Rock Hunting
Tony got this brilliant idea that the boys would enjoy finding their own geodes - in the middle of freaking nowhere, Utah. So, we packed the cooler, our shovels, hammers, glasses and gloves, and the dog to head out west. Little did we know that 80% of the way there would be unpaved and, gravelly. So google's estimate of 2 hours and 20 minutes turned into 3 and a half - easy. Note - you may make better time with larger tires such as a truck or a jeep, or a RzR for that matter, but we just had the SUV that we didn't want to beat up, so we kept a maximum speed at 40 MPH (and got passed like twenty times).
The coolest thing was that we got to drive the Pony Express route and enjoy the stunning scenery!
We stopped to admire the beautiful pronghorns and the stunning wild horses in their habitat.
Sometime much later and car blanketed with dust, we arrived at the geode beds. We set up a picnic spot and prepared to dig.
Once we found a comfortable spot atop a small hill (previously dug by BLM for our ease of access), the boys did not have to dig for long before finding small geodes and busting them open. We were anticipating the colors and the beautiful sparkle of each geode we cracked. Some were impressive, some were not - the boys were allowed to keep a ziplock full. Tony worked for a couple of hours on his own site, eventually digging up a giant rock which suspiciously presented as a geode, but was in fact, not. So much for that.
After a while, we felt pretty satisfied with our findings and decided to give up on a large, museum quality geode - probably because there are none, at this point. This was a day well spent with family and the dog. We enjoyed the scenery, the sunshine, the breezes - it was all beautiful. Here are some of the more impressive rocks we found, after washing them off.
And the video of my excavation crew.
Till next adventure!
The coolest thing was that we got to drive the Pony Express route and enjoy the stunning scenery!
We stopped to admire the beautiful pronghorns and the stunning wild horses in their habitat.
Sometime much later and car blanketed with dust, we arrived at the geode beds. We set up a picnic spot and prepared to dig.
Once we found a comfortable spot atop a small hill (previously dug by BLM for our ease of access), the boys did not have to dig for long before finding small geodes and busting them open. We were anticipating the colors and the beautiful sparkle of each geode we cracked. Some were impressive, some were not - the boys were allowed to keep a ziplock full. Tony worked for a couple of hours on his own site, eventually digging up a giant rock which suspiciously presented as a geode, but was in fact, not. So much for that.
After a while, we felt pretty satisfied with our findings and decided to give up on a large, museum quality geode - probably because there are none, at this point. This was a day well spent with family and the dog. We enjoyed the scenery, the sunshine, the breezes - it was all beautiful. Here are some of the more impressive rocks we found, after washing them off.
And the video of my excavation crew.