamonds.

We took a trip to the Cafe for lemonade and shade before giving it one more try. Bob found a nice diamond and I decided to swing the 12lber for a few rocks. I found a good rock that we worked together on and netted another 6 8 diamonds. I was wasted and sat to recover ( no clouds and 95°F). While sitting I worked on small rocks fining a few. While sitting on the sitting Boulder we shared I grabbed the 12 lber and took a half-hearted swing. As a piece flew off a diamond about an 1 1/2" was sitting there looking at me but refused to let go of the dolostone it was in. I worked on the rock for at least an hour trying ever method I could employ with little luck. What I finally ended up with was 3 pieces of a shattered diamond.

We finally quit at lunch time; had lunch at the Cafe and visited the gift shop to see what it would cost to purchase one the size of the one that shattered.  Let's  just say we left very happy with what we found 😄🤣😃.

A great time.

Wednesday August 25th

We started the day with a bacon & eggs breakfast with English muffins, some fresh Maine blueberries and fresh brewed coffee. At 9AM we headed to the Herkimer Diamond Mine.  This place is great. We started with a short video about the geology of the area and the different methods used to collect specimens.

We then paid our $13. day entry fee and headed to the mining area.  I had the first finds a couple small diamonds but after a few hours in the sun I headed out to find some shade and fluids. Bob wasn't having any luck at all but had a few dolostone specimens ( crushed rock 😆 ).

We both headed to the Cafe and had  large fresh squeezed lemonades and a Geode Crystal Ice Cream sandwich. These were fantastic no pictures but 2 6" chocolate chip cookies with about a pint of ice in between. (lunch😁).

Bob had seen a guy using a 12 lb sledgehammer  and having great luck finding diamonds. SO of course Bob had brought a 12 Lb sledgehammer ... we headed back to the mining area to break bigger rocks. I headed to an area as far away from him as possible to avoid flying rock chips. After cracking a few small rocks with my 3 lb sledgehammer I wandered over to see how Bob was doing. Still no luck. An old age was quickly sapping our strength.  I picked up the 12 lber an found a rock to looked promising and started pounding. After a few vicious swings the rock spit a there was a beauty.  I called Bob over to let him have that diamond as I already had a couple. I then went and sat down to recover. Bob took a few more swings at that same rock and ended up with 6 diamonds.

We quit around 3PM  and as we were leaving the mine area a realized that I did have the baggy with my 2 diamond. I went back to the rock that we used as a resting spot to see if it was there. A guy with his 2 kids were sitting on the rock and I asked the dad if they had found my baggy. He said no but his youngest son said "what about the bag we found when we first came here". The dad said oh ya and pulled my baggy out of his pocket and handed to me. I thanked his son and we headed to the truck. 

Back at the campsite we showered and crashed.

On the Road Again

This morning Bob and I left Freedom, NH for a short trip to Herkimer, NY in search of the doubly terminated Herkimer diamonds. Rather than travel by highway we crossed NH and VT on Route 11 and into NY onto route NY 29. There was any traffic and some beautiful scenery on this great blue sky day. We stopped at a municipal park in Alexander, VT for lunch: sandwiches in the trailer.

We're staying at the Herkimer Diamond Mine KOA. We arrived around 3 this afternoon,  too late for mining, so we walked the edge of the river (West Canada Creek) looking for interesting rocks.

The "creek" is running 4x its normal flow rate.

Tomorrow our plan is to spend the day breaking rocks in the hot sun...

The Hunt for Herkimer Diamonds

After a week delay Bob and I are headed to the Herkimer KOA/Diamond Mine in Herkimer,  New York. We're leaving Tuesday morning and it's a 5 1/2 to 6 hr drive from Freedom assuming we dont encounter and road flooding left from Henri. 

Stay tuned for updates...

July 18 Sunday

We left Tri-State RV park in Matamoras, Pennsylvania at 7 this morning and had an uneventful trip until about 1 mile before arriving in Candia. Unexpectedly a flock of turkey took off on the side of the highway and attacked us. One hit the windshield on the passenger side and then hit the trailer as it headed to its afterlife. No damage to the windshield but left a dent in the trailer.

 We arrived at Bob's around 1PM, unhooked the trailer,, unpacked Bob's stuff and unloaded my stuff from his Tundra loaded it into my Tundra and hooked up the trailer and I continue on to Freedom. 

So this adventure is done. I have no idea the number of miles we drove but we visited NH,MA,CT,NY,NJ,MD,PA,VA,NC,TN,WV,

SC,GA and FL and while driving we saw drivers from all states BUT HI,AK,SD,ND,NV,AR,MI,MO,WY.

July 17

We left Quakertown Woods this morning and headed north but we didn't make too far. We had read in a blog that the Franklin, New Jersey area was a rockhounders dream spot. SO 😃🤪😃 I found us a campsite just north of the Delaware Water Gap right on the Delaware River and headed south to Franklin (about 30 minutes from the campground). The area is called the tri-state area as we're at the border of NY, NJ and PA.

The museum has an amazing collection of rocks, minerals, and fossils. This area was mined for zinc, calcite, fluorite and magnatites many of which are fluorescent.  As it was only in the mid nineties we cut out time in the collection area to about 3 hrs. We got a bunch of specimens before melting. May have to come back as we're only 4 hours from home. We'll be in Candia, NH midday tomorrow  God willing and the creeks don't rise.

Hate to see this adventure coming an end but we need time to get unrelaxed, see doctors, dentists, and plan out next adventure.

We heard from Nicole that a  better than full price had been received on the Florida house. So it appears that the goal of the trip was met. Maybe now she can join us on our future rockhouding plus adventures. 

July 16

Met Jim Sculte at Twin Ponds country club for another great day chasing a little white ball as it led us across the Pennsylvania countryside :-) 

I think we wore Jim S out because he mentioned a shower and a nap. Not Bob and I cause we're "adventuring". So we headed to Bethlehem to see a converted steel mill. Now called Wind Creek casino!

😁

After a couple of hours earning more gas money we headed to Jim and Karen's home for dinner of pulled chicken and visit'n.  We left Harleysville at 11:30 PM and dragged ourselves back to Quakertown.  Continuing north tomorrow. 

July 15

Today was an all day travel day. Up US81 to US 78 across Pennsylvania stopping at Quakertown Woods campground. Only event was following a storm cell that was on the same route.

July 13

We decided to spend an extra night in Asheville and visit the Pisgah Gem mines.

MISTAKE!!!! It was a road side place for kids with ridiculous prices. A bucket of dirt with foreign gems was $80.

We decided to visit Pisgah National Forest instead.  Stopped at the ranger station and talked to a ranger about rock collecting areas in the park: None. But we could pan for gold but the gift store doesn't sell pans; scratch that. SO let the adventure begin. We went into the park a few miles and stopped at a pull out near a brook ( correction a Crick :-) ); through the woods to the crick...a guy was fly fishing and had just landed a 16" brown trout. We talked to him awhile : from Asheville, his day off, assistant manger for a music production company in Asheville, business is recovering, applied for a government assistance grant for music people. Catch a 14" rainbow trout. Bob and I pulled some interesting pebbles/stones. Wished him continued luck and headed further into the park. Stopped several times to check out the local rocks. Eventually we got to the Blue Ridge Parkway (The Pisgah section) and followed the parkway back to Asheville. For a day that started not so good and raining, we finished the day after having a great day outdoors with burgers on the grill with the sun shining.

July 14 Wednesday

We left Asheville just before 8AM this morning heading toward the Roanoke,  VA area. The target is a State Park named Fairy Stone. Fairy Stone is a crystal made of iron, aluminum and silicate. The mineral name is staurolite and often takes the form of a crucifix  so here's the legend:

"Long, long ago...as fairiesplayed in a sunny glade in Patrick County, Virginia an elfin messenger arrived with the said news of Christ's  crucifixion. The fairies cried and as their tears fell to the earth, they crystallized into little stone crosses. Though the fairies have disappeared, their remnants can still be found in that spot today."

With a legend like that how could we not travel an hour and a half off our route to explore. We left US 81 before Roanoke heading south again crossing a segment of the Blue Ridge Parkway and down a 9% grade to a to Stuart, VA. One of the photos is a truck we got stuck behind on that decent .

Bob and I spent the afternoon trying to local the Fairy Stones with little luck. We did find pieces but no intact crosses. When we finished we found an open building near the entrance to the collection area and inside was a vending machine with Fairy Stones. 🤣🤪🤣

Heading to Pennsylvania in the morning.

July 12

Monday - Today we stayed in Franklin, NC and visited the Cherokee Gem Mining Co.

We actually towed the trailer up a narrow back road to this slicing area. We had a blast washing dirt. Bob got a sapphire and some garnets and I got a 5.4 CT ruby and some garnet. From there we traveled to Asheville, NC and decided we checkout the mines that were advertised for the area. 

We found a BBQ place, Little Pigs, for dinner. We did learn that BBQ in NC means pulled pork. Not bad place. Staying at KOA Asheville west which is right off US40. I guess other people have complained about traffic noise because they offered earplugs at check-in.  

July 11

We started today in Falling Creek,  Florida  just south of the George Florida  Line. No one sang to us as we headed north. After encountering a rare tree frog we just beat feet north as some, I heard, are poisonous. 

We lasted on US 75 until noon and after a full morning of Scenic Billboards be abandoned the highway and took GA83/441 from Macon to Toccoa. This route took us thru the Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge and the Oconee National Forest ( and not one billboard). This path took us to Gray, Monticello, Madison, Watkinsville and then to the home of the University of Georgia Bulldogs:Athens.

We stopped for the night in Toccoa, GA. If your looking for it on a map, it in the NE corner just west of the South Carolina line and just south of the North Carolina line.

The RV park is extremely laid back. No check staff or check out staff just leave some money in an envelope...

Tomorrow the plan is the head to Franklin, NC as they advertise 12 mines with rubies and sapphires.  Weather permitting we'll do some slicing. This afternoon and evening have been on and off rain and thunderstorms.

Then we'll head up through the Great Smokey Mountains on the Blue Ridge Parkway and over the Appalachian Mts to Johnson City, Tennessee where we pickup US 81 thru the Shenandoah Valley.

July 10th (Saturday)

This morning we said our goodbyes to Nicole and N Stampede Dr. 

Nicole still has to deal with her Mom's extensive VHS movie collection.  Every one of the movies is still in alphabetical order.

We headed north on Rt 75 and decided to stop in the Suwanee River area to start our rockhounding adventures. Only problem is Elsa left a lot of water so no stream bed exploring.  We did find some fossilized clams. The Suwanee River is well over its backs.

this last photo is of the falls. There usually is a 15' drop in the middle of this photo. This what happens when the week's rainfall total exceeds 15".

These last 2 photos are of the Florida National Scenic Trail. The trail run 66 miles along the Suwanee River. We were headed for a rock collecting area but it's on the other side of the river, oh well. The trail is beautiful (at least the 1/4 mile we did is, can't real attest to the other 65 3/4 miles 🤣🤪🤣

Having grilled sausages with bell peppers and Vidalia onions for dinner. Tomorrow we continue north into western Georgia.

July 9th Friday

It's Friday...The house, garage and outbuildings are being emptied. Nicole has hired some to take the rest. He owns a landscaping company and will be maintaining the property until it's sold.

Bob and I are doing our lasts: last round of golf at Citrus Spring, last dip in the pool, last meal at the Boil Yard,...probably won't ever be returning to the Crystal River area.

Yesterday PM we drove out to Fort Point and picked around the beach and jetty but didn't find anything  worth keeping..

We'll be starting to meander back north in the next few days. No real plans but I'm eyeing some rockhounding stops along the Florida/Georgia line.

You notice that we started early this morning before Bob was awake🤣😁

July 7th

So it's been a few day and wevr pretty much finished with my sister's estate and dealing with Elsa. Today we hired an estate scavenger to haul away the remaining stuff. The house goes the the market officially on Friday.

Bob and I took it easy today after a very busy week.

Tomorrow we're going to play a round of golf in the AM.

Elsa was a nonevent. The storm stayed out off the coast and passed quietly in the night making landfall further north. We got about 7"s of rain but we're on a ridge and had drained about that much off the swimming pool.

July Oneth (Canada Day)

Another day of furniture and tools sales. Tools a done; tomorrow we start working on 2 addition outbuildings full of stuff. Painters have the living, dining and kitchen to finish.

Tonight we went to The Kane Cattle Company for dinner. Great steaks all family raise steers. After planning tomorrow we rode off into the sunset 🤪🤣🤪

update June 29 & 30

Our latest project. Today we spent the day sorting out the barn/workshop. Painters are working inside and out. At about 10:30A we put out signs for "Tool Sale" and Nicole started posting furniture items on line. Within a half hour a feeding frenzy started and has lasted for 2 days. Nicole has to shut her phone off because it's been ringing until 2AM. The workshop/barn is getting close to empty, Habitat for Humanity will be getting the rest.  Only a drill press is left for large tools and a few old corded tools and misc stuff.

Last night we went to The Crab Boil in Crystal River and had the boil that included mussels, snow crab, shrimp, and sausage in a spicy white sauce. Well worth the mess of eating it. BEFORE and AFTER...