The next day I was off and on my way to points south taking the scenic route where at all possible.
 
 

A short while later I was just south and east of Death Valley where I was looking to connect with my pal John Alcorn who is from Apple Valley, California in the very small town of Shoshone, California.  Near there are some pluvial lake beds which have silicified ash or tuff layers in them containing precious opal.  This is one of the first places I ever found any sort of rock of interest back in 1977 while attending Fullerton Community College.

It was a great trip down memory lane for me but soon it was time to shove off for part further south...

I arrived in Tucson on the 23rd of January and proceeded to get set up in my apartment which will be home for the next 30 days.  I am staying at the San Ventana apartments which is where I stayed last year.  In extreme contrast to last year there has been no measurable precipitation in this part of the world for months now!  Hence, when there was news of a chance of rain it was all over the radio.  Unfortunately the view below marks the peak of the "storm"...
 
 

On to the rocks.  The first few days there was very little to see - pretty typical actually. Much of the time is spent just visiting with people and asking questions about anything that is new to the mineral world.  The general feeling and assessment here is that Tucson 2006 will not be remembered for much new.  This can of course change fast once all the dealers are here and set up and after the main show has passed.  Many times dealers keep their best stuff for the main show or for other venues such as the Westward Look.

At the Munich Show this past fall and the Munich Show the year before Luis Menezes had some specimens of apatite on feldspar from the Sapo mine made famous for its blue cap tourmalines.   At the show this past fall these were being touted as possibly a new species (carbonate apatite) due to a high carbon content in the analyses that were done.  It turns out, according to Luis, that the early analyses used only the outer sections of the specimens which were heavily oiled to enhance the appearance of specimens.  Alas, the carbon detected was due to the oil that was liberally applied to these things that I saw in Munich - that was the main reason I passed on getting any at that time.  Luis worked out a scheme to clean these that revealed the luster without using oil.  So, I picked up a small batch.  I also came across two decent blue cap tourmalines from this mine which are now next to impossible get  a hold of. 

There is never a shortage of fluorite from China at any significant mineral show these days but I did happen across a unique group of four pieces from a new find in China that are reminiscent of the fluorite from Le Burq France.  The come from the Da Yu Mine, Jiangxi Province.

More information on what is new here in Tucson in the coming days.

2010
Tucson Show
San Francisco Show
East Coast Show
Denver Show
Munich Show

2011
Tucson Show
San Francisco Show
East Coast Show
Denver Show
Munich Show

2012
Tucson Show
West Coast Show
East Coast Show
Denver Show 
Munich Show

2013
Tucson Show
Sainte Marie Show
Crystal Days (Poland)
Munich Show