We left Walmart early and headed for Crater of Diamonds State Park. This is the only diamond bearing site in the world that is open to the public. It is a 37 acre plowed field that sits atop an ancient volcano. They believe that 95 million years ago the volcano erupted which caused the diamonds to surface. The first diamonds (2- 5/8 and 1- 3/8 carats) were discovered in 1906 by John Huddleston who was a farmer and owned the property. He sold the diamond property to a mining company for $36,000. It wasn't till 1972 that the state of Arkansas bought the land and turned it into a state park. Since then the park has had over 2.6 million visitors and in that time 26,881 diamonds have been found, 778 of them were over a carat. The most notable finds were a 16.37 white diamond which was discovered in 1975 and the Strawn-Wagner diamond, a 3.03 carats when found. The later was cut into a 1.09 D-flawless 0/0/0 diamond. It is the most flawless diamond ever cut. There has also been many other finds over 5 carats. Besides diamond you can also find lamproite, amethyst, banded agate, jasper, peridot, garnet, quartz, calcite, barite and hermatite.
With all that said, we did not find a diamond but I did find a sunburn on my back. Sterling located a nice agate stone and we also found a few quartz and jasper stones. It was fun but now the kids have ruled out another career option. They don't want to be strawberry pickers or diamond miners.
We tried to get a campsite in Crater Park but they were full so we drove an hour and a half to Lake Ouachita State Park. This lake is huge and the campground is very nice. We had a good BBQ pork dinner and then the boys and I walked to the swimming area. We had a great time swimming. Dave decided to stay back to do the dishes and fix a broken chair. After swimming Dave and the boys roasted marshmallows by the fire then watched Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I was wiped and headed to bed.
Thought of the day: We talked to a guy on the diamond field that had a fenced in area to keep his mining materials. We asked him how many diamonds he had found. He said in a very proud tone that he had found a yellow carat and a quarter. We then asked him when he found it. He said 15 years ago. Wow, ever since then he pays $2 a day to rent a space and spend hundreds of hours a week trying to repeat what he did 15 years ago. It got me thinking about how many people do the same thing. We have a major moment in our past and we sometimes waste the rest of our lives trying to repeat it.
3 comments:
OK, so you wont make it rich on diamonds, just on memories! I have heard about that state park but thought it would be easier to find a good rock sooner than every 15 years.........Doug and Sue are coming over tonight to take the boat out for a test run - we think it is fixed this time but now we are running out of water in Folsom Lake. Tomorrow we are going, along with Jana, Carter and Camden and our Icebreaker group, to Woodland where we are taking a train ride into the Delta. They give us a wild west show along the way and then a BBQ lunch- should be FUN! Then Sunday evening I am hosting my PEO group and husbands for an ice cream social in the back yard. Hopefully it will cool off a bit by then, the forcast is 90 degrees this weekend. We need to talk to you about the Infinity as we got a towing/storage bill from DMV for $475 - it looks like the car is still in your name!!
Call us........Mom
Your thought of the day was profound. Thanks for sharing it! :)
Sounds like you guys are having fun; keep up the good work on your blog and don't forget the sunblock! (I just did the same thing yesterday! heh)
Wow Cindi, Your thought for the day was very profound. So many people do the same thing over and over and expect different results.
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