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This is an interesting article from one of our visitors, Kerry,
who would like to share her first venture into prospecting:
When our kids were old enough to walk we decided that we should take them
along on weekend trips. Kids that are toddler age are just so cute—they
start developing their own personalities around the age of two and my
husband and I just found it so entertaining to hear how they viewed the
world and their place in it. My husband and I love to travel and these
sort trips were one way showing them the world. As they got older we
thought it would be great to let them learn about history and how people
used to live so we planned out a weekend prospecting trip to Gila County
in Arizona, where the plan was to spend the day prospecting for gold.
The whole trip was a learning experience for everyone involved. After
the first 50 or so questions, we began to realize how little children
know about life in the past and how curious they really are. We fielded
questions such as “Was this town always here?” “Why are there snakes in
the desert and not at home?” “What is the difference between a coyote
and a dog?” "How do you know
where to find gold?"
Fielding this stream of never-ending questions was a fun and entertaining
trip in itself. We had to explain to the kids what gold was, how people
used to prospect for it, how we were going to prospect for it and so on.
The first big mistake we made on this trip was in explaining to the kids
that gold was how people a long time ago paid for things such as food,
housing…and yes, toys. Well, my youngest perked up at the thought of
“money” being buried under ground and that if he dug around long enough,
he could get enough gold to buy as many toys as he wanted. We had created
a monster! Much to the relief of our little ones, arrived at the camping
area and set up camp. After a long, tiring day and a campfire dinner that
night, they drifted off to sleep dreaming about all their, soon to be, gold.
We were awoken the next morning before dawn to excited children who couldn’t
wait any longer to start prospecting. My husband groggily made his way
through our packed supplies until he found his “treasures”
–our camping coffee maker
(best investment we have ever made) and his special robust dark coffee beans.
(He made it very clear when I was headed out to the store to buy supplies that
he had to have robust dark coffee beans and not just “regular” coffee. Some
men are particular about the cars they drive, mine is particular about his
coffee. Oh well, I suppose I’d rather have him be a coffee nut instead of a
car nut—it’s a heck of a lot cheaper!) The boys were impatient to get started
and at their insistent urging, we chugged our coffee and headed out. That day
was a hot one, and brought nothing worth our trouble. Around 4pm my husband
leaned over and mumbled that he had a great idea and would be back in about
an hour. I talked the kids into taking a break for cookies and lemonade and
about an hour later my husband returned with his “great idea”, a fist full of
fool’s gold! We planted a few of these nuggets for the kids and delighted in
their sheer joy at finding them. The look on their faces was priceless, and
that alone was worth all the hours of prospecting in the hot and dusty Arizona
summer.
With their goal met, our kids happily packed into the car and went along our
merry way all the while fielding questions such as “How many puppies do you
think I can buy with this gold?” “Is this enough money to buy my own car?”
“How much do you think this gold is worth- a million dollars?”
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