(no subject)

[felicula]

We did it. We even made it back, an hour or so later than originally planned, but in one piece and reasonably sated with adventure.

For efficiency's sake, we deigned to use the NYS Thruway. I normally revel in small town America and backroads, but with only two days to work with it did not make sense to avoid the toll roads entirely. So, we set out a little after 8am Saturday to hurry over to Howe Caverns0. It's a rather domesticated, touristy cave site. Still, we had a lot of fun looking at all the subterranean geological goodies. mechanchaos weilded the digital camera to capture some of what we saw. mechanchaos and I kissed on the heart-shaped, underlit slab of beautifully translucent calcite. When I asked Aidan what he liked best about it, he said, "the boat ride on the Lake of Venus." Since Aidan liked the minute pieces of pyrite he'd found in his sluice rough, we let him pick out a nice piece of pyrite. mechanchaos and I bought a piece of Howe Cavern calcite as a souvenir. Less than $2 worth of souvenir spending there.

Our plan was to shoot up route 30 to Northampton Beach on Great Sacandaga Lake, but we got there to see a no vacancy sign. Oops - that's the downside to spontaneous trips. We stopped at the ranger station and asked if they could recommend an alternative. They pointed us to Sacandaga State Campground located on the banks of the Sacandaga River. It was a bit further north, but through the night we got to hear the rushing river water. Our site was just up an embankment from the river. Downsides were mechanchaos's bee sting and the close neighbors who kept their fire blazing the entire night.

We knew it was probable, but we'd still hoped we'd avoid a morning downpour. We didn't. Somewhere between 4 and 5 am the rain started. By 6:30 it was pouring and drips had started making their way through the fly and into the tent. It wasn't until I suggested packing up and striking the tent that we noticed the big puddle forming near the front door of the tent and sending rivulets down under our pillows and sleeping bags. Oops. Ah well. I guess I should have listened to that voice in my head that suggested I start packing up around 5... Why can't I trust my gut instinct? Then again, it would have required waking up two sleeping boys. ***shrugs***

So we insisted that Aidan settle in the shelter of the car while we did the dirty work of packing up. We shoved most of our belongings into the front and back seats of the car so we'd be able to get the tent into it's place in the back of the trunk, then worked on the tent itself. I'm somewhat proud of the fact that even soaked and covered with dirt, I still managed to fold the tent small enough to fit back into it's flimsy bag. ***preens*** Once that was in the car, we put everything back in it's respective place, I dug out sandwiches and bagels, and we breakfasted in the car.

It was only 8:30-ish at the time, but we set off toward the Barton Mine anyway. When we were on 28 and close enough to have a decent sense of how long it would take to get there, we pulled into one of the Hudson River Exhibit parking areas to kill time. I think it was after 9 by then, but the first mine tour wouldn't start until 11 am. mechanchaos and I played some scrabble on the Zaurus. Then I had the crazy idea to try to find a store with an ATM. We spent 10 minutes buzzing along 28 before I decided we didn't have enough time and we turned around. This time we headed up the winding Barton Mines Road and got to the visitor center for the Garnet Mine Tours a mere 3 minutes before the first tour would leave. We spent that time talking with a man at a lapidary machine working on the early stages of faceting a garnet. Pretty!

By then the rain had stopped even misting. We were the only family on the first tour, and Aidan decided he liked translucent, yellow chunks of feldspar better than garnet. In his sieve, John caught what was either a newt or a salamander. We took turns holding it, then Aidan showed it to the tour guide. It was fun, but I felt conspicuous as the only family on the tour. The next time down was different. A whole caravan of cars came out for the tour. We went down for a total of four tours, which yeilded us about 6 pounds of garnet! I think mechanchaos and I need to practice wire wrapping... I think the awkward bits are when people come up to me and say that I look like I really know what I'm doing. Most of the folks who go either set their sights on finding an amazing gemstone or get discouraged with shallow sluicing and move around too much. Then they wonder why they leave with little to show. ***shrugs***

On the last trip down, on such fellow used talking to me about how-to's as an excuse to crowd me. I mean, he, his wife, a grandmotherly woman, and at least one kid moved in so close the territory I was working with was reduced to 1/6 of what it was. In a huge place where everyone could potentially work with 6 sq. ft. worth of space, they barely left me elbow room. I had to ask him if I could sluice or I'd be flooding 3 people. At least that was near the end. Funny how, even with that much encroachment, I was still finding more than all of them put together. Ah well. It's a big place. They could have found just as much if they were digging down anywhere. With the big buckets, it's easy to let the water do most of the digging. It all depends on how much effort you put into it.

When we were done, we let Aidan select a bag of sluice rough to bring home, and I drooled over the garnet granite slabs enough that mechanchaos whispered that I could pick out one of the 12"x12" Fireblossom Trivet. Oooo pretty. :) It was about 3pm by then, and we hadn't eaten since breakfast. We stopped back at the Adirondack Mountain Grill for a combination lunch and dinner before setting out in earnest.

We got back a little before 9 pm, exhausted but thankful for the weekend getaway.

Now if I can only work through the sore that is pervading my entire body for putting so much effort into finding garnet. :)