317 Zephaniah Way

Sep. 26, 2008

Our Vacation - Part 2

Our vacation took us to two different parts of America. To begin we traveled a bit southwest to Arkansas! My husband saw a show on tv about the Crater of Diamonds State Park, this stirred his interest and curiosity...not to mention the thrill of possibly unearthing a diamond. There have been some sizeable diamonds found at Crater of Diamonds since the earlier 1900's and one of the most beautiful diamond, as in flawless, was discover here as well in the later 1900's. So Tom's excitement had all of us rather excited as well!

What do you need to mine diamonds and other gems? A shovel (as you dig deeper you increase your chances of finding diamonds according to the regulars.), a bucket to put your hopefully valuable volcanic ash dirt into (Crater of Diamonds was a volcano), sifters to help sift through the volcanic ash dirt. Here's Tom, the kids, and Maggie ready and prepared to unearth "a girl's best friend". Do they look prepared or what?

Looking for the "X" that marks the spot.

Tom thinks he has found our "X".

Sifting through the dirt for our gems.

Tom's still digging while Claira had so much fun just walking around and picking up big rocks.

Here's Claira with one of the many big rocks she found.

After digging and sifting the dirt, we took it to these big "baths" to sift even further. The dirt is washed away leaving only the gems...and rocks.

We didn't end up discovering any diamonds. We did however find a few other interesting rocks that we kept. Diamonds are still found at Craters of Diamonds...there were seven found the day we were there! So if you're feeling adventurous, have way too much energy, want to get really hot, sweaty, and dirty, and not be too disappointed if you don't find a diamond...then this is the place for you.

The Craters of Diamonds State Park was a nice place to visit. It is out in the "boon-docks" which actually made the visit all the more interesting. There is evidence that at one time this was an active town that has died down to the extreme. Many tried to make this area a tourist attraction but that flopped on it's face leaving behind an almost ghost town kind of feel to the area. I found myself imagining what this place must have looked like in its prime...I'm sure very attractive. It does still have an attractive characteristic, but its more mystical now.

We aren't done traveling yet...

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Comments

Sep. 27, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by OldSchoolMarm

Oh how fun and not too far from us! Looks like you guys had such a great time and I love it that you're off the beaten path. I'm looking forward to the next post!
Blessings, Julie

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Hello and welcome to my place! I am a homeschooling mom of four spunky, rarely quiet, fun kids ages 11, 9, 6, and 3. We are traveling down this winding road of living and learning...what an adventure! I find great encouragement from Zephaniah 3:17, "The Lord your God is with you. He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you. He will quiet you with His love. He will rejoice over you with singing." I think Zephaniah 3:17 perfectly sums up who God is and how He feels about each of us. I never want to move away from the Truth this verse speaks…so I’ve made it my permanent address.
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