When I talked to Ed about the Ramble, he said he already committed to Parade and Monterey this year, so he really couldn't take the time off.

He wanted to show up though.

And Damp Dave is married now, so he can't show up either.

Leaves the field wide open in the tech quiz.....

Got it worked out. Will drop off registration tomorrow. Booked the room. Runs but still lots to do. Call the hotel direct and some might still get the lower rate. Thanks. Bill

I called the lady at the hotel yesterday and was told we can still have the special rate for a few days. Also she told me if I call her prior to someone booking she will make sure of it. Therefore if anyone tries to book and they don't give you the special rate get in touch with me and I will make a call.


Shoe

Bump it up. Time's running out . Ya'll come. Bill

:bu mp:

I see the Creamsicle, where is the Bee?

In the hive......

Bzzzz........Who can say but one could show up at the MUSR


Beeeee there and see. If not, you'll beeee like me and some others, you'll have fun looking at the pics they usually share with the 914world.

PS why isn't there a bumblebee icon?

There will be a Bee there. My Bee will be there and there were two Bees in attendance last year.

A little taste of what to expect.....

Click to view attachment

Clay, I will be mailing my registration in a day or so. Keep an eye on the mail.


Shoe

Back to the top. Time is running out!

I will be coming. We are driving up on Sun and staying in the timeshare. I have no vehicle to tour in. Is there a seat I may occupy?

What Sun. are you coming up? It is 9-18-20. Only thing planned on the 20th is the blind autox. I assume you're coming up the Sun. before "the" weekend...
I think I know of a seat for you in a six for the weekend....I can check....if not that one, I think I know of one or two other 914's. Will you or "we" need a seat?

Long time, no post.

Made my hotel reservations and will bring you a check, Clay, at this weekends autocross. I see that you and Betty aren't registered, but I assume you'll be there???

If not, I'll mail it.

Our time share from Sunday afternoon the 13th to Sunday morning the 20th. Cell phone is 210-823-1721.

There shouldn't be a problem with a "seat" for you. There may be several "seats" for other people.....Looking forward to meeting all the world folks....

Just registered. Penelope and me at the MUSR... again!

Only 7 days till MUSR 10....

I bet the hotel will still give the room discount if you ask nicely???


Itinirary should surface soon...digging for Diamonds and beautiful mountain overlooks await...


Two teeners will be leaving Memphis on Thur AM so if there are any coming from eastward let me know. Promise a few twisties between here and there!!!

Ken

who else?

Clay, watch the mailbox. Dropped registration for myself and my daughter in mail today.


Shoe

So... it appears I didn't scare her to death eh?

She is used to riding with me. If she can handle my driving, your was a walk in the park. However I did spook her a little a couple of times on 298 at the beginning. By the time we got to the end of it she was laughing cuz Ken and Jt were nowhere in sight behind us.

THUR TO SUNDAY GREAT CAR DRIVING WEATHER. LOW CHANGE OF RAIN AND 60 - 80'S. !!!! Bill

Oh yeah! I'm ready... so is Penelope.

Penelope? As in "The Perils of Penelope Pitstop?"




Maybe I should bring my dad's old 27 Chevy.. then I can be the Anthill mob and call the car "Chugga-boom".

Oh yeah! I'm ready... so is Penelope.
---

Penelope? As in "The Perils of Penelope Pitstop?"
---

Maybe I should bring my dad's old 27 Chevy.. then I can be the Anthill mob and call the car "Chugga-boom".
---
Not quite, but that's appropriate! Penelope Porsche is the 914. Chloe Carrera is the 911, Fred Ford the truck. We have no names for the other two... they don't have as much character.

Certainly not as much as a 27 Chevy!

I am here now. Got in yesterday. Rained all the way from Ft Worth. Rained most of the night but it is cloudy and foggy. No rain so far today. All of the weather is supposed to clear out Wed. Looking forward to the sunshine. Cell is 210-823-1721.

What the heck are you going to do until Thursday???

He could get some good seafood at Cajun Boilers on 270 west, just down the road go to the Mid America Science Museum, or drive up east and west mountains......

Maybe looking for and shoot pics of Bigfoot who lives near there I heard.
Wife or girlfriend who love 914's and lots of privacy may be the best silent answer.

Bigfoot lives in Fouke, about 120 miles away.

Ok.. I just finished collating the tech quiz.. while under the influence of Hydrocodone...... So y'all will have to tell me if there is a screwup on the page order....


Everything is going great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And the Doctor told me that drinking beer was good for getting rid of a kidney stone!!! So I have a perscription to


This should be FUN!!






Oh.. and we are having a special visitor show up for the event. But I can't tell you who, I was sworn to secrecy!!!

Elvis??????MJ???????

Two days until we leave.......

Is there any agenda available? Inquiring wife wants to know.

Tell her that the Diamond Mine is on Friday.......

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Mail we received from crater of diamonds state park....




Diamond indicators at the Crater

By Waymon Cox

Greetings from Crater of Diamonds! A common question asked by many first-time park visitors is “Where’s the best place to look for diamonds?” Generally, we advise people to look anywhere in our plowed 37.5-acre field, as it includes the type of soil known to contain diamonds. But if you know about the “associates” of a diamond, you can narrow the search down a little more!
Certain minerals found at Crater of Diamonds State Park are known as “indicators” of diamonds. These minerals are helpful for geologists studying volcanic pipes around the world, and they are also useful for Crater visitors wanting to know whether they are digging in a good location.
Generally speaking, diamonds may be found anywhere in our search area, buried under the volcanic soil. However, as we’ve experienced time and again this summer, rainfall has a big effect on the search area through erosion. Diamonds are heavy for their size. Often they may be uncovered and left for some lucky visitor to find, while others are moved as rain washes through the field. These are then deposited in trenches and other low areas, along with other heavy stones including diamond indicators.
When digging in these low spots for diamonds, it is best to use a screen set and water to separate the gravel by size, then by weight, settling the “heavies” in the bottom-center of the screen. After the sifted material is dumped out of the screen, an accumulation of small, dense rocks and minerals can be found at the top-center of the pile.


Rocks and minerals are concentrated by weight when wet sifting.
When the material is thrown on a flat surface, diamonds and other heavy materials appear on top, near the center of the pile.

For many miners, the prospect of searching through this concentration for a diamond seems tremendous. But by looking closely, shiny, colorful treasures may be found which point the way to diamonds. Chromite spinel, chrome diopside, and pyrope garnet are all great indicators to look for!
Chromite spinel is the most common indicator mineral to find when wet sifting. Chromite is a black, opaque crystal with shiny irregular facets that formed in Earth’s mantle. Occasionally it may be found in an octahedral shape. Like other indicator minerals, chromite is fairly dense, with a specific gravity of about 4.5.
Chrome diopside is not as common as chromite, but it is easier to see. Chrome diopside is a diopside gemstone, with a characteristic lime green color. Like chromite, it is also found in very tiny pieces at the Crater. With a specific gravity between 3.25 and 3.55, it is closest to the diamond’s specific gravity of 3.52.
One of the best-known indicator minerals for diamonds is pyrope garnet. Pyrope is the only member of the garnet family to display a rich, red color in natural samples. Formed under similar conditions as diamonds, pyrope is often used by geologists when pinpointing the locations of hard-to-find lamproite and kimberlite volcanic pipes. Pyrope garnets have a specific gravity of 3.78 and are – once again – very small crystals at the Crater, transparent in appearance, with a reddish-purple color.


Minerals such as chromite spinel (black), chrome diopside (green), and pyrope garnet (red) have similar specific gravities to diamond.

All three of these serve as very good indicators for diamonds but should not be taken as a guarantee of a diamond find. Instead, they should be seen as what they really are – beautiful and unique tiny treasures from Crater of Diamonds State Park!

Search area last plowed: August 26, 2009

Diamond finds for September 7 - 8, 2009:

September 7 – Sharrol Frederick, Sherwood, AR, 9 pt. white; Denis Tyrrell, Murfreesboro, AR, 40 pt. yellow; Glenn Worthington, Springdale, AR, 4 pt. white

September 8 – Ryan Retzloff, Indianapolis, IN, 19 pt. white

(No diamonds have been found since September 8.)


209 State Park Road
Murfreesboro, AR 71958
Email: craterofdiamonds@arkansas.com
Phone: (870) 285-3113

The BEST time to dig for them is right after a rain!!!! Which we are getting now 'till early Fri......Let's go clean them out.

Hey Clay, I have secured the package you asked me to get.

Thanks!

Ok.. minor clarification..

I am doing registration, and I won't arrive until around 5pm. So registration will start when I arrive... sometime after 5 pm.

Hotel check-in starts at 3. See any early arrivals in the bar on Thur...

2mro at work will be an eternity.......

But then its nothing but a 3 day Arkansas Mountain High....... well maybe not that last smiley....

Looking forward to seeing those I do know and meeting some new faces too...

KP

Rain is good when hunting Arkansas diamonds but the blue clay thediamonds are found in is mostly Arkansas Gumbo so take rubber boots you can take off. Scraper too. When I left the crater diamond pipe area one time there was a steady drizzle. I was about 4 or 5 inches taller as I got back to the parking area than when I went in. My 914 looked lower to the ground from the new discovered height. I took a 100# sack of the blue clay home and screened it.

Please...Don't try driving your 914 with the gumbo mud still packed on the bottom of your footware. The Gumbo is slicker than grease and sticks better than Betty's 914 doing a autocross. Use an ice scraper. Everyone usually has one.

Plastic rain panchos (shorties) are cheaper where you live so take a couple of spare ones. Hey don't forget the Jalapeno Cheeto's either. Fire will be good as you drive back to the base for an evening of diamond professional who now chit chat.

I don't recommend anyone thinking of treasure in many of the creek trenches outside the park. I did and got lost for about 3 hours. Saw about 80 deer and a couple of what could have been "Bigfoot" near the banks of the river nearby. If you do venture and get lost, climb high in a tree and start yelling you found a big one and someone will hear you and rescue your diamond find. Being a liar is better than being some foul smelling and BIG hairy animal grub.

Have fun and find another " Star of Arkansas". Pictures are required if you want to show your feet to the ones who couldn't go and share the real fun cause nobody is going to believe, especially any short people (5'6" or so) who are almost 6 feet tall exiting from their MUSR Diamond Trek.

Remember, the term when night fell. It was likely 1st said there in that area of the South.
Leave well before dark and have fun. I sure did as this happened way back when the 914 adventures was still new to me.

914 memories outlast the rust.

MikeCool

Thanks Mike! I've heard similar things from everyone that goes there.

Been raining every day. Had a little break this afternoon. Still under flash flood warning. I have already found the Cajun Broiler and done the Mid America Museum. Waiting for it to clear up enough to go up in the tower to see the country side. Went down toward Mt Ida looking for crystals. I brought my mining bucket from the house.