A few days after getting settled in at
the Lazy J RV Park in Rapid City, SD perched high upon a hill the manager
suggested we move spots. If you’ve ever
traveled with a fifth wheel you know that this is not always a quick and easy
feat to accomplish. He wanted us to be
farther away from the traffic at the office, because of the lil one and the dog,
and also to give us more privacy; not to mention we’d now be on the bottom end
of the row with the better view. We were
getting quicker with each move we made in the rig, all of our belongings were
beginning to live in their travel spots, there was no need for me to keep
adjusting things right before/after a move.
Traveling the way we do, we have to keep
our eyes to the skies and stay alert and up to date with the weather. We pay attention to wind speeds/direction
while pulling the rig; staying a few extra days if necessary to catch a good
tail wind. Also the rain and
thunderstorms are major factors in some of our decisions while on the road, you
don’t want to get caught downstream on a peaceful creek with a raging storm and
flash flooding a few counties north; you know it all rolls downhill, I just
don’t want to be in the way when it does. With the weather becoming more and
more extreme, I feel we have become even more vigilant in watching and learning
Mother Natures’ rhythm in the skies.
It wasn’t but a few days before she
provided a spectacle for the lil one to view for the first time, an annular
solar eclipse. All day long the lil one
watched the clock and the sun to see when it would begin. We had gathered a TON of tinted safety
glasses, wishing we had brought the welding hoods with us but knowing this
would be the only purpose to have them.
Finally the time had come, it was beginning. We loaded up in the truck and went to the top
of the hill, as steep as this hill was; yes, I drove up it every chance I got
instead of hiking. The lil one quickly
got out and sat on the roof top with the favorite stuffed animals that got to
witness the eclipse too. We all took
turns holding 4-5 pairs of glasses up to our eyes to view the eclipse. It turned out to not be that big of a deal
for us, but for the lil one; it was amazing that something could block out part
of the sun’s rays. Just as quickly as
the excitement grew it also depleted after trying to look through all those
glasses just to catch a glimpse of the moon blocking part of the huge ball of
blazing gases we call our Sun.
We were back in our rig watching a movie
and planning the next adventure before the eclipse was officially over. Gold fever was taking hold of me and my
little family. A dear friend from Texas,
who just so happened to be a rock hound himself; passed on to us a gold pan,
just in case we ever found ourselves in gold country. We gathered maps, searched online for
information and started getting the tools we would need together. An acquaintance we had met there took us to
one of his hiking spots overlooking what seemed to be a peaceful winding creek
in the valley between some very steep and high mountains.
We were HOOKED!! It took us a few days
of watching videos, reading maps and gathering tools and such before we could
strike out. Our first stop was a small
stream on the side of a dirt road in the middle of nowhere somewhere in the Black
Hills. We thought we’d try it out to get
the feel for working the pan, this is a learned technique that none of us had
acquired as of yet. One of the very
first huge lessons we learned, the water here is extremely bone chilling
cold. I only thought our spring fed
creeks in Alabama were cold, the water running through the Black Hills in spring
is like the Arctic ocean in January. I
quickly made a mental note to go shopping for insulated waders for the whole
family.
After getting over the shock of the
frigid water we started looking for a good place to pan. We had watched numerous videos on where the
gold naturally settled at along the creek beds.
The hubby started working on turning over large rocks, or gold catchers,
and looking underneath. We dug around
and panned in the black sands for a while; only finding flour gold, little tiny
flecks skimming along the tops of the black sands. It was very interesting to look at the
different rocks from this part of the world, they had a shimmer and shine to
them like none other I had seen before, not to mention the crystals. The lil one fell in love immediately with all
the quartz crystals that littered the stream, just right for picking.
We dug for what seemed like eternity to
our numb feet and legs but in reality was only a short 30 minutes or so. Soon it was time for a picnic of peanut
butter and jelly sandwiches we had prepared, the simplest were always better
for me. It is really hard to let your
guard down and just enjoy the great outdoors when you know you are not on top
of the food chain in this wilderness. We
were forever on the lookout for the ever elusive mountain lions that call these
parts home; knowing they were more active at dawn and dusk we had chosen lunch
time to be in their backyard, but still ever vigilant watching out for them
none the less.
With our bellies full and the feeling
back in our toes and feet, we jumped back into the freezing waters to dig
around some more. Never letting our
spirits drop when we came up with empty pan after empty pan, as it was the
memories and experiences together as a family that we were aiming for; not
gold. Some of the best times of our
lives cannot be bought and paid for by any amount of money, they are memories
of experiences we have with loved ones while actually living life; this is one of the very
important lessons we are trying to instill in the lil brain we are in charge of
educating.
Hours later as the sun began its descent
in the sky, our very blue and frozen feet told us it was time to head home for
the day; also the hungry mountain lions were ever present in our minds. Our plan was to return to the creek in the
valley, off of Falling Rock Rd, climb down the mountain and pan in an area that
wasn’t on the beaten path and less known to man. The sun slowly set over this beautiful and
rugged landscape as the city lights twinkled on below us, it felt as though we
were on top of the world, our own personal slice of heaven.
Until
next time……
I
don't care how poor a man is; if he has family, he's rich. ~Dan Wilcox and Thad Mumford, "Identity
Crisis," M*A*S*H
