A trip to Lake Sam Rayburn in east Texas was our next destination. Being a bit further than the previous trips, the plan was to spend the night with Mimi and Papa in Jasper.

The trip takes about 4 1/2 hours. After a bit of unwinding (playing with the dogie, Jasper), Mimi gave a lecture on some basic geology and the classification of minerals. Then we were off to the lake prepared with our own survey and classification guides. Right off, Charity discovered a very nice piece of quartz. The rest of the exploration was a bit of a let down comparatively speaking.

Of course, swimming and playing in the sand was part of the experience as well. Everyone loves that part!

Boy’s best friend.

A rapturous geology lesson.

Even a bit about rock polishing. Mimi sent a polishing kit home with us. We started last night and only 3 more weeks to go!

Here’s that first one that Charity found.

Time to find our own rocks.

What’d'a think of this one, Mimi?

I knew it was a good one!

How come Charity finds all the good ones?

At last, something worth bringing home.

Let’s see what we got to show for our hard work.

Now it’s play time for real!

For all the great pix, take a look here.

Primary photographer: Tabitha
Secondary photographer: Mom