Rocks

A few days ago, on a walk, I was thinking that one of the good things about Ridgecrest is the large number and variety of available rocks. Everywhere you go there are rocks. This is not something that would have impressed me a few years ago. Rocket Boy is a rock enthusiast (that's the "geo" in his geophysics background), but not me. But as I have mentioned before, the babies really like rocks, so it is nice to be able to provide them so readily. As we walk along, if a baby cries, I can reach down and pick up a rock for him. Sometimes we come home from a walk with a stroller full of rocks. Sometimes we go out with a stroller full of rocks from our yard and redistribute them as we walk.

Today we had the opportunity to interact with even more rocks. It is the weekend of the Gem-O-Rama (see http://www1.iwvisp.com/tronagemclub/GEM-O-RAMA.htm), put on every year by the Searles Lake Gem & Mineral Society in Trona (about 25 miles northeast of us). It is a huge event, with thousands of people converging on this sad little town. The highlight of the weekend is the three "field trips" to collect minerals. We decided to go on the Blow Hole field trip, which cost $10/car. The goal of this trip is to collect crystals that are found 30-50 feet below the surface of the salt flats. A few days before the field trip, the organizers dig little holes in the ground, put dynamite in them and blast deep holes, and then they put hoses down into the holes and blow out the contents.

The trip was to start at 2:30 pm. We arrived in "downtown" Trona a little after 2pm, and were directed to park near the front of line 14 in parking lot 2. There were about 15 cars in each line, and maybe 20 lines in each parking lot? Anyway, a lot of cars. Even though we didn't have long to wait, it was too long. The temperature was only in the 80s, but the sun was just fierce, and of course it was shining right on Baby A. And we couldn't move the car. And Baby A wouldn't let us hang a towel up to block the sun. He screamed and screamed. I rolled up all the windows, turned on the car and the air conditioning, and kept checking my watch.

Finally at 2:30 the cars started driving to the site, first all the cars in line 1, then line 2.... finally we got to go too. When we got to the salt flats, we parked, put the babies in the hiking stroller, and wandered over to the area where the blow holes had spewed their contents, already completely overrun with frantic rockhounds, all digging digging digging in the mud and salt and brine. It was quite a sight. Everywhere you looked -- and walked -- there were crystals. It was like being in a very muddy fairy tale. The crystals were hanksite and borax and halite, but it was easy to imagine that they were rubies and emeralds and sapphires.

The babies were not at their happiest -- hadn't had good naps -- but the strangeness of the scene calmed them down. After pushing them around the perimeter of the digging area, we parked the stroller and let them get out and explore. We had brought their sand buckets, and it was fun to watch them collecting rocks. Baby B collected some rocks and then dumped them on the ground. Baby A, however, filled his bucket.

At 4pm they blew another hole, as a demonstration. It was quite a sight. When it was through blowing, everyone rushed forward to dig through what had been deposited. Everyone except us. We went back to the car, scraped the mud off our shoes and the stroller wheels, and headed home. With our rocks.