Treasures from Opal Mountain!

Good evening! i hope you had a WONDERFUL start to a new week! :) Well i am finally back with some Opal Mountain pictures! YAY!! oh my goodness, what a day! it was a hot day of at least 90 degrees and it turned into quite a LONG day! but what FUN too!! First we went to the local breakfast spot and had slow service, leaving us barely time to eat and still meet up with the club caravan, but we made it! this time there was 3 vehicles for a 2 hour drive.
We did see this active mine as we drove, i don't know what they mine but it was clearly active.

As we headed toward Vegas, i couldn't help remembering when we got married there and also, still can't get over how close we actually are to Vegas! Well, anyways, we get to the area and were surprised to find we had to drive down a rough, raw desert road, for TWENTY miles in!!

As we are going in on this one lane dirt & gravel path, we have to pull over FOUR different times as vehicles were leaving! DH & i supposed they were the miners with the active mine claims that are out there! very COOL to think that they get there maybe 6 or 7 (or EARLIER!) in the morning and be ready to leave by 10 am! Now i am REALLY GEARED for this! LOL then we see the president of the club (who was leading this caravan in) stop and take a photo. we figured she was just getting a nice shot of the mountain (like this one i took)

until we get driving again and WE get up to where she had stopped and see a snake!! ARGGGGHHHHHH!!
and it was ALIVE!!! AGGGGHHHHHH!!!! now it was ONLY a golpher snake (harmless) but STILL, it didn't make me feel welcomed! lol
well, as we press on the TWENTY miles in and finally get there, i am ready, i think! lol The president shows us sample specimens of what we are to look for and we begin!! the hunt is on!! lol
Here is my DH searching for opal. Keeping in mind that it is MOSTLY common opal and not the precious gems, we are told that it's possible to find the precious (more valuable) stuff there!!

All in all, we stopped three times around that mountain and searched for opal, agate, jasper & rhyolite. it was tiring as it got hotter but so much FUN!
At the second stop, i asked about these blackened rocks and was told they are volcanic!!

Here are some samples of what we found! some rocks with opal layering, like this:

Orange opal

purple rhyolite

banded agate

(not so) clear & milky opals

black agate

red opal (which i understand is more rare)

white opal

yellow opal

milky white opal

and this drusy (small glittery crystals)

i am not sure if this is opal or not but it really caught my eye!

that is just some of the FUN things we found yesterday!! i can share more through the week, if you like! :) oh and the day was NOT without its glitches, of course! i went to put the camera in the car or get it from the car and tried to open DH's door and the handle broke on it!! lol it just stopped working!!
now it can only be opened FROM the inside handle!! isn't that GREAT!?! LOL and then just before we headed off, i had my glasses on and sunglasses off so i could see better without glare and i had my sunglasses on the middle counsel. DH comes in, puts his elbow down right where my sunglasses were and KRUNCH! one arm flattens and pops right off! lol oh well, i sure got my money's worth with those!!! i had them for the better part of twenty years!! LOL Do you think it's time for a change!!!?! lol me too! :)
we got back almost 12 hours later and were soo exhausted, we went to a local sandwich shop (where we had breakfast) and had a quick dinner, took a burger home for DS and just crashed!!
i am not sure we will go back with our vehicle but really LOVED the hunt for opal!
OH before i head off for the evening, i want to share with you my two newest awards! :) i have been lax on sharing them and apologize to Crops ,
as well as, thank you, Crops, for thinking to share with me!!!
totally awesome award
The rules to this one:
Pass it on to 10 other deserving bloggers.
Link back to the blogger who gave you the award.
Link to the bloggers you passed it on to, and leave them
a message on their blog.

AND
look how cool my blog is award
and the rules
for this one:
Display the image of the stamp "Look How Cool Blog" you just won!
Post the blog link you provided.
Indicate your choice of 10 blogs.
Let them know.
Post the rules.

and now i wish to pass them BOTH, onto YOU!! if you visit me, please pick up a copy for yourself! You are ALL so TOTALLY AWESOME with COOL blogs too! HUGSSS! :)
Thank you so very much for sharing this time with me! i REALLY enjoy your visits! :)
Have a SUPER evening and i will see you in the morning! HUGS!