Crystal Diggin...
Oct. 3rd, 2009 04:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
joegodaI think there is a firm tentative plan to go out to Great Salt Plains on the 8th for Diggin Crystals!
And since my last trip was such a blast, I wrote my mom on it. Course, since I'm such a prolific writer, I decided to post it here to.
Hi Mom,
It's October the 3rd, and I know I didn't write last month like I said I would, so here I am now. Just thought I'd drop you a line and let you know that I'm doing fine, and I hope you are doing as well as you can.
The weather has turned chilly up here, darn right cold for you. It got down to the high 40's last night. I still haven't turned on the heater yet, though. My little apartment is pretty tight, except for those places where it isn't. That's a fixable thing, though. Little bit of weather stripping and I'm good.
There's been some doings around here. The Tulsa State Fair is underway, and I might even go this year. Last time I went was with Jamie and his wife, and that was over 5 years ago. Sam and his family and I were going to go a couple of years ago, but that fell through. Sam's getting pretty adamant about me not paying for them.
His family and I did go do some fun stuff, though. There's a state park about 3 hours from my apartment where a person can go and dig crystals. It's the Great Salt Plain of Oklahoma. It's an old salt lake that was trapped here after the last ice age came and went. The salt leaches out of the ground to the sand above and just sits there. It's one of the few places like it on the face of the planet.
Sam and his family rode with me when I went up there about 3 weeks ago. It's going through some of the most barren parts of Oklahoma, places where most folks don't want to hang out after dark or get stuck with a car broken down. There were waving wheat fields and some sad little corn stalks and a fairly good amount of soybeans. There were also oil rigs just a-pumping up and down, which is kind of expected here.
The road was long and lonely, and as George is now 6 years old, there was a lot of "have we got there yet?" Cindy and I got along fairly well, though she did sneak a few beers on me when I wasn't looking. I found her empties under the seat of the van.
The lake is near a little town called Jet. It's called Jet because at one time it was an Air Force town. The Salt Plain was used at one time by the air force for practice bombing runs, as well as training for ground forces. There is an actual lake and a resort nearby, where folks can go and fish and birdwatch and stuff like that, but I was never much for that sort of thing. I like to look at the scenery and do things, like hiking, but hunting and birdwatching? Not exactly my style.
The place to go crystal digging is about 5 miles of a main drag called Highway 64, just about 11 miles outside of this tiny town of Jet. The road off of 64 is well graded, but it's still dirt, and it changes after about 2 miles in to a white that looks like someone came along and chalked the road. That's the salt. There is a warning in the description of the place that a person would want to wash their car after visiting, because salt is pretty corrosive.
So, we drove down this well graded salty dirt road to a corner. If we turned left, we would have gone to the resort. Turning right would have taken us to the ancient dry lake bed. I kinda wanted to see what the resort had, but George was being a kid, getting cranky from being cooped up in a car for three hours, so we turned right.
About half a mile down the road, we saw cows on the left side, in a field. There was also one in the middle of the road, holding a staring contest with my van. I thought about getting out and explaining the situation to her, but you know… I seemed to remember that cows can be pretty darn mean and bite and kick, so I just left the situation as it was and gently moved past her. Even so, she hollered at me and kicked anyway.
We got to the dry lakebed and turned onto what looked like a beach. Well, I guess it was a beach at one time. Off in the distance the hills rose up and looked to be shrouded in mist. They might have been, in fact, because it was an overcast day and the hills were miles away. It might have been raining. It was a pretty sight, and mysterious looking. I think you would have liked it, seeing the hills rising up in the distance, pine tree covered and partially hidden in the mist.
There was a little kiosk information stand at the beginning of the park. We stopped there and Sam got out and read the instructions on how to go crystal digging. These crystals are formed by calcium and Sodium Sulfate under the ground, and they grow on bones and sticks and other stuff that gets buried in the rains, when they come. The can grow fairly large, about two or three inches long, with a hexagonal matrix, so they look very crystal like, with six sides and everything. They can also grow lumpy and look like just old rocks made out of rusty mud. The clear ones, though, are special, because the impurities inside of them, the bones and sticks and bits of sand, form and hourglass shape. That's why they are called Hourglass Selenites, and this little bit of old lakebed is the only documented place in the world where they grow.
The hourglass selenite is also the state crystal of Oklahoma.
So, we drove out to the digging area, marked by signs that said that's what they are. Part of the rest of the area may or may not still have unexploded munitions laying around, and the Plain was also used for testing on chemical warfare. We didn't go much further than what was marked for digging.
It was, even though overcast, a warmish day. I was glad the sun wasn't out because the sand was so blindingly white. If the sun had been out, we would have been snow blind and sunburned in just a very short time. So, we walked out to where a number of other people were digging, carrying our coffee cans and a few gallons of water. The coffee cans are for digging and holding the crystals. The water is used to wash of what we dug up.
We sat down and started to dig, and sure enough, just about two or three inches under the ground, we started to pull out little crystals. Nothing big, some no larger than a grain or two of sand, but they were crystals none the less. Some were an inch or two or three large, but clumped with old bits of sand and such so that they looked like those mud balls I was talking about. I did get some that had a bit of clearness to them, and sure enough, there was a well-defined hourglass shape in them. I'm sending one along in the envelope, just so you can see. I know you're eyes aren't what they used to be, so I'm hoping you can see it anyway.
We dug for a few hours, along with about fifty other folks. Some of them brought tents to shade them, and I think they may have been spending the night or had spent the night. I can imagine that place gets pretty quiet and spooky at night, being three miles away from the highway and not a tree for hundreds or thousands of yards around. It is a lakebed, after all. Probably the only sounds were coyotes on the prowl or maybe a wildcat or so. No, we didn't see any dead fish in that lakebed. Any fish that had been there were long gone, into the actual lake or dissolved away in time.
It got about 5 pm or so, and Sam decided it was time to go. We had dug for about three hours straight, give or take, and we still had a three hour drive back. For whatever reason, Sam and his family was ready to go. If I'd been by myself, I might have stayed another hour or so, cuz I just didn't find that big crystal I was looking for.
The drive back was rather uneventful, much like the drive up. There was a small grumpiness when I took a way back that seemed to be shorter, because it was on a main highway, and Cindy said "I told you it was shorter", when it had never been mentioned before. I suspect she was into her third or fourth beer by then, but I could be wrong. She may just be one of those "I told you so" people.
And just so's you know, I don't like folks to drink in the van. I don’t drink and drive, and I don't appreciate anyone who drinks while I'm driving. It's called an Open Container in the law books, and the police tend to frown heavily on that sort of thing. It's cause a falling out between Cindy and me before, the last time all of us came down to Indiana. She wanted to stop at a package store on the way to and back from Turkey Run to pick up some beer and I refused, simply refused. I don't like drunks. I just don't.
Anyway, we got home about 8ish, with the evening sun just starting to tip it's hat to the horizon. Sam and family had gathered a good dozen or so crystals and I got about a handful. I kind of let them have the majority of the big ones I found, just so George could have them.
We said our goodbyes and that was the day trip to the Great Salt Plains of Oklahoma. Course, I haven't heard hide nor hair of them since, even though I called. It was a quick call, just to make sure that they were all right. Something was going on and nobody really wanted to talk on the phone, so I let them go. I dunno. Only time will tell about that situation.
Anyway, I've got to go run to the store and pick up some envelopes to mail this thing. Linda sends her love and thoughts, and I'm sure that Sam and his family do too.
Don't know when I'll be there next, but it may be snowy and cold on my next trip. I'll probably be traveling alone then, too.
Love you, Mom!
I'll write again soon as I can. All sorts of adventures are coming up.
Chet
Anybody want to go? I think Tim is saying it's a firm for him, and I think Susi said she'd go. Keep in mind, it's a day trip. We may want to eat breakfast together or before we start. And it may be hot! or rainy! but think of the adventure....
And I'm taking reservations to accompany me on my trip to Indiana when I go next. Don't expect anyone, but you never know unless you ask
And since my last trip was such a blast, I wrote my mom on it. Course, since I'm such a prolific writer, I decided to post it here to.
Hi Mom,
It's October the 3rd, and I know I didn't write last month like I said I would, so here I am now. Just thought I'd drop you a line and let you know that I'm doing fine, and I hope you are doing as well as you can.
The weather has turned chilly up here, darn right cold for you. It got down to the high 40's last night. I still haven't turned on the heater yet, though. My little apartment is pretty tight, except for those places where it isn't. That's a fixable thing, though. Little bit of weather stripping and I'm good.
There's been some doings around here. The Tulsa State Fair is underway, and I might even go this year. Last time I went was with Jamie and his wife, and that was over 5 years ago. Sam and his family and I were going to go a couple of years ago, but that fell through. Sam's getting pretty adamant about me not paying for them.
His family and I did go do some fun stuff, though. There's a state park about 3 hours from my apartment where a person can go and dig crystals. It's the Great Salt Plain of Oklahoma. It's an old salt lake that was trapped here after the last ice age came and went. The salt leaches out of the ground to the sand above and just sits there. It's one of the few places like it on the face of the planet.
Sam and his family rode with me when I went up there about 3 weeks ago. It's going through some of the most barren parts of Oklahoma, places where most folks don't want to hang out after dark or get stuck with a car broken down. There were waving wheat fields and some sad little corn stalks and a fairly good amount of soybeans. There were also oil rigs just a-pumping up and down, which is kind of expected here.
The road was long and lonely, and as George is now 6 years old, there was a lot of "have we got there yet?" Cindy and I got along fairly well, though she did sneak a few beers on me when I wasn't looking. I found her empties under the seat of the van.
The lake is near a little town called Jet. It's called Jet because at one time it was an Air Force town. The Salt Plain was used at one time by the air force for practice bombing runs, as well as training for ground forces. There is an actual lake and a resort nearby, where folks can go and fish and birdwatch and stuff like that, but I was never much for that sort of thing. I like to look at the scenery and do things, like hiking, but hunting and birdwatching? Not exactly my style.
The place to go crystal digging is about 5 miles of a main drag called Highway 64, just about 11 miles outside of this tiny town of Jet. The road off of 64 is well graded, but it's still dirt, and it changes after about 2 miles in to a white that looks like someone came along and chalked the road. That's the salt. There is a warning in the description of the place that a person would want to wash their car after visiting, because salt is pretty corrosive.
So, we drove down this well graded salty dirt road to a corner. If we turned left, we would have gone to the resort. Turning right would have taken us to the ancient dry lake bed. I kinda wanted to see what the resort had, but George was being a kid, getting cranky from being cooped up in a car for three hours, so we turned right.
About half a mile down the road, we saw cows on the left side, in a field. There was also one in the middle of the road, holding a staring contest with my van. I thought about getting out and explaining the situation to her, but you know… I seemed to remember that cows can be pretty darn mean and bite and kick, so I just left the situation as it was and gently moved past her. Even so, she hollered at me and kicked anyway.
We got to the dry lakebed and turned onto what looked like a beach. Well, I guess it was a beach at one time. Off in the distance the hills rose up and looked to be shrouded in mist. They might have been, in fact, because it was an overcast day and the hills were miles away. It might have been raining. It was a pretty sight, and mysterious looking. I think you would have liked it, seeing the hills rising up in the distance, pine tree covered and partially hidden in the mist.
There was a little kiosk information stand at the beginning of the park. We stopped there and Sam got out and read the instructions on how to go crystal digging. These crystals are formed by calcium and Sodium Sulfate under the ground, and they grow on bones and sticks and other stuff that gets buried in the rains, when they come. The can grow fairly large, about two or three inches long, with a hexagonal matrix, so they look very crystal like, with six sides and everything. They can also grow lumpy and look like just old rocks made out of rusty mud. The clear ones, though, are special, because the impurities inside of them, the bones and sticks and bits of sand, form and hourglass shape. That's why they are called Hourglass Selenites, and this little bit of old lakebed is the only documented place in the world where they grow.
The hourglass selenite is also the state crystal of Oklahoma.
So, we drove out to the digging area, marked by signs that said that's what they are. Part of the rest of the area may or may not still have unexploded munitions laying around, and the Plain was also used for testing on chemical warfare. We didn't go much further than what was marked for digging.
It was, even though overcast, a warmish day. I was glad the sun wasn't out because the sand was so blindingly white. If the sun had been out, we would have been snow blind and sunburned in just a very short time. So, we walked out to where a number of other people were digging, carrying our coffee cans and a few gallons of water. The coffee cans are for digging and holding the crystals. The water is used to wash of what we dug up.
We sat down and started to dig, and sure enough, just about two or three inches under the ground, we started to pull out little crystals. Nothing big, some no larger than a grain or two of sand, but they were crystals none the less. Some were an inch or two or three large, but clumped with old bits of sand and such so that they looked like those mud balls I was talking about. I did get some that had a bit of clearness to them, and sure enough, there was a well-defined hourglass shape in them. I'm sending one along in the envelope, just so you can see. I know you're eyes aren't what they used to be, so I'm hoping you can see it anyway.
We dug for a few hours, along with about fifty other folks. Some of them brought tents to shade them, and I think they may have been spending the night or had spent the night. I can imagine that place gets pretty quiet and spooky at night, being three miles away from the highway and not a tree for hundreds or thousands of yards around. It is a lakebed, after all. Probably the only sounds were coyotes on the prowl or maybe a wildcat or so. No, we didn't see any dead fish in that lakebed. Any fish that had been there were long gone, into the actual lake or dissolved away in time.
It got about 5 pm or so, and Sam decided it was time to go. We had dug for about three hours straight, give or take, and we still had a three hour drive back. For whatever reason, Sam and his family was ready to go. If I'd been by myself, I might have stayed another hour or so, cuz I just didn't find that big crystal I was looking for.
The drive back was rather uneventful, much like the drive up. There was a small grumpiness when I took a way back that seemed to be shorter, because it was on a main highway, and Cindy said "I told you it was shorter", when it had never been mentioned before. I suspect she was into her third or fourth beer by then, but I could be wrong. She may just be one of those "I told you so" people.
And just so's you know, I don't like folks to drink in the van. I don’t drink and drive, and I don't appreciate anyone who drinks while I'm driving. It's called an Open Container in the law books, and the police tend to frown heavily on that sort of thing. It's cause a falling out between Cindy and me before, the last time all of us came down to Indiana. She wanted to stop at a package store on the way to and back from Turkey Run to pick up some beer and I refused, simply refused. I don't like drunks. I just don't.
Anyway, we got home about 8ish, with the evening sun just starting to tip it's hat to the horizon. Sam and family had gathered a good dozen or so crystals and I got about a handful. I kind of let them have the majority of the big ones I found, just so George could have them.
We said our goodbyes and that was the day trip to the Great Salt Plains of Oklahoma. Course, I haven't heard hide nor hair of them since, even though I called. It was a quick call, just to make sure that they were all right. Something was going on and nobody really wanted to talk on the phone, so I let them go. I dunno. Only time will tell about that situation.
Anyway, I've got to go run to the store and pick up some envelopes to mail this thing. Linda sends her love and thoughts, and I'm sure that Sam and his family do too.
Don't know when I'll be there next, but it may be snowy and cold on my next trip. I'll probably be traveling alone then, too.
Love you, Mom!
I'll write again soon as I can. All sorts of adventures are coming up.
Chet
Anybody want to go? I think Tim is saying it's a firm for him, and I think Susi said she'd go. Keep in mind, it's a day trip. We may want to eat breakfast together or before we start. And it may be hot! or rainy! but think of the adventure....
And I'm taking reservations to accompany me on my trip to Indiana when I go next. Don't expect anyone, but you never know unless you ask
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2009-10-03 10:11 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-10-03 10:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-10-03 10:13 pm (UTC)Have fun and find me a crystal! (Even a small one...I'm not picky.)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-10-03 10:17 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-10-03 10:29 pm (UTC)*grins*
(no subject)
Date: 2009-10-03 10:18 pm (UTC)But yeah, if you don't go, you get a whole nother one... bigger! Nothing too good for my niece.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-10-03 10:29 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-10-04 11:56 pm (UTC)