When we went to Yellowstone one of the gift shops Austin found his "First Box of Rocks" literally. That was the name on the box. In 3rd grade he got a rock collection as part of science class in an egg carton. That year we also discovered the Rock Schow in Denver and have gone every yr. In subsequent yrs we found Rock shows in Colorado springs, Lake George and golden.Our 1st yr of hs we joined our hs group in a Science Olympiad team where Austin competed in the Rock & Mineral portion of the competition. He was so excited when the team placed well enough to go to state and that competition was in Golden at the School of Mines. Austin loved the School of mines and we explored the museum and the surrounding town of Golden which we found very sweet and quaint. He immediately said he wanted to go to college there. What a goal to have so early on.
My last semester of College I attended a Geology class that bored me to tears in hopes to have great conversations with him. I can't believe it worked. We talked about many things Geology related and it was such grown up talk but he followed it all and learned so well, it was truly amazing and actually had me like the subject a bit as well. My teacher even let him go on a field trip with us that took us all over Colorado Springs to look at the geology in the area. Austin still has my book from that College level class as part of his Geology book collections.
As many pictures as I take I can not believe I have not taken pictures here before. Maybe I have and it is escaping me at the moment. At any rate I am pleased to share what Austin might consider a little slice of heaven right here on earth just for him. The Denver Rock show. There are gems, minerals, fossils, gold mining, small freebies, gem and mineral clubs, teacher resources, local rock shops, country wide rock shops and international ones too. There is Mr. Bones which is a T-Rex skeleton sized down a bit and made into a costume of sorts that a guy walks around with. The best part is that the guy can move the T-Rex's head and open his mouth. Essentially he goes around and pretends to bite kid's heads.All kids adore it and Austin is no exception to the fact. It amazes me that at almost 13 he still truly enjoys this.
around the Denver Merchandise Mart where the show is held vendors put up tents in parking lots and you can scan and purchase their wares as well. We didn't know this till last yr and this yr I found that they were cheaper but not always better. The same applies for the show they may be more expensive but that doesn't mean that they are better. We got to see Mr. Bones, gold pan and I talked to some groups that were there for educational purposes. I got a teacher packet at one place and some great handouts at others.
We got up at 6, got Derek (Austin's friend) at 8. Stopped by the German store by 8:30 and got to the show by 10:00. There was a huge line and so we opted to start with the outdoor vendors across the street. We then went to the rock show and the shopping started in full earnest. There were specimens to be looked at, examined, priced out. We kept in mind the rocks Austin already owned(how can one kid own that many rocks? and how can they all be so different?). I said we should print out a copy of his rock file once he updated it(he has a excel worksheet that lists all his rocks, what country they are from and other facts). We absolutely had to go gold panning. The great thing about that is it's free, there are people there to help teach you how to gold pan and you get to keep what you find. Although it is minuscule you do find a bit. I'm sure you would get a bit more lucky out in a river somewhere, but just a bit. There was the Fluorescent exhibit which seemed a bit bigger than last yrs where there are rocks that upon putting them under black light will glow, its really cool. This is all just on the mineral side of the show.
Over on the fossil part is an array of fossils that any collector is sure to appreciate. You can purchase actual dinosaur poop (we did), shark teeth, leaf fossils, tripod-like fossils, fish fossils and for the not average collector who has tons of money, and I mean tons, you can get your own dinosaur fossil in shale. There are the magnetic rocks that Austin went crazy for last yr. Mr. Bones home base is there and you see they have two different costumes. We generally don't go on this side since Austin is not into fossils that much.
As always going to Denver tires me out so much. I don't recall being this exhausted when I lived just 45 min closer ,perhaps my age is starting to catch up to me. Either way by the time I get back into the car and know I am going home it's almost like when you have a big burst of energy and then there is that inevitable whoosh where you are truly exhausted and want a nap. That is how I feel when I get in the car going home from Denver. I love going but boy that trip home I just can't wait to get back home. I loved going to the show and spending time with Austin and his best buddy but I am just as glad I am home. We had such a wonderful time and some great talks along the way. There were so many great smiles and terrific moments I am glad to reminisce over. I have shared a little with you guy's too.
Vanessa
1 comment:
What a great day you all had and what a nice experience to be able to spend that one on one time. I love your idea for the excel file - educational on top of it. ;)
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