Family Fun Prospecting

This is an interesting tale 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 short 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 a 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, we 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 comfort-gear investment we made this year) 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?"