Snowmobiling in Leavenworth, WA

We spent Christmas 2011 in the Wenatchee/Leavenworth, WA area. The snowmobiling was great (for me) and the shopping great (for her). But now I can add snowmobiling to the list of things I'm glad I've done, and don't need to do again. Funny how shopping is not on that same list.

Teresa Jean Waite

You'd be 32. You were a fleeting hope, a dream, our first, and forever a memory.

We've Gone Solar

We had hoped to install a 3.0Kw system, but 2 roof vents and a skylight limited us to 2.0Kw. This will be enough to provide 33% to 40% of our electricity needs.

Desert Pirate's Booty

There's lots of black obsidian there, although much of it is mixed with rhyolite and other igneous material. The yellow and reddish rocks below the black obsidian includes some rare pumpkin obsidian. A couple of the black pieces have traces of snowflake obsidian. We'll go back later for more of the flat sedimentary rock for landscaping in Idaho and Oregon.

Rockhounding in the Southern Idaho Desert 4

To get back to the Twin I headed up Road 500 into the South Hills. Some very welcome rain washed off several pounds of road dust.

Rockhounding in the Southern Idaho Desert 3

Day 2 of rockhounding led me to the Shoshone Basin, south of Twin Falls and east of Hwy 93. Most backroads are unmarked, so I ended up way to the south than I intended. Thanks to my excellent sense of direction, spotty cell phone reception, and built in compass in the Subaru Outback, I got back on track. The haul in rocks was excellent!

Rockhounding in the Southern Idaho Desert 2

More photos of the southern Idaho desert. The last 2 are at and on the way to Norton Bay at Salmon Falls Creek Reservoir. The first 2 are on the Rabbit Springs road which leaves Hwy 93 just north of the ID-NV border and rejoins in "downtown" Jackpot, NV. I found most of my new rock collection on the Norton Bay road.