Day Trippin

Headphones...The. Greatest. Invention. Ever.

Ever isn't wearing any because she ate hers. Really. She ate the foam right off the ear piece. Now she gets to play with the starfish ice pack.

We've arrived! Notice how clean the children are...

There's Big Daddy at the mine. He dug the dirt for our buckets and hoofed them back to the flume. Slick work since it was pouring rain.

Kovi was the official shovel washer. "I keen shovel for you, Mama."
Ever was the official eater. She used an empty dirt bucket to carry her pb&j.

The flume- our spot evidenced by the half eaten remains of vittles and mud puddles. The kids thought it was neat to wash body parts in the murky water.

Check out those gams...the girl reeeeally want to play in that water.

Big Daddy is screening for gems sizable enough to pay off the mortgage and afford himself a new pair of shoes.

The mines. Does an image of the seven dwarfs come up for you too?

Yes, barefoot... I know. But he's quiet and happy.

Dirty birdie.

Ooooh, Ahhhh...

Our filthy, little urchins. They were so good and had such a good time, all the muck was well worth it!

Surrounding scenery...and not pouring rain :)

The clouds cover the gorjew mountains in the distance. Such a pretty, pretty place.

The ride home. Woog shared his ninny with his best pal, Elmo.

And Ever whined for more food.

Our bounty. Lots of colorful Quartz- green, blue, black, white and clear. Garnets, a Ruby, a Sapphire and a Moonstone.

Ruby and Sapphire.


Franklin, North Carolina. The Gem Capital of the World- impressive in print, more impressive in person.
We took the Wee Littles on a day trip to check out the area, do a little mining and (hopefully) wear them out soundly enough that I (and they) might get to sleep through the night. Fingers crossed.
Franklin isn't far, a little more than an hour. The drive up, lovely. Since we live on the precipice of the Smoky Mountains, it's only a sneeze and few seriously curvy (urp) roads away from complete mountain serenity. Ahhh.
The Rose Creek Mine is one of many. Tucked away on a gravelly, winding road, the mine is rustically charming and strangely comfortable. And though the Franklin area boasts gem-laden mines everywhere, we thought this one had that just right feel. All offer up dirty fun, but Rose Creek goes the extra mile with a friendly, old mine dog named Bellah Lou and a toddler-prrroof calico called KiKi. The sweet staff also help you categorize your stones and are practiced at the art of kind letdowns..."nope, that's not an agate, that's concrete, but it was a real good try!"
Each bucket is filled by the miner, in our case the designated digger, Big Daddy. Smaller shovelfuls of the bucket dirt is then dumped onto the sifter and cleaned using the super-fun flume. Once the dirt is rinsed away, shiny little treasures of all colors and sizes are revealed. It's like digging in your purse for gumball change and finding a pack of forgotten mentos- woo hoo!
Big Daddy and I loved watching the Wee Littles splash and play, puddle-romp and flume-bathe and for all the gravelly, dirty, muddy mess, we'd do it again...tomorrow if they were open.