Month: July 2017

Another New Family

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As I traveled around the country in 2013 during the first year of Oro Expeditions I spent a lot of time living in a tent. It was easy to do this because of my membership in a popular gold prospecting and mining club known as the Gold Prospectors Association of America.

 

We joined the GPAA in 2009 while I was still driving a truck around the country for a living. Being on the road all the time made it easy to visit quite a few leases and properties owned by them and I took advantage of this almost every weekend while trucking.

 

It only took a couple visits to some of GPAA’s eastern spots for me to realize that gold miners and rock hounds have a lot in common with over the road truck drivers. They both live outside the norms of modern society and most live a solitary life with occasional “get-togethers” with “like-minded” individuals who share their passion.

 

Turns out I traded one “family” for another one when I retired from trucking.

 

I have been to and lived in quite a few gold camps around the country due to the fact that we joined multiple groups and clubs since 2013 in order to have plenty of places to go to prospect and mine.

 

In 2014 and 15 my wife Paula and I lived, full time, in various camps in the eleven western states and we replaced driving a truck with pulling a small box  trailer which we used to haul motorcycles for profit.

 

The trailer also served as our RV when we wanted to be in gold camp. We had a queen sized air bed along with a really cool kitchen setup for Paula. With a big tarp propped up on the side of the trailer it made for a very comfortable camp.

 

This year we took the next step with GPAA and joined the sister company known as Lost Dutchman Mining Association or LDMA for short.

It is actually the original club that was formed in the 60’s by the founder, George Massie.

 

We belong to and pay dues with 3 other gold prospecting clubs around the country but the LDMA is the biggest and best when it comes to that “family feeling”.

 

As a warm up for what should be a great season for Oro Expeditions we traveled south to North Carolina last week for our first visit to one of the LDMA camps. Vein Mountain LDMA is located in the central part of the state and sits on the western edge of the “quartz belt” that runs the entire length of the east coast.

 

We found out how special it is to be members of this huge club by spending a week on the property where we were treated like royalty by the caretakers, Brian and Vonda Yoder. A big THANK YOU to them and the other members in camp for a fantastic time. We are looking forward to returning in the fall.

 

My point with this post is that for 30 years I was part of the trucking industry which used to be like being part of a family. We kept to ourselves and spent most of our time in the company of other drivers and truckers due to the fact that we were always on the road.

Since retiring from the industry in February of 2013 that is the one thing I will always miss. The comradery of a family of truckers.

 

Today, after 4 years of struggling to make something out of Oro Expeditions, we have “ARRIVED” due to joining up with our newest family known as LDMA and all the great people associated with the company.

 

We are looking forward to our next trip which will be to the great state of Oregon to a place known as Blue Bucket. While there we will be participating in our first group event with LDMA along with having front row seats to the EPIC Solar Eclipse that will take place during the event.

Most exciting is the fact that the camp is almost dead center on the center line within the “Path of Totality” so our experience should be extraordinary to say the least.

 

Take a few minutes to surf over to http://www.goldprospectors.org/ and check out all the benefits of being a member of our gold mining family.

The best part is you get to keep ALL the gold you find. 😉

 

More Later…

FINALLY… the next update…

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This is from my Writing.com account.

Now is a good time to check in here for a quick update post. The 2017 gold season is in full swing as the wife and I just returned from the first leg of “Oro Expeditions 17”.

We traveled south to the great state of North Carolina to check out a gold camp that belongs to the group we just joined up with. They are known as the Lost Dutchman Mining Association or LDMA for short. They have numerous properties all over the west along with a few in the southeast and even one in Michigan that members can visit to find gold.

Most people are not aware of the fact that some people are able to go out in the country to a stream or river and find raw gold in its natural form but it is true.
Actually there are thousands of miners, like myself, that depend on the gold they find for about 70% to 80% of their income and then there are those who look for it on a recreational basis.

The original plan we made included visiting two of the three LDMA camps located in North Carolina and north Georgia but once we pitched camp at the first site it became very hard to leave due to the fun we were having and the gold we was finding so we stayed a few extra days.

I got a chance to try my 3″ suction dredge which I had recently overhauled and added a new engine with a 1″ water pump installed on it. I was stoked to see if it worked and it did. We ended up with a few grains and flakes of gold worth about 50 bucs and a successful test of the dredge.
We made new friends and got a chance to see how much you are treated like family when staying at these camps.

Another part of the plan was to travel to the historic town of Franklin NC as part of a birthday present for my wife, Paula.
The area is known for gemstones and “pay to dig” sites that let you keep all you find for a small fee.
After a quiet stay at one of the local motels and an interesting self guided tour of the town we headed for a place called Masons Mine which is famous for the sapphires, garnets, and rubies there.

Upon arrival we paid our fee and was given a quick lesson about the mine and what to look for. The whole thing consisted of an authentic mine in the side of the mountain where they retrieved the pay dirt which was placed inside a fenced area for safety sake.
Everyone who paid the fee was allowed inside the fenced area that contained to large piles of dirt known as “mine tailings” with two small buckets.

Using the shovels provided we scooped up 4 buckets of dirt that contained small pieces of gemstones. We took the buckets back outside the fenced in area to a “gem flume” which is a big wooden trough with water flowing through it to wash the dirt away from the gravel that contains the good stuff.

Paula had a blast even though the “mine dirt” didn’t produce much but the back up plan of buying a couple bags of “pay dirt” with some good stuff salted in to take home with us was put in place so she ended up with some very pretty rocks.

From there we traveled to another favorite spot of mine just across the Tennessee border where there is a GPAA lease with a nice quiet campground. This was the place where I started my company with the first Expedition in 2013 so it was very cool to return even though there was no one in camp at the time.

We headed north back to western Maryland for the time being to put the finishing touches on the plan we have for August that includes traveling west to eastern Oregon for two reasons.
Gold, of course, but more importantly the historic Solar Eclipse.
The gold camp we will be at for a special club event sits directly on the center line within the “Path of Totality” so we will have a front row seat for the whole thing.

I will be adding chapters to my book about the trip and the Eclipse and sharing some of the stories here. .

Independence Day… a Few Facts

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Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated. But they signed the of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walalton, Guinett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr, noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt. Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart. Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.

Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and  education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged:

“For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”

They gave you and me a free and independent America.

The history books never told you a lot about what happened in the Revolutionary War. We didn’t fight just the British.

We were British subjects at that time and we fought our own government! Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn’t. So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It’s not much to ask for the price they paid. Remember freedom is never free!

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