The Life Of Me: Vacation Log: 3

I know that I was supposed to blog about yesterday, August 5th, but we were staying at Uncle Ted's cabin and there was no electricity, let alone internet access. Anyway, here's what happened yesterday.

We left the house at around 9am mountain time, so we could go to Gem Mountain just outside Philipsburg, MT. This place has to be the coolest place in all of Montana. It's a place where you can hunt for your own sapphires! Real, genuine, sapphires that you can find on your own. You don't go to the mine or anything, they've already done that part for you, and all you have to do is buy however many buckets you want and pick a spot around the large sluice. They provide you with a wash screen to put your 'dirt' in and you go to the sluice to wash the rocks. The way you do this, is to try to get the sapphires--which are heavier than regular rocks--in the dead center of the bottom of the screen; so when you flip the screen, your sapphires should be right there.

I've been to this place once before and though I don't call myself an expert, I am rather good at it. But being good doesn't make you find the best stones. Anyway, mom and dad shared three buckets while I had three all to myself. Aunt Barb, Uncle Ted, Kenzie, and grandpa came with us and tried it as well. Jake came too, but he just helped us find our rocks, so that was okay with me. Let me tell you, we found bigger gems than we had in the previous year. Dad found one--even though it was really from one of my buckets--that was nearly 3.54 carats with only the slightest of flaws. The people next to us found a 4.?? carat stone that was flawless (really rare). I forget what the biggest one I had was, but I did find a yellow one that was big enough and cut-able. All together, I had 3 flawless cut-able, and two flawed cut-able. I sent two of my sapphires in. During the summer, I had also had sent for some sapphire gravel as well as amethysts. I sent in a 18.?? carat flawless amethyst to be cut as well.

So the total of what I had found was:
Sapphires: 75.55 carats (not including the ones I had sent in)
Amethysts: 194.95 carats (uncutable stones) + 16.99 carats (cutable) [not including the one I sent in]

This is the yellow sapphire that I found.It's cut-able and flawless. The person that examined it said that she wasn't sure that it would keep it's color if it were to be fired and suggested that it be cut the way that it was. Well, I decided to keep it and decide later.

All in all, it was a VERY good beginning to the day. :)

Next we went to Philipsburg where they have a very nice and sophisticated candy store. For a pound of candy, it was $7.99 for anything that was on the walls, and nearly $10 for the chocolates in the middle of the store. They also had fudge there--I had some of the Mint Chocolate Swirl which was very good. But I would have to say that I like the candy store in Red Lodge better because they have more trinkets as well as candies. I got a full pound and a half where dad got nearly two pounds of almost every kind of cinnamon candies that they had there.

Next we went to Uncle Ted's cabin which was located deep in the forest of somewhere outside Helena. I have to say, it was pretty decent for what it was, but the sleeping arrangements needed to improve drastically. In the photos [that I'll add tomorrow morning] you'll see what the dining room/kitchen looks like as well as the upstairs where we slept. Thankfully we had sleeping bags and pads, but there was much to be desired. We had a wonderful fire that night where we did hot dogs and brats and beans for dinner. Then we sat around the fire for a while, listening to the thunderstorm heading our way and having a good time. Oh, there's also one other thing that I forgot to mention...As you'll tell by the pictures, the toilet is an outhouse and the shower is just decent enough if you're the right height. Thankfully, I didn't have to use the shower, but I did have to get up in the middle of the night and use the toilet. That was kind of creepy because you have to walk nearly twenty feet before you get there and scenerios from horror movies pop into your head while you're walking. Like, creepy guys watching you, predators-both animal and human-waiting for the right moment- or even zombies showing up right when I'm about to go back inside the cabin. You know, the normal things.

I have to say, I'm rather glad that I am able to sleep in a hard mattress tonight with actual plumbing and running water.