Man did we get rich!!!

Well folks, there are many types of rich, and we were loaded in many ways! We were loaded with sweat, we were loaded with dirt and we were loaded with rocks; unfortunately, we did NOT get loaded with diamonds! On Friday, June 25th we headed to the Diamond Crater State Park in Arkansas. In this park, there are about 37 acres of tilled dirt fields. In these fields are a variety of gemstones, including diamonds. The idea is to go out and literally sift through the dirt and find yourself a diamond. Now, let me tell you, we knew it was going to be a long shot, but we thought we might find one itty bitty diamond. While we were there we met a man who had been working at it for 2 solid months. He only found 4 diamonds in that time and the largest was 1/4 karat. So no, we didn't find any diamonds. I DID find some quartz and calcite. The one stone, Marcus and Colin took in for identification, and they tested it to be sure, but no, it wasn't a diamond. We also knew it was going to be hot! We made sure we got there early to avoid the heat of the day, but boy, we were dripping with sweat! Marcus looked like he had just finished a marathon! We put up our beach umbrella for shade and sat on the ground with these wooden screens and sifted dirt for about 2 or 3 hours. By the time we were done, we were not the cleanest of beasties! There was a restaurant on the premises, so we went in for lunch in all our dirty, sweaty glory. We were not the only ones, but it still felt weird to be so dirty in public! After lunch we went to the smartest part of the place... the water park! We stayed there for about 3 hours and played in the water, keeping cool, before we headed back to our tent at Daisy State Park.

Daisy State Park is a very nice park with a lake, plenty of shade, and even hook-ups. It is one of the nicest places we have stayed so far. The fireflies were out in abundance! It was the first time Colin had ever seen them!! He kept catching them in a little container, and putting them in the tent trailer, and having us turn out the lights to see the flash, and then releasing that particular firefly and going out to get another one. He was in firefly heaven! Not only were the fireflies out, but the mosquitoes were out too. Colin got the brunt of it. He must be particularly tasty or all that firefly hunting put him in the prime location, because there were more bites on his legs than bare skin left.