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Post by paulshiroma on Jul 6, 2016 23:33:36 GMT -5
Outstanding! They came out great!
Paul
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Post by paulshiroma on Apr 21, 2016 8:28:09 GMT -5
We'll be picking a new spot for next year's trip as we've now done this one twice. Great location if you're in the area. The owner's a good guy as well. Very nice to deal with.
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Post by paulshiroma on Apr 20, 2016 22:55:45 GMT -5
Looks like a great day!
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Post by paulshiroma on Apr 20, 2016 22:54:29 GMT -5
Welcome to a NorCal refugee. Would love to move back up there one day. Used to live in Walnut Creek. Congrats on getting into the addiction ... er ... hobby. Paul
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Post by paulshiroma on Apr 20, 2016 22:23:57 GMT -5
Exactly a year ago, Andrew and I met up with family and did some digging at The Ernst Quarries (a.k.a. Sharktooth Hill). We made a return trip last weekend and met up with my cousin and her husband. This time around, we got to dig at the East Quarry. The closer location is better for your first visit as you can see what to dig for and it has outhouses and picnic tables. The East Quarry has neither and is a good 20 minute drive along an unmaintained dirt road through some fairly rough hills. 4WD and high clearance were mandatory. Rob Ernst was not kidding when he mentioned that the place is inaccessible if it rains the day prior. Anyway, here’s us on the way to the dig site looking back south. The cars and folks you see in the background are at the closer site which we visited last year. My cousin’s truck in the background. If you look in the distance just to the center-left on the horizon, you’ll see a black dot. It’s actually a water storage tank. That’s about where we were headed. Driving along those hills and ridgelines was ... exciting. It was the first serious test for my Forester and I was glad for the 4WD, all-terrain tires, and good ground clearance. There were two other Foresters in the group and six pickups. The dig site is towards the center-left of the photo along the exposed ridgeline. Andrew. He’s now taller than Mommy and pushing me. I wear hiking boots all the time now to make sure I have a bit of height on him. That will only last so long. Yes, Andrew and I found a lot of teeth but, at least to us, the real prize was the whale/fish bones. They were everywhere and the specimens were considerably better than the other dig site. We hauled home quite a bit of this. Supposedly, the black nodules that you find on some of the bones are manganese. Haven’t a clue but I took about four pieces that had these nodules present. If nothing else, they were interesting.
Here's the one that took the cake. You could tell folks had been working it, trying to get the piece out. I added a bit of additional elbow grease to it as did my cousin. In the end, we settled for photos. Thanks for looking.
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Post by paulshiroma on Apr 19, 2016 22:23:51 GMT -5
*** AWESOME *** Great stuff guys!
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Post by paulshiroma on Apr 19, 2016 22:22:57 GMT -5
HOpe you had a good time ... we did the dig a couple of years ago. It was a lot of fun. Make sure to post pics! Would love to see what you find. Paul
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Post by paulshiroma on Mar 24, 2016 8:56:12 GMT -5
these are great!
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Post by paulshiroma on Mar 23, 2016 8:12:24 GMT -5
Great, thanks for the suggestions, guys!
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Post by paulshiroma on Mar 21, 2016 15:12:57 GMT -5
Hey Folks, I may be heading out to the Palm Desert/Indio/Salton Sea area and was wondering if anyone had recommendations on rockhounding locations nearby?
Thanks! Paul Shiroma
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Post by paulshiroma on Feb 1, 2016 23:04:12 GMT -5
I wanted to say, THANKS!!! to Jeremy, a.k.a txrockhunter for an absolutely awesome box of Texas fossils. It came with a great map of TX showing where the materials came from, as well. Andrew and I were picking through it tonight, checking everything out. Nathaniel is already in bed ... he'll get to see it tomorrow. THANK YOU, BUDDY!!! Second only to coming home to my wife and boys is ... getting a box of rocks! Wooo hooo!!! Paul Shiroma
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Post by paulshiroma on Jan 11, 2016 22:11:12 GMT -5
It has definitely turned into a favorite but I'm having some trouble finding any. Will keep looking! Paul Rare stone no doubt. Probably/certainly rarer than diamonds. Well, to be honest, I did find some but it was at a kitchen/bath supply place and it was only available in huge slabs...
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Post by paulshiroma on Jan 11, 2016 22:09:50 GMT -5
Nice looking garden, Paul. Different fruits in your area than ours, that's for sure. Good to see you got the boys out doing some fun stuff, too. Palm Desert, eh? We'll be in that general area in a couple of weeks. Russ Thanks, Russ. If you have time, there's a nice area off Dillon Road north of Indio. Take Dillon Road north and then make a right turn on Berdoo Canyon Road. Drive up into the canyon. Great place. Nathaniel's a big shooter. Andrew couldn't care less, LOL! He tried it once and looked at me and said, "whatever...".
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Post by paulshiroma on Jan 11, 2016 22:03:55 GMT -5
Paul, sell me a couple babies... You can HAVE some... I've never shipped plants so perhaps we can meet sometime. I'll get you whole roots so that the plant will re-grow. The initial top always seems to die back when I transplant them and in about a week, I have new banana plants growing.
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Post by paulshiroma on Jan 11, 2016 22:02:34 GMT -5
Thanks, James. Dwarf bananas similar to the "apple bananas" my grandfather grew on his farm in Hawaii. Grows like weeds and I regularly have to thin them out or they crowd and don't grow well. I have about four "mature" plants with about 10-15 "babies" growing up around the stumps. I keep thinning those out as well. Florida does well with the plantains. My cousins cook them up real nice. I am not sure about plain bananas. I must ask them about dwarfs and apples. Yes they can be aggressive, bit give in quickly to a machete. Aggressive plants make successful gardens. And a tired gardener ...
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Post by paulshiroma on Jan 10, 2016 17:39:41 GMT -5
Prayers have been answered in Alpena. Just got the call that I don't have to go to school tomorrow! Weeeee! HA! Right On!
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Post by paulshiroma on Jan 10, 2016 17:39:24 GMT -5
Great pics. Jealous here in Cleveland. Thanks buddy!
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Post by paulshiroma on Jan 10, 2016 17:35:17 GMT -5
The garden is a paradise Paul. Plantains or bananas ? Thanks, James. Dwarf bananas similar to the "apple bananas" my grandfather grew on his farm in Hawaii. Grows like weeds and I regularly have to thin them out or they crowd and don't grow well. I have about four "mature" plants with about 10-15 "babies" growing up around the stumps. I keep thinning those out as well.
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Post by paulshiroma on Jan 10, 2016 17:33:05 GMT -5
It has definitely turned into a favorite but I'm having some trouble finding any. Will keep looking! Paul
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Post by paulshiroma on Jan 9, 2016 18:38:32 GMT -5
Going to Imperial Valley in 2 days. Plenty of rain going around. Have a good trip!
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