Easy to Find Gravel Yielded 2 more Diamonds

The Chicxulub Crater

Best way to move Material and Equipment at The Crater of Diamonds!

Surface hunting for diamonds at the Crater of Diamonds State Park

For Those Dropping By ...

Being somewhat "trapped indoors" this year by the pandemic - aside from normal routine responsibilities - I have had an inordinate amount of time to think about my geologic past and what I might want to do if future opportunities present themselves.  Perhaps an informal Bucket List (or Geo-Bucket List), if you will.  (I have blogged about this more-than-once.)

One of my major goals is to revisit The Crater of Diamonds State Park near Murfreesboro, Arkansas one more time (hopefully during cool weather).  I found a 37-point (.37 carat) "white" (clear) diamond on my first visit in 1973 (but lost it during 2011 home renovations).  Subsequent visits were made in 1978, 1984, and 2015 with no such luck.  While there in spring 1978, a couple from Dallas, Texas screening gravel near us found a brown 4-carat diamond and I got to hold it.

For those unfamiliar with the place, it is the ONLY operating diamond mine open to the public worldwide.  (Think about that.)  After you pay your $10 entrance fee, you can keep anything you find.  Anything.  That being said, there are no guarantees about finding anything, but if you do some advance preparation, it might increase your chances.

Here is a partial list of short videos and my blatherings about Diamonds and how to find them, with additional videos being posted (usually one per day, except for October 14, 2020, when I posted a flurry of 11 videos) as I found them on YouTube.

Other repeat and random posts are on the subjects of Gold (as several ancestors were involved in the 19th century Georgia and California Gold Rushes), travels on U.S. Hwy 66 (aka Route 66), the Chihuahuan Desert (where I lived while in El Paso from 1977 - 1991), and the U.S. travel writer William Least Heat-Moon.  So my primary goals are to entertain and inform.

Digging a Hole for Diamond Bearing Gravel at the Crater of Diamonds Stat...

You Can Scrape Gravel With Diamonds Off Of The Hard Pan At The Crater Of...

Ghost Volcanoes in the Cascades

Where to Find Gold and Diamonds in Arkansas (Gold Maps)

Faces of Earth - Assembling America

Crater of Diamonds State Park - Sifting for Diamonds in the Field Day 1

Saguaro Cactus and the Sonoran Desert Ecosystem

Crater of Diamonds State Park part 2

ARKANSAS CRATER OF DIAMONDS STATE PARK HUNT

West Drain Crater of Diamonds on 7/17/19. 2.12-carat diamond found ther...

Diamond Bonanza as we sort Gravel from Crater of Diamonds State Park!!

Crater of Diamonds State Park East Drain after epic flooding

Oklahoma Rocks Part 4

Crater of Diamonds State Park

Join Me As I Demonstrate How I Find Diamonds By Digging In The Crater Of...

Oklahoma Rocks Part 3

West Texas Volcanoes

A brief coverage of a complex issue.

Crater of Diamonds

The Power of Volcanoes Pt. 2: In the Shade of burning Mountains | Full D...

The “Grand Canyon” of Texas - Electric Geology Tour deep into the Palo D...

Just a quick note.  Just because I post a link or a video, that is not an automatic endorsement of the subject matter.  While the discussion of "Lichtenberg fractals" is interesting, I am dubious about attributing various lithologies and the dendritic stream pattern of Palo Duro Canyon to the narrator's ideas.  Though I like to maintain a good imagination and engage some "what if" ideas, I am uncomfortable with applying esoteric ideas in opposition to long-accepted Geological Principles.

[I haven't yet had time to watch all of it, just yet.]  So in the meantime, perhaps enjoy the scenery and consider what information you might offer the narrator, e.g., why he isn't seeing any "sea shells".

The Power of Volcanoes Pt. 1: Years without Summer | Full Documentary

Oklahoma Rocks Part 2

Another Important Scientific Principle - Multiple Working Hypotheses

"Multiple Working Hypotheses: The method of multiple working hypotheses begins with many tentative answers and the expectation that no single answer may be the whole story. Indeed, in Geology a story is what we seek, not just a conclusion."

[I was introduced to the concept of "Multiple Working Hypotheses" in the Spring 1977 Geomorphology course in my first semester of grad school, by one of my most influential professors.  Since then, I have only heard one Geologist cite this concept in the field, though others may have been practicing it.]

Here is a link to a reproduction of the original 1897 Journal of Geology publication, by T.C. Chamberlin.

Some paraphrased passages from Andrew Alden at ThoughtCo.com:

For those Geologists that spend our careers scuttling around outside, we are often met with scattered outcrops, sometimes contorted by folding and faulting, soil and vegetative covers, bodies of water, large construction sites, reclusive or curmudgeonly ranch and farm owners, quarry owners worried about liability and personal injury lawsuits, ... 

Even if we have access to a drilling rig for core samples, there are time restraints and the rig may be scheduled for use elsewhere.  Another issue is if we have a square parcel with coreholes at each corner, if we get our wish for a fifth corehole "in the center", there is the possibility of getting a "surprise" in that core, throwing doubt into our working assumptions, perhaps because of an unknown facies change and generating new questions in the late stage of the project.

More than once I have gained tentative permission for a preliminary visit to a site.  Once the "home office", the absentee land-owner, or corporate lawyers are notified, the "green light" changes to "yellow", or worse, "red".  At one site, in 1999, the Coastal Plain property was a quail-hunting preserve, and the land custodian said "fine" for us to do a preliminary visit to check out the lithologies and Middle Eocene fossils present.  [It wasn't quail season, anyway.]

By the time we came back a week later, with a plan, the custodian informed us that the "owners in Atlanta" said "No".  While the custodian was apologetic, he inferred that the landowners thought we were "activists" in search of endangered plants, as an excuse for shutting down the hunting preserve.  We tried - through him - to convince them that we were Geologists looking for fossils and we knew nothing about plants.  It didn't work.

The point here is to offer just a few of the plethora of reasons that we rarely get the time and access to collect unlimited samples or to measure things, as we wish.  These cited factors illustrate ways in which "gaps in data" come to exist, i.e., uncertainty is introduced.

From the Alden citation:

"A geologist in 1890, Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin, first described the special kind of intellectual work needed, calling it the method of multiple working hypotheses. He considered it the most advanced of three "scientific methods":

Ruling Theory: The "method of the ruling theory" begins with a ready answer to which the thinker grows attached, looking only for facts that confirm the answer.  [Which introduces "Confirmation Bias", a normal human practice.]

Working Hypothesis: The "method of the working hypothesis" begins with a tentative answer, the hypothesis, and seeks out facts to try against it. This is the textbook version of science ... Plate tectonics is a healthy working hypothesis, being extended today in full awareness of its uncertainties.

Multiple Working Hypotheses: The method of multiple working hypotheses begins with many tentative answers and the expectation that no single answer may be the whole story. Indeed, in geology, a story is what we seek, not just a conclusion ...

Discovering the true story means weighing and combining different working hypotheses. Charles Darwin, 40 years earlier, had done just this in devising his theory of species evolution.

The scientific method of geologists is to collect information, stare at it, try a lot of different assumptions, read and discuss other people's papers and grope their way toward greater certainty, or at least figure the answers with the best odds. This is more like the real problems of real-life where much is unknown and variable—planning an investment portfolio, devising regulations, teaching students.

The method of multiple working hypotheses deserves to be more widely known. In his 1890 paper Chamberlin said, "I am confident, therefore, that general application of this method to the affairs of social and civic life would go far to remove those misunderstandings, misjudgments, and misrepresentations which constitute so pervasive an evil in our social and our political atmospheres, the source of immeasurable suffering to the best and most sensitive souls."

Chamberlin's method is still a staple of geological research, at least in the mindset that we should always look for better answers and avoid falling in love with one beautiful idea ..."

Also from respected Meteorologist Judith Curry are additional considerations.  A good portion of her blog post is based upon excerpts from Chamberlin's writings, as could be used in other disciplines besides Geology.

Another articulation herein is presented by UGA Geology Professor, Bruce Railsback  (I had trouble getting it to open).

My 2015 and 2016 Encounters With U.S. Hwy. 66 - Part 2

When I returned home at the conclusion of "2015 Arizona Trip #1", I was glad to be there, but still struck by the sudden, awesome (overwhelming) silence of an almost "empty nest", I decided that I had to get out again.  My daughter was married and living in Phoenix, my son was working, and my wife was gone.  I needed to get out and go west again.  

This time was a chance to visit some long-bypassed Geology stops, to stop and take photos any time I pleased, maybe take in two or more Bucket List items, and to engage in much needed "driving and crying".

Once I decided to make the second journey as a solo trip, I began to feel as if, the longer it took me to leave town, the more likely I was to "take the safe choice" and just stay home.  So I had to "fight the fear".  

In 2009, I had planned on visiting the Clayton-Raton Volcanic Field during our summer vacation, but last-minute changes nixed that plan, so that was "on the list", as was Palo Duro Canyon, south of Amarillo, necessitating the taking of I-40 on the westward leg of the journey.  Within the westward I-40 corridor, Route 66 "joined" in Oklahoma City.

A quick perusal of the website of the Brewery Collectibles Club of America showed an upcoming show in Albuquerque, so the first part of my itinerary was coming together with that firm date, what remained was to fill in a few details.  

As a glitch in my daughter's Apple laptop had caused me to lose my Sunset Crater photos (during the first trip), I had to go back and spend a bit more time there.  So, early planning had me traveling through the Route 66 cities of Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Albuquerque, and Flagstaff before heading south to Phoenix.

As usual, the day before and the day of departure were helter-skelter, with picking up the rental car, packing the car, doing laundry, running the dishwasher, making sure that the cameras and laptop were packed, along with tripods, maps, Geology guidebooks, wildflower books, rock hammer, snacks, ice chest, boots, and a couple of 12-packs of Georgia craft beers to swap at the Albuquerque show, and an iPod with a portable speaker.  

About 1:00 PM on departure day (July 14, 2015), I remembered I had purchased four Cherokee Purple heirloom tomato plants and I had to get them in the ground.  By 2:00, they were planted and surrounded by supporting tomato cages.  After a quick shower and a sandwich, I again bid adieu to home at 3:00 PM.  It was OK, I was beating the Atlanta afternoon rush hour, though by a slim margin.

Fortunately, traffic was not a problem along I-20, and the Camry was a fast, easy-driving car.  The first Alabama stop was Golden Rule Barbeque at the Irondale exit and to save time, I had dinner in the parking lot.  Afterward was a quick gas stop, then back onto I-20 across Birmingham for a short hop to the U.S. Hwy 78 exit (towards Memphis).  

[As the early miles of U.S. Hwy 78/I-22 are through the vicinity of old coal mines, there are numerous outcrops of Pennsylvanian sandstones and shales which, at the proper localities, might yield plant fossils as they do in Dade County, Georgia.  But that had to wait for a future trip, as daylight was rapidly slipping away and it was raining.]

Despite the late start, I made the 300 miles to Tupelo that first day.  I made plans to leave out early the next day and get as far past Oklahoma City as I could.  Other than gas stops and perhaps one beer stop, the only "must-do" stop was a local burger place in Russellville, Arkansas.  

Included in this "road food" post... "C-J's Butcherboy Burgers, Russellville, Arkansas.  (Second Trip 2015)  I had noticed the name on the blue interstate sign for Exit 81, on I-40 through Russellville, AR on a previous trip between GA and OK and I had made a mental note about stopping in the future.  C-J's had appeared on a random internet article "Best Burger Joint in Each State" (or something like that) as Arkansas' best.  Just a good solid, fresh hamburger."  

For that day, forward motion was the most important goal.  I skipped lunch, finally stopping at Braum's Ice Cream & Dairy in El Reno, OK for a burger, and to check the map.  While getting from the exit to the restaurant, I incidentally (and briefly) followed a bit of Route 66.  I decided to forge on a bit longer, westward after El Reno, setting Weatherford, OK as my goal.  I made a quick phone call to secure a motel room and headed out for the final 44 miles that day.

When I rolled into the Best Western Inn in Weatherford, about 45 minutes before sundown, I had covered 650 miles that day.  "Not bad for an old guy", but I was too worn out to go any further.  The 525 Main Street address was part of Route 66.  Tomorrow was to be my first day of "seeing some stuff" (primarily Palo Duro Canyon State Park).  

Oklahoma Rocks Part 1

Admittedly, I am one of those strange creatures that like both 

Texas and Oklahoma and I wish that I could spend more time in each state.  As I am not a football fan, I don't care about those rivalries (I know that makes me a heretic).  

Texas is important because that is where I lived for 14 years, I got my Master's Degree, I got married the first time there, I haven't yet seen the Spring Bluebonnet season, I haven't been able to stop and hunt for Topaz yet, and well, there is just so much more nature to see and photograph.

As for Oklahoma, my first wife was born in Ellis County, Northwest Oklahoma, and during visits with various in-laws, it was hard to "break away" to go rockhounding.  Her hometown happens to be in an area where the geology is "subtle".  Most of the area is covered with a mantle of Tertiary/Quaternary surficial deposits and there have been scattered Pleistocene mammal fossils found sporadically, usually in gravel pits.  

I hadn't been able to do the preparatory work in seeking locality information and permission to search for mammal fossils, as visits were usually for just a few days and we had to return either to El Paso or after 1990, Atlanta.  So Oklahoma was always "in-between".

My first introduction to Oklahoma Geology was during our 1973 family vacation.  My Dad had a passing interest in Geology after taking a course at Georgia Tech in the 1930s and he wanted me to do well with my chosen field.  We found and briefly visited the Oklahoma Geological Survey (Oklahoma City/Norman area) to ask about rockhounding and we were directed to an area south of Lake Thunderbird, where Barite "desert roses" could be found.  

After traveling the short distance to the locality, we found quite a few lightly- to moderately-weathered "roses", and I was quite satisfied.  The other personally-notable Oklahoma finds were connected with in-law visits.  

The first one was by accident.  We had gone from my wife's hometown to the southern part of the county to visit Lake Vincent, where her family had gone on picnics.  Just below the dam, I noticed some outcrops of red shales and mudstones (Figure 1), with a few scattered thin slabs of sandstone (Figure 2).  

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

These were part of the Permian Cloudchief Formation, (as I learned while later doing some internet follow-up study).  [Additional info is here.]  Upon examining some of the sandstone slabs, I noticed some unfamiliar trace fossils.  I took a few of the slabs by the Oklahoma Geological Survey and they said they were probably arthropod tracks (Figure 3).   [Their most-appropriate invertebrate paleontologist was out in the field and unavailable.]  

Figure 3.

At the time I labeled Figure 1, I had not yet learned that these were "Arthropleurid" tracks.  Upon further internet searches, I learned that Arthropleurids were Pennsylvanian/Permian terrestrial/semi-aquatic arthropods found in present-day North America and Europe.  At lengths of up to 6 feet, they are amongst the largest arthropods, a distinction probably due to higher atmospheric oxygen contents and the apparent lack of terrestrial predators.

On my 2015 Arizona Trip #2, I spent part of the morning of Day 3 going back to Lake Vincent one more time, as I hoped to find a slab with "paired tracks", (to be able to estimate a length extrapolated from the monster's width), but was unsuccessful in finding one.  

[Aside from getting a number of wildflower photos, my journey from I-40 to Lake Vincent wasted at least a good hour (my goal that day was Palo Duro Canyon State Park).  I was unaware of Google Maps not yet having good coverage of the rural Oklahoma countryside, and my "dead-reckoning" was faulty, with the normal E-W grid-pattern of the county roads interrupted by streams and ravines of the Red River drainage system.]

[The second notable Oklahoma specimen will be shown in the next Oklahoma post, scheduled for 11/15/2020.]

My 2015 and 2016 Encounters With U.S. Hwy. 66 - Part 1

 

An interesting take on Route 66.

Spending most of my life either in Georgia or in El Paso, in neither place was I anywhere close to U.S. Hwy. 66 (aka Route 66).  And I was a bit young for the TV series.  Though Albuquerque was a "scant" 266 miles north ("scant" in terms of "Texas distances"), I regretfully did not visit there enough times during my 14 years in El Paso (1977-1991).  Oddly enough, for a while, there was a Route 66-themed restaurant on the west side of El Paso.  [I am not sure if it was to cater to Albuquerque and Flagstaff expatriates or not.]

I suppose my failure to visit Albuquerque was because when I decided to venture 200+ miles from El Paso if I was by myself I headed west to see family members in Phoenix, and when I was with a friend, we went southeast towards Big Bend.

These things being so, during my 1973 family vacation, 1974 road trip, and subsequent visits to Flagstaff, Albuquerque, and Oklahoma City, my contacts with Route 66 were incidental and sporadic.  As recounted below, it was the time spent in Flagstaff in Flagstaff in 2015 that began my interest in Route 66, perhaps as a separate future "Bucket List" project.

The first half of 2015 had more than its share of tumult, as recounted in other posts.  After my first wife passed away from a suspected stroke on May 1st, my daughter's family completed a planned move to Phoenix for my son-in-law's job at the end of May.

After my first wife's passing, when the time came to plan for the arrival of the moving van, plans were also being made to ship their dog and their SUV to Phoenix, while they flew.  With my son working, and my wife gone, I wasn't looking forward to the sudden silence when they left.

I inquired if it would save them some money if I drove the SUV and ferried the dog.  It was decided to be a workable plan, so I asked a long-time friend, Neal, (a fellow beer can collector) if he wanted to go.  He agreed, thus began the "2015 Arizona Trip #1".  

As my daughter needed her SUV, we (including the dog) had to get to Phoenix, by way of I-20 and I-10, ASAP.  We made it in just over 2 and 1/2 days.  Once in Phoenix, we stayed for about a week.  As I hadn't been out west in a few years, Neal and I visited a number of local breweries in Phoenix and Flagstaff (and others on the way back to Georgia).  We made a one-day foray into Flagstaff for a "beer run" of sorts as we planned to cruise through Flagstaff a few days later, before the beer stores opened. 

We visited Lumberyard Brewing Company first, though I don't recall any Route 66 references within the crowded, popular brewery.  The ambiance of the patio on a cool Flagstaff day was quite enjoyable.  (A couple of days earlier, when Phoenix was 105 degrees, Flagstaff was 69 degrees.) 

Figure 1.

Appropriate to this post, we visited Mother Road Brewing Company next (see below).  ("Mother Road" is a nickname for U.S. Hwy 66.)  I guess this is when my interest in Route 66 was kindled.  

Back in 1979, I had spent one or two nights at a cousin's place in Flagstaff, and previously in 1973 and later in 2005 (?), I had stayed the night in local motels during family vacations, but the visits of Neal and I represented the most "intense" daytime exposure to Flagstaff, its history, and its culture (as a college town and a tourist mecca).

Figure 2.

Figure 3.

Figure 4. (I think they had 5 kinds of Kolsch.)

Figure 5.  Field Research at Mother Road.

Prior to visiting Mother Road Brewing Company in Flagstaff that day, we detoured north for a short visit to Sunset Crater, a youthful 900-year-old shield volcano (a Bucket List item).  (I did a little Geology on the trip, a few days earlier, we had briefly stopped at the Monahans Sandhills on I-20.)

Figure 6.  Sunset Crater from Cinder Hills Overlook.

Figure 7.  Sunset Crater, view from the West.

After Mother Road, we visited Historic Brewing Company's Barrel & Bottle House, my first experience with an actual "gastropub".

Upon leaving Flagstaff that day, we decided to return to Phoenix by way of Sedona, scenic Oak Creek Canyon, and Oak Creek Brewing Company and have an early dinner.  We spent a few more days in Phoenix, then picked up a rental car for the return trip, opting for the expected cooler temperatures of the higher latitude of I-40 and a couple of side visits. 

[As bad luck would have it, I left my small laptop at home and as the Nikon D50 would only "hold" 1 GB or 2 GB cards, I had to download photos each day to my daughter's Apple laptop.  Perhaps it was my inexperience with the Apple system, but some of the photo files "disappeared" into her computer and we couldn't find them.  That included the Sunset Crater and Sedona photos.  The Sunset Crater photos above are from 2015 Arizona Trip #2.] 

From Flagstaff, we detoured off the Route 66 corridor to visit Monument Valley and the Four Corners Monument, then spent the night in Farmington, NM.  A couple of early stops on U.S. Hwy 89 included seeing Dinosaur tracks at Moenave, AZ and the Elephants Feet a few miles further east. 

Figure 8.  Dinosaur Track near Moenave, AZ

Figure 9.  Elephant Feet, East of Moenave.

After that "Four Corners" excursion, we headed back to Albuquerque, I-40, and the Route 66 "corridor".  That night we stayed in Santa Rosa, NM at the La Quinta and had a satisfying Mexican dinner at the nearby Silver Moon Cafe.  Following any of Route 66 was not on our "radar", but after seeing the numerous references in Flagstaff and Santa Rosa, the "seed was planted" in my mind to be more vigilant and observant.

 Figure 10.

Figure 11.

Our next stop was planned for Marla's hometown in NW Oklahoma, to spread some of her ashes at an old family farm and visit some of her relatives.  To reach Oklahoma City (and Marla's parents' home by dark), we had to "buzz on by" The Big Texan, again.  (We didn't know that The Big Texan had added a brewpub by then.)

As we left Oklahoma City the next day (being on the road was wearing us down), as we were planning the final days of our trip along I-40, while driving, we were leaving U.S. 66 behind.  (As recounted, U.S. Hwy. 66 had not been a major side interest.)

After we returned to our respective homes in the Metro Atlanta area, I was glad to be home, but still struck by the sudden, awesome (overwhelming) silence.  I decided that I had to get out again.  I needed to get out and go west again.  This time to visit some long-bypassed Geology stops, to stop and take photos any time I pleased, and to engage in much needed "driving and crying".

Amidst the hurried planning for the "2015 Arizona Trip #2", I hadn't immediately thought of The Big Texan.  That turned out to be a "spur of the moment" decision when I reached Amarillo on the 3rd Day of Trip #2.  [To be continued ...]

 Figure 12.

 

 Figure 13.

Figure 14.

Things You Should Know Before Visiting the Crater of Diamonds State Park

Route 66: America's Lost Highway Turns 90

 

For more prep and background.

A Review of Bucket List (Geo-Bucket List) Completions

In this March 2015 post, I included a number of geological-places-of-interest, with the lower-48 states that I would like to visit or revisit, if personal responsibilities, time, and budget realities allow.  (I am primarily doing this post to include photos from most of those "completed" list items.)

Perhaps stated in "elsewhere writings" (or in future pontifications), having an informal or formal "Bucket List" can be a "vessel" for personal inspiration, especially after completing the first few items.  (As self-doubt is a major impediment to personal improvements, almost any positive motivation is good.)  

If that inspiration spurs you on to improve your life, that's good, in my humble opinion.  But beyond that personal (endorphin-driven?) energy-burst and inspiration, if it is not used to teach (or otherwise improve the lives of) others, then it is sort of an exercise in self-indulgence.  In other words, share your experience in some fashion (unless it is deeply personal).

My concurrent intentions for the 2015 and 2016 trips were to do science photography and note-taking for use in my now-erstwhile college-teaching "career".  As with other part-timers, I was forever consigned to "adjunct island" within sight of, but never to be reassigned to the "full-time mainland".  Despite being warned by a former coworker, I assumed that after repeated semesters of teaching, I would have "paid enough dues" to at least warrant an interview for a full-time position.

Yeah, it's a little bit of "sour grapes", but it is also a warning to others to have a "five-year plan", i.e., an escape route due to the propensity of certain institutions to "use and discard" adjuncts.  (I am certainly not alone.  And not having that five-year plan is certainly my naive fault.)  But, so it goes.

In the aftermath of Spring 2015 personal tumult and family changes, I managed to make three driving roundtrips between Atlanta and Phoenix, two in the summer of 2015 and one in the summer of 2016.  

A significant number of these were things I had "missed" during previous travels and field trips due to not having a decent camera particularly in 1973 and 1974, camera malfunctions in 1977 and 1979, screwups in 1982 travels, or not being able to stop during family trips.

So, in no particular order, here are the personal successes of the 2015/2016 travels (the original explanations of reasons and intentions are in the March 2015 post):

Monument Valley, AZ/UT.  

Figure 1.  "The Mittens" 2015 Arizona Trip #1.

Figure 2.  Where Forrest Gump got tired of running.  2015 Arizona Trip #2.

Monument Valley was a vitally-important "Bucket List" item, because while I was working in NW New Mexico during Summer 1979, I really didn't know that I was within driving distance.  Also, my parents visited here in 1980 during their final vacation, prior to my Dad's passing that November.  I am so glad that I had the opportunity to make at least two short visits for photos.

Figure 3.  One of my Dad's 1980 35 mm slides, with educational captions added.

Figure 4.  A surprise bonus, the "Elephant Feet" along U.S. 160, east of the Dinosaur Tracks at Moenave, AZ.  On the way from Flagstaff to Kayenta (Monument Valley).

Grants, New Mexico basalt flows.  

On several family vacations to visit in-laws in NM and AZ, I passed by the Grants Basalt Flows.  But as there is some hazard in parking your family alongside an interstate, I had to pass up this site (spread along a few miles of I-40 west of Albuquerque).  During 2015 Arizona Trip #2, after leaving Albuquerque, I made several brief photo-stops.  

Figure 5.  Ropy "pahoehoe" texture on the basalt-flow surface.

Figure 6.

Figure 7.

Clayton-Raton Volcanic Field, NE New Mexico. 

(Visited during 2015 Arizona trip #2.)  Originally planned as an extension of a 2010 family vacation, but changes had to be made in the schedule.

Figure 8.  Capulin Volcano, a large cinder cone.

Figure 9.  Sloped layers of Cinders on Capulin Volcano.

Figure 10.  Mud Hill volcano (with wooded rim) and Baby Capulin volcano (small cinder cone in the near-right background).

Sunset Crater, Flagstaff, AZ area.  Despite having visited the Grand Canyon in 1973, 1974, 1978, and several times after the year 2000, to my regret, I didn't visit Sunset Crater.  I took care of that during 2015 Arizona Trips #1 and #2.  

Though climbing the slopes of the large cinder cone is strictly forbidden (because of erosion concerns), there is plenty to see around the base of the 900-year-old volcano.

Figure 11.  Sunset Crater view from the East.

Figure 12.  Sunset Crater view from the West.

(Reminder, these are in no particular order.) 

Palo Duro Canyon, Texas.  

As it is a bit of a "side trip" from I-40 and other East-West interstates, Palo Duro Canyon State Park, the second-largest canyon in the United States (in terms of area) is somewhat overlooked.  I don't recall if it was National Geographic magazine that awakened me or something else.

Figure 13.  This photo was taken near the Visitor Center.

Figure 14.  This telephoto view is from approximately the same location as the previous photo.  

Palo Duro Geo-Walk video was posted December 9, 2019.  For more RV-related videos posted a little earlier today, look here, here, and here.

Arches National Park, Moab, UT area.  

Because of camera glitches on two previous trips to Arches National Park (1977 and 1979), leaving me with zero photos, I had to try one more time.  On the way from my previous night's stay in Beaver, Utah, I made numerous geo-photo stops primarily along I-70 that morning, getting me to the Park midday, hoping "the third time would be the charm" (it was). 

Figure 15.  The Three Gossips.

Figure 16.  Parade of Elephants.

Figure 17.  Turret Arch.

Figure 18.  Windows Arches. 

Figure 19.  South Window Arch.

Figure 20.  Double Arches.  As I was walking towards the shade of the Double Arches, someone was playing a violin (very well).  It was a welcomed surprise.

 

Figure 21.  Delicate Arch from about 1/4 of a mile, with a telephoto lens.  

It being early August, I decided that not making the hike to Delicate Arch was the more prudent move.  (I don't recall if it was a three-hour hike or a three-mile hike, in the heat, I didn't care.)

Figure 22.  I have my own photos of "Park Ave", but I chose this one (by a friend) because it was "dressed up" with the educational captions.

As I was driving out of the park in the late afternoon, I breathed a huge sigh of relief, as I had conquered the "photo demon" which previously kept me from getting any Arches National Park photos.  Success!

Vicksburg, MS loess.   Just to touch it, just to feel it and its texture.  

Figure 23.

Figure 24.

Figure 25.

Loess (pronounced "lerse") is a somewhat loosely-compacted fine silt, thought to be of Eolian (windblown) origin, of Pleistocene age. 

The K-T Boundary, anywhere.  

In the hills above Raton, New Mexico is this particular K-T Boundary monument. 

Figure 26.

Figure 27.

Figure 28.

Figure 29.  

I was expecting to see a discreet light-colored clay layer, but I could not find it.  As I couldn't "put my finger" on the K/T Boundary, I did the "next best thing".  In the fading sunlight, I slid down the slope, so at least I dragged my butt across the K/T Boundary.

(I'm sure you did not need that mental image.)

Part 2:

Shiprock, NM.  [Update:  Did this Late-July, 2015.]

Addendum:

(Things I forgot to add.)

Monahans Sandhills

Dinosaur Tracks (in no particular location)