DENVER MINERAL SHOW

[BigJohn]

Denver Mineral Show will be held in Denver, Colorado
from September 6 to September 15, 2019.

They are claiming 8 MILES of TABLES!

5 separate shows.

[FairyCrystal]

Yes, people from 'my' crystal shop are in the US right now. Two of 'em first went to the Herkimer mines, then a 3rd one flies to the US and all 3 go to this show.

[BigJohn]

Which Herkimer mines?

Do they mine or do they just buy?

[FairyCrystal]

In Herkimer NY. They go there to buy for the shop.

[BigJohn]

Reason why I asked, I grew up in that greater area. Just south of the main mine heading toward Herkimer, I had many adventures. You can find Herkimer Diamonds for free if you look in the right areas.

Why do they choice the Denver Show? The Tucson Shows lasts longer, has over 10 times more shows and has more minerals/crystals. Just curious.

[FairyCrystal]

They go to the Tucson mineral show as well, every year. Then they got loads back, sometimes so much they have to ship it back via a colleague, provided he has room still.
Throughout the year they also get crystals from Madagascar, but they're getting more and more sources. Since a few years one of them frequents England to buy crystals there, including English ones and jewelry.
Recently they also got new types of crystals from Erongo, Namibia.
They also have been to the privately owned Mt Shasta mine, so they also have those.
I think it's become the biggest crystal shop of the country, maybe even outside of it. Not biggest as in size of premises but in quality, high vibrational crystals and more unusual ones.
Of late they're purchasing larger pieces too, for which they have extended their shop space to a room in the adjacent building, and some are outside on display. Some of these are 80 cms high!
When I first discovered them in 2010 it was just the 4 owners. Since, they've had to enlarge the shop significantly and have employed a couple of people as it gets busier and busier.
It is always like a day out. You get (free) coffee or tea, cookies etc. are on the tables in the shop where you can sit with your drink and crystals to let it all sink in, look at your crystals, look something up in one of the books or have a chat. YOu can also take your basket with crystals and drink outdoors in the garden and sit there. Really nice as it can be overwhelming, all the crystals and people indoors.
But as it's getting busier, they have less time now for people, so I fear the personal touch is going to be lost at some point.

As for the Herkimer mines, it's the first time they're visiting those. Nice you grew up there! I bet you can then find some nice specimen :)

[BigJohn]

Sounds like a really nice shop! Maybe some day I will visit her. Do they have readers there?
As for Herkimer Diamonds: one place we lived, had quicksand, which was odd. In other areas, if you listened very carefully, you could hear the water flowing below your feet! Our water came from a natural spring. The water tasted great. Can you imagine drinking water infused with Herkimer Diamond energy?
Across the road was a waterfalls and a creek.... the same creek water flows past the Herkimer Diamonds mine. What was odd with that creek is that not very far from our home, the water in the creek would disappear into an underground cave. Further down the stream, other waters would would refill the creek. Being that the area is extremely difficult to reach, people do not realize the cave exist let alone that other waters replenishes the creek. I suspect some really nice crystals can be found in that cave during the dry season. But then, I have no idea how deep that cave is.

[FairyCrystal]

Sounds very intriguing but unless I had the right equipment, knew how to climb etc. I would never go inside such a cave. You never know what awaits you there, hihi.
Quicksand is scary!
Having access to such clear water is great, and in a way weird that it is so special nowadays. It's not that long ago that everyone had access to really fresh water.
My ex's house had a water vein run underneath it (not particularly great to live on btw!) and inside the house someone had made some sort of well. The same in the neighbour's home.
The village pump used to be right next to the house in a not too distant past.

Do you still go back to that area every now and then? Or do you live too far away now?

Anywho, the crystal shop is indeed really quite amazing! I hope I didn't get too carried away in my posting, hihi. I SO love going there and being there!
It's almost like others going to a beauty spa to relax etc., instead I'm going to that crystal shop, hahaha.

BTW until recently I didn't know that many / all (??) mines are open mines.

[BigJohn]

I go back to that area rarely. I am 'due' to go back soon. I have relatives that still live there. Right now, I live about 2500 miles away. The last time I went back was a few years ago and it took me one day and 23 hours to make the journey. I even stopped at White Sands in Mew Mexico and bagged some of the sand which is Gypsum, the same material that Selenite is made of.
In our area, we have numerous, huge open pit copper mines. We still have many shaft driven mines that have been abandoned over the years. The boy in me still loves to explore those places.
As for going down into the earth via a cave, I once led a small group to one of if not the largest crystal cave in the USA. We had to get a permit and the key to the place. Once we unlocked the door, we went inside and had to lock the door behind us
The cave is in a raw state. Once we turned out our lights, the fun began. I asked the person I was with to hold her hand out in front of her and I asked her what could she see. She saw her hand. later, I went about exploring the cave in an out of body experiences.
Later when I was home, I had some more out of body experiences in which I returned to the cave to do more exploring.

[BigJohn]

The Show is over.