Thanks Dick, baby is 3 weeks old and SHE is doing fine.  Having to get used to 4am feedings again but all worth it!  

Hi Gary hope your life is going well, new baby and all. Here is the trip report from my last trip and a link to the video I took as well as a link to my Partner Ron’s photos and a link to my updated web site with all my trips on it. We found some really nice stuff. Found a hole in the side of a hill with a vein of Blue Lace Agate plus lots laying around on the ground, lots of big Limonite cubes and a couple of Citrine Crystals, a couple pieces of Tourmaline. Some geodes some small pieces of fire Agate and lots of Jasper, red, and Agate. A real good trip!!!!!

Dick Wilimek

http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/561407535OQhIeV

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3956629913512159115

http://members.cox.net/rwilimek/

Rock Hound Run Report

11-8-07 to 11-11-07

Another great rock hound/wheelin trip. We had Tom and Sue in there TJ, Jay in his Pinz, Micheal in his Toyota, Rainer and Marianne in there Ford, and Shawn in his TJ, with the run leaders Dick and Ron in a TJ.

I arrived at Coon Hollow at 5:30 on Wed. and Ron arrived about 7:30. Thursday morning Tom and Sue came in with there motor home towing the Jeep. We hung around camp till about 11:00 to see if anyone was coming in late morning, no one showed up so we headed out for a geode bed that I had been to once, we found it without any trouble, did some looking around there. Sue found some nice stuff and I found a couple of small ones. Then I had heard about a seam of Blue Lace Agate that was south and east of the Potato patch, so we went hunting for that, the trail petered out but we could see it off in the distance, so we found our way over to it. There was a lot of Blue Agate there on the ground in and around the hole and in the tailings pile, also some other stuff. It deserves a return trip; I marked it with the GPS so we can find it again. Then we found a old trail that headed north so we took that and eventually ended back on the Hauser Geode Rd. and back to camp. At camp we saw the Pinz coming down the Opal Hill mine Rd. and Jay was there in a few minutes. Since it was around 3:00 by then we decided to call it a day. Micheal came into camp before dark on Thursday, we talked on the 2 meter radio, when he had just turned on to the Bradshaw trail just north of Palo Verde, using simplex that is about 10 miles as the crow fly’s.

Friday morning sunrise was spectacular, reds oranges yellows and a blue sky with some clouds. S0 after some discussion we decided to head for the Opal hill mine and Pebble Terrace. You can find/pickup Agate, Jasper, Fire Agate, Petrified wood and Sea sponge plus some other pretty cool stuff. In fact Jay found a real nice piece of Fire Agate with orange color in the nice round bubble on it. While we were there we helped pull a guy out that was stuck in some soft sand, Jay’s Pinz had no problem with the ¾ ton Pickup. Then back to camp for some lunch. We decide due to a challenge from some other friends that were camped out there as well, to a Potato Gun shoot off. What fun that was, Toms was the most reliable, and mine went the farthest and well Bob’s is fun also!!!! During the shoot off Shawn came into camp and then a little later Rainer and Marianne arrived.

On Saturday we went to the Limonite Cube fields, we tried a different spot, that Shawn had found the previous day and it was great, lots of big ones and some Crystals, Shawn found two really nice Citrine Crystals and some large Tourmaline, green and pink and black and a clear, crystals. We stayed out there for around three hours, then back to camp. Saturday night we all went on a night run to an area a fellow camper directed us to, he called it Jasper Flats, looking for rocks at night with flashlights is kind of fun I must say. When we got back to camp Jay headed for home and we had another camp fire as we did every night there. On Sunday Ron packed up by 9:00 was on the road, Micheal took some directions from me and headed for the Geode Beds, he was meeting up with some other friends to take the Bradshaw trail back to Indio. I packed up by 9:40 and hit the road. Tom and Sue were getting ready also. Rainer and Marianne had planned to stay till Monday, lucky them!!!

Oh yes I almost forgot Jay, Tom and I did a night run on Thursday night we had a good time running down some washes. Thanks to Ron for all his great photos and I hope anyone else who took photos will post them to the run Album. I took a short movie and will get it posted in the next few days. Thanks to every one who made the trip, I think that it was one of the best ones we have done. They just seem to get better every time!!!!!

Dick       

Rock Hound Run Report 4-13-07 to 4-17-07

We had another great trip, found lots of rocks, a few geodes and two big geodes. There were 7 rigs

Loren and his 2 sons and his father-in-law Mac, Jeep Unlimited.

Rainer and Marianne, F250

Paul and Elise, Rubicon Unlimited

Cara and Bob, Jeep

Jason in Gary’s Jeep

Morris, Pinzgauer

Ronnie and I, Jeep

On Friday it was Rainer and Marianne, Ronnie and I and Loren we hunted for orange agate and chalcedony on the Bajadas just east of camp. Loren went up to the Opal Hill mine and saw a movie crew there shooting a documentary for the discovery channel. Friday night Paul came in and also Morris. Later in the night Cara and Bob and Jason got there. Saturday we headed for Carlson View after some wrong turns we finally found it, what a great view of the desert to the south, one of Loren’s sons found a geode the size of a football with a large clump of druse crystals in the center, about the size of a baseball, right next to the trail. We also stopped at the southern end of the Hauser geode Beds and then took a trail a guy said that was impassable back to the main trail and then back to camp. Later that day early evening before dark Gary and his wife and son arrived. After dinner we all (the Jeeps) went out for a night run and had a blast.

Sunday morning Rainer and Marianne headed for home. Morris also headed for home, before we got up. The rest of us headed down the Bradshaw Trail stopped at the Roosevelt Mine and looked around then on to Pala Verde and Kinney’s Rock Shop. From there we took the east trail to Pebble terrace and picked up some agate and Jasper and then on to Opal Hill Mine, everyone had fun checking out the mine and looking for some Fire Opal. After getting back to camp Cara and Bob, Jason and Wife, Gary and Wife headed for home. Loren and Group headed for home as well.

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