Tucson 2008 Show Report

25 Jan 08

Just starting to get everything into my
hotel showroom-
If I hadn't seen all of this "schtuff" fit in this little hotel room before, I would have never believed it possible!
Friends Keith and Seth greatly helped me this year with the monstrous task of setting up the
showroom.  Hershel and Jahfrey also helped out a bunch!

Thanks guys!
It looks like I could start my own flea market!

26 Jan 08

Here's Jahfrey, Seth and Hershel all finished helping me get the hard setting up done!
Now, it's time to eat the LARGEST pizza I have ever seen in my
entire LIFE!

28 Jan 08

I was really proud of Adam Sotomayor when he showed Jahfrey Wigginton and I the 4-FOOT-LONG Smokey Quartz crystal that he and Steve Brancato recently collected from the "Subway" pocket on Mount Antero, Colorado.  Just imagine the effort it took to haul this 300-pound
crystal off of a 14,000-foot mountain!   Good job guys!!!
This evening, longtime friends
Jeff Scovil and Chuck Borland
came by to visit-
My Tucson 2008 Round Mountain Gold display! 
I have my currently available specimens listed here
A Tucson Show Exclusive!  "The Garden"  A SUPERB crystallized Gold from Round Mountain, Nevada.  It was about 4" tall and sold at the show-
My window display this year-
I showcased the pix of the
Petersen "Royal Flush" pocket, and the 10-inch scepter that I collected from it, during this past October's dig!
This is the poster pic I shot of
Jon Johnson's 337-carat Petersen faceted amethyst!   What a beauty!!!
My poster pic of a superb
Meikle Mine Barite-
1 Feb 08

A MOTLEY CREW!

 Here are three great friends- Ed Muceus "Mad Mother" on the left, Dr. Bob Cook, Rock and Mineral magazine, on the right, and John Greenfield in the back!

4 Feb 08

Seth and another gentleman shooting pix simultaneously of my display-

5 Feb 08

This year the mine owners of the California State Gem (Benitoite) Mine, in San Benito, California, offered me their best material to sell for them!  
Benitoite, Fresnoite, Getchellite, Ferromolybdite, Barite, Realgar, Opal, Stibnite... You name it, Nevada and California
have got it!
Here's the amazing Benitoite display that the Schreiner family gave me to sell for them!
Did you see it?  Did you hear about it? Did you read about it in 
Rock & Gem magazine?
Yes, that's right! I was extremely honored to offer "the BIG ONE"!
It was an INCREDIBLE display!  The 8.05ct flawless gemstone
"the BIG ONE" is near the front center.  It is widely considered to be
the 3rd finest and largest faceted Benitoite in the world!  The 3 smaller stones to the left are also out of that BEYOND-AMAZING 34 carat piece of Benitoite gem rough that was originally found by Terry Schreiner!
My good friend Terry Schreiner proudly holding "the BIG ONE"!
And friends Jean Schrum and Geoffrey Wiggington-
Other great new finds in my show room included excellent Linarites that my friend Keith found last year in California-
Late night with cool Nevada Wulfenites and a cold brew!
I couldn't resist this lot of fine and RARE octahedral Acanthite from Imiter, Morroco.
I brought my very best Nevada stibnites to the show this year!  
In front are the TYPE SPECIMENS of Exogenic Fulgurites,
from Elko, Nevada!
I was extremely honored to have been asked to write the
American Mineral Treasures book chapter for Twin Creeks Orpiment,
so I thought I should have a great sales display of them for the show!
I had one of my best Tucsons ever for superb Meikle mine barite sales!
My Bunker Hill Pyromorphite offering-
Up late working on the display with Paul and John-
Ever vigilant, we worked into the night-
There was plenty that
needed doing!
My longtime friend and "arrogant bastard" John Greenfield,
checking out his newest treasaas!  John also hand-makes these very
cool and unique mineral-esc ceramic scuptures!
On the top shelf, left, is a superb Kinston, California, Amethyst; Sylvanite with purple fluorite from Cripple Creek, Colorado; Asterated rose Quartz from Frenchman's Lake, California; a stunning Aquamarine from Medina, Brazil; Colorado Rhodochrosite; Wise Mine, New Hampshire, Fluorite; golden Barite from Leadville, Colorado and more!  The next shelf down features a fine consignment lot of Southern California pegmatite
specimens from my friend Jahfrey-
This year, the superb discovery of Clay Center, Ohio Fluorites were one of the big new finds of the year.  The number of specimens recovered were somewhat limited and only a few people had them.  I was very successful with mine!  On the next shelf down are excellent Stephanite and Polybasite thumbnails from the old Husky Mine, Yukon find!
Petersen Mountain treasures!  My display included the famous 337 carat amethyst and a superb gem Quartz scepter on matrix!

7 Feb 08

A private business associate came by to offer us these ultra-rare, authentic PURPLE Diamonds!  Some were from Argyle, Australia, while the others were old pieces from Russia. 
I got 3!
Here's my good friend Paul diving in to one of our traditional Tucson show dinners of yummy "Mei Mei's"
Chinese delivery!

14 Feb 08

Miserable, cold, dead... rain, rain, rain.  This had to be one of the most depressing Valentine's Days ever...
It poured all day, with hardly a customer to be seen anywhere... And this wasn't the only day at Tucson this year that it rained like crazy...

15 Feb 08

 Today I got over to the other side of the hotel building to see my friend
Joe Dorris, and get some pix of his AWESOME Colorado Amazonites/Smokey combos!

John Cornish had a colorful room this year with the Bunker Hill, Idaho Pyromorphites-

See This LINK to My 2008 TGMS AMT Display Report-

Now it was time to pack up and endure the long drive home-
Stuck in traffic going over the Hoover Dam, I snapped a couple of pix.  
It took about 30 minutes
to go 5 miles!  I sure will be glad
when the new dam bypass bridge
is finished!
Crossing the dam-

I'll be dammed!
The pillars of the new bridge can be seen in the distance-
It's going to be a BIG ONE
when it's done!  
That night I stayed at my
friend Keith's house in Vegas.
Here, "Keith the Desperado" is holding a rare 1800's pistol that was found by chance in a creek bed in Nevada!
After almost a month of hardcore work and fun, all I wanted to do is get home and go to bed!  The best sight I could possibly see right now is-
   The Wide Open Road Home!
Then this MEGA piece of mining machinery came by and it was so *MEGA* that we all had to pull off to the side of the road until it passed!
MEGA!!!

Open road again!!

It would take a TANK to
stop me now!
Hey, what's that on the horizon???
...

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