Again for 2006, CFMS did not have an entry in the AFMS Program Competition. The last CFMS entry was in 1984 by Pat Monahan of the Santa Cruz Mineral & Gem Society. Please someone come forward to accept the challenge and prepare an entry for 2007. Competition rules and entry forms for 2007 will be available at the June 10 CFMS Directors meeting.
Field Trip to Holbrook, AZ
By Bob Fitzpatrick, Field Trip South Chair
What a great trip we had going to Holbrook, Arizona April 14 - 16th to collect colorful petrified wood. It was a 10 hour drive from Beaumont to the Motel in Holbrook.
On Saturday at 7:00 a.m. we met at the Museum of Antiquities & Dinosaur Park, where all 50 plus of us paid our $50.00 fee, signed in and lined up to caravan to the 60,000 acre ranch. After a 45 mile drive we made it to one of the three collecting sites. There's petrified wood everywhere, large and small rounds and chunks of all colors. We packed the truck with over 1,000 pounds. When we went to pay for it, they short weighted it (in our favor) so we all got back our $50 fee.
On Sunday before leaving we went to Jim Gray's Rock Shop (I was like a kid in a candy store). If you're ever are in Holbrook area, stop by the Rock Shop and look it over. I'm sure you'll find some petrified wood or minerals you can't live without. Keep watching the CFMS web site and LA-ROCKS on the Internet for upcoming CFMS south field trips.
Trouble in Tecopa - Part 2
By Eva
Feeling panic start to rise, I looked for my dog Gecko for at least an hour, scrambling through dry desert washes and scrabbling up rocky hills for a better vantage point. I called and called, but Gecko did not come and I could not see him anywhere. In all the many many years of him owning me, he had never done anything like this to me. He had never wandered so far away or failed to heed my urgent calls. It wasn't looking good for Gecko.
After quite some time, I wasn't sure what to do. My only decent hope, as far as I could see, was that someone had seen Gecko near the road, thought he was lost, and took him with them in their vehicle. Gecko can be just too friendly sometimes and I had little doubt that he would happily jump into someone's car. I wasn't sure if this was a reasonable hope of mine or just the frantic fantasy of a desperate dog owner, but the only way to find out would be to get to somewhere where I could check my cell phone messages. Both my current cell and home phone numbers are always present on Gecko's tags. If someone found him, surely they would call the tag numbers in short order, but to get to my cell messages first meant getting me and my truck out of the cruel desert trap.
I walked back to the road and started following the main highway, really little more than a paved 2 lane path. Ten miles from town in the desert, I hoped someone would soon stop and ask if I needed help, just as they so often do at times when I have mechanical failures near my own home. But I guess out in the desert, perhaps helpers are also more leery of their own danger. People drove right past me on the road and I soon realized I'd be forced to become an illegal hitchhiker. I started sticking out my thumb and after about 15 vehicles, I was amazed that someone actually did stop. A nice young couple on their way to the sand dunes were willing to drive me back into Tecopa and drop me at the post office. I told them my truck was stuck, but didn't say anything about my dog. I was worried if the story sounded too crazy, they wouldn't have believed me!
Left at the payphone next to the post office, I went inside to talk to the postmaster. I wasn't sure what to do. Turns out, Tecopa has not only no dog pound, but no police, no sheriffs, no towing company, no nothing! The nice lady in the post office suggested I try calling the Bureau of Land Management of all things! Needless to say, my spirits were sinking fast. I went out to the phone booth and realized that it was taken by a man talking to his girlfriend. "Five minutes," he said, "I'll be off in five minutes." I was struggling at this point to maintain my composure.
Then I looked out across the street. Some young girls were
selling lemonade and their mother was having a garage sale. Having nothing better to do, I wandered over there and asked the mother if she knew anyone in town that could help me and she said her husband would be the best one for the job! She called him and within minutes, he arrived. It's a very small town so it doesn't take long for anyone to get anywhere.
In somewhat of a daze, I told her husband named John about my predicament and he drove me back to my truck. On the way, I found out he only had a 2wd truck himself so when we arrived, he had to park some distance back from my truck to avoid the same fate. As I approached my truck, I prayed that I would see Gecko waiting for me right there in the shade of the vehicle, but again my hopes were dashed. Together John and I then spent about 2 hours jacking up my truck and jamming rocks under the back wheels. My job was to scour the area for large flat rocks and you better believe that was not the kind of rockhounding I had in mind when I had left for that trip! John also managed to gouge out a lot of the offending stump with a shovel. All my various rockhounding tools were proving themselves useful. Progress was slow but steady and my truck was finally out of the big hole. In the process, I learned a heck of a lot about the art of getting unstuck from heavy sand and shale. Then I put the truck in reverse, stepped on the gas, and drove backwards like a demon over several more bushes until I finally got back on solid ground. One rule of driving on soft ground is that as long as you are still moving, you ain't stuck. Just don't stop if you don't have too!
I thanked the man. He said I could pay whatever I wanted so I tried to give him a decent sum without totally depleting my own reserves. Then he suggested I follow him back to make sure my tires were OK and would not go flat and that there was no damage to my vehicle. Soon we were back at his place across from the post office and since there was apparently no cell signal anywhere in Tecopa, I still was not able to check my messages. When I tried to call for my messages off the pay phone, I realized that I didn't know my cell phone password, since it's not needed when calling from my own phone. Then John suggested I call my cell service from his home phone to see if they could help. It was hard not to start growling as I waited interminably on hold but finally the cell service agreed to reset my password and I was able to check my messages. When I finally got through to my messages, my heart sank. After all those long hours, no one had called about my dog. The situation was looking bleak. (to be continued)
Actually this story has a happy ending as you'll find out in the next newsletter. Does make you realize you have to keep a close eye on your pets at all times.
