I struck gold!

Really, I did, although it is only enough to notice that it truly is gold. I also got a couple of garnets as well. It all started when I met Marv, at Marv's Rock Shop in Virginia City and he told me you could find garnets, gold and star sapphires (red, blue and black) in the hills surrounding the city. But more on that in a minute....lets start at the beginning.

When we started our day in W. Yellowstone, MT we went to Seldomly Seen Knives and purchased an amazing piece of art. It is made with Montana copper and hand crafted using a variety of processes including glass and a kiln. The pieces in the store were stunning, but this is the one that kept me in Yellowstone one more evening. I am so excited! The picture doesn't show the colors, copper, teal, green, it is so stunning if i do say so myself.

We then asked our waitress for a recommendation of something to do in MT. She recommended Quake Lake in a matter of seconds. She is a transplant to W. Yellowstone and was taken there when she first arrived in town. In 1959, an earthquake cracked a mountain, trapping 250 people in the valley who were camping and needed to be saved by fire jumpers. As you drive down the road, you see the full grown trees in a river that have since died and a mountainside that just doesn't fit the picture. As you get closer, you realize the effect that nature has had on the area. The mountain that slid covers a huge area and the Army Corp of Engineers needed to come in to clear a path for the river to avoid further damage to the area. (Those things that look like weeds are actually trees that were about 20-40 feet tall.)

Montana is known as big sky country. This doesn't do it justice, but from the top of the mountain we were climbing, Ma mentioned that it looked as if she could see forever.

From there we drove up to Ennis and did a little shopping. Ma wanted something to remind her of being in the Wild West, so only a turquoise leather jacket would do. We then headed into Virginia City and that is where I met Marv. His store is in the oldest building in MT. It was built in 1863 and was the location where vigilantes hung 5 men. The left hand side of the building is a museum to the history of the building. You can actually see the rope mark from where one of the men were hanged. The building was also home to the first woman owned utility - and she was also black, something that the "locals" take great pride in and Marv was a great storyteller and shared the entire story with me, who the men were, why they were hunted and hanged, etc.

Based on Marv's recommendation, I went to pan for garnets and gold with John and walked away with both. He was very patient with me, I think the idea was for me to follow along with him, but it took twice as long as I was taking pictures the entire time. I didn't know that I was certain to find something so when I asked, how many people walk away with something, he looked at me puzzled and replied, "Um everyone." Thankfully the rainclouds moved on and when it was time for me to fish out the garnets out of the pan, I had the bright sun to do it under.

I then went up to the location that Marv told me I could find star rubies and sapphires. Well I apparently don't have the patience or the skill for this, after an hour of searching, I found one rock with garnets in it, a couple of pieces of white and pink quartz and headed back to the car. I knew I should have taken him with me (he is a self proclaimed rock hound). We then went to dinner in a building made in 1867. Ma was very happy that she had a beer and dinner in the real wild west.

On our ride, this was the sunset that followed our day.

Today we drove and drove and drove some more. I think 8 hrs in total. One of the towns we went through on one of the scenic drives was Ucross. This was on a scenic wildlife viewing road. We saw lots of antelope and deer and every time Ma could see a deer she would say, "Aw, bambi."

We landed, after a long day in South Dakota. We saw the Crazy Horse monument and the laser light show. The process that this monument has taken - I hope I get it right - Standing Bear and tribal leaders contacted a sculptor who was from Boston and had worked as an apprentice to the Mt Rushmore project, Korzcek (probably have the spelling wrong). He started the project on his own 20 miles away from Mt Rushmore, had a family of 10 and passed away in 1982. The project is COMPLETELY funded by visitors to the site and contributions. He firmly believed that art should be supported by the people not tax payers and he refused a $10 million government sponsorship. His family today continues the project, blasting, carving, and managing the project. It was truly inspirational and I highly recommend that you visit.

This is his carving 1/34 the size of the final monument.

Tomorrow we are onto Mt Rushmore and who knows what else!