Rockhound Russ

One of my earliest memories as a child was my Grandpa Wadsworth taking me rockhounding.  We hopped in his 1950's VW Beetle and drove to the middle of nowhere.  We spent the day digging in the dirt and finding rock treasures.  I was in kid heaven.  Grandpa Wads died a few years later and that day is my strongest memory of him.

Today as we walked to the earthen dam on Chickahominy Reservoir I was in search of a memory.  My grandfathers favorite rock to collect was Black Obsidian.  This area of high desert in Eastern Oregon is rich in Obsidian and I wanted to collect a few rocks for my old memories.

Black Obsidian - a translucent glass like stone.

 I have a few small stones that I'll keep but I'll never get them as polished and smooth as Grandpa.

 We are spending the night at Chickahominy Recreational Site which is a BLM campground.  It is one of those rugged campgrounds where you can drive right up to the lake and have all the privacy you could want.  Each campsite along the lake must be 2 or 3 acres.  And after our wonderful senior access discount it was only $4.00 per night.  I love the BLM.

We are headed to Bend, Oregon for the next few days.  We see some river rafting in our near future.

Yesterday and todays drives have both followed rivers through the mountain passes.  Now that we have crossed the passes on two lane Highway 20 there will be less rivers and more sage brush.

Yesterdays rivers were rushing, todays were meandering.  Both were beautiful.

Life is good for the rockhound and his wife.