Day 8 - Crater of Diamonds State Park

This morning we hooked up the car as per usual. While we were walking up to the door to the motorhome there was a duck sitting not 5 feet away from us. We got closer and she just sat there. I was worried about her as she wasn't moving away from us and she was so close to the Motorhome. When we got in, DH started the motor and the duck hopped up on to a wall out of the way. From there we had to drive around a campground loop and of course it was blocked by someone hooking up their tow car. So DH drove through a vacant campsite to another road, and that one was blocked too by a pick-up truck. So I went and asked the lady to move the truck and she did apologizing all the way. We then headed to Crater of Diamonds State Park. I have only been trying to get to this state park for years now. While in the town of Murpheesboro, AR we stopped and got diesel. We needed ice, so MIL and I went over to the ice dispensing box outside. It was $1.75 for either 20 pounds of loose ice to go into a cooler or 16 pounds in a bag. MIL and I had no idea if we needed to supply the bag or not as there were twisties hanging on the side. We had a good laugh and decided we would take the chance. So I counted out the coins and MIL fed the machine. Whoosh! Out came a bag filled with ice. Then she ripped off the twisty thing and closed the bag. I carried it back to the motorhome. Then we had to transfer it into plastic bags. MIL ended up yanking both drawers from the freezer out. DH decided to move away from the pumps, so MIL sat down except she sat on the floor.
We were both laughing hysterically. After I put the freezer back together and everyone was all buckled in, we left for the state park.

We arrived in the state park campground and set up around 12:30 PM. Had lunch and then went over to the mine. The mine is actually a field that is constantly being  turned over with a plow. We all went over, but due to the heat, and sun, MIL opted to go sit up in the visitor center. Because We didn't know we were actually going until the last minute, I left home a box screen my Dad had leant me. So I rented one and a wagon. And I bought a hand trowel.
The wagon held a watermelon umbrella, the cooler full of ice and water. Also my pocketbook, camera, the box screen and trowel. DH was there for about a 1/2 hour or so when he went to get me suntan lotion, zip lock bags and took MIL back to the motorhome. He came back and watched me a bit but then left me to go read about the mine. I was sitting there on the edge of the field which my Dad had suggested. And I sifted until 4 pm. Then I was done. It was 87 degrees and it was HOT sitting there. The umbrella helped but since the ground was like cement it was difficult to push it in. DH used petrified chunks of dirt around it to hold it up. But it kept falling over and banging me on the head. So I got up and moved about 10 feet to an area that looked like I might be able to get it to stand up. It worked.  I took my glasses off to see what I was doing. I only found two small quartz crystals which weren't worth taking home with me. I poured myself a nice cup of ice water from the ziplock bag that had once been ice. And decided it was too hot to look any further. Besides the place closed at 5 pm. Since we are camping in the park, DH is gong to drop me off tomorrow morning so I can try surface hunting. In the morning it is supposed to be 71 degrees which will not be as hot. After melting, DH came to help me carry my stuff back to the car. We looked in the gift shop, and DH and I got our favorite souvenirs. It was a hat & T-Shirt combo. DH collects Hats and I like T- Shirts which I have purchased from various places we have traveled too. As we were headed back to the store a ranger asked where we were from? Then we chatted about the mine. We had ribs for dinner that we had cooked and froze for the trip. DH had the rutabagas and I had brown rice.
After dinner we went to Baskin & Robbins for ice cream. I hadn't been to one since the kids were little. I was happy the still had the flavor World Class Chocolate. MIL got chocolate peanut butter and pumpkin pie cheesecake. DH got mint chip and cookie dough. Then we came back and I worked on my blog entry although, I might not be able to post it until tomorrow as the Internet Wifi apparently got turned off when the store closed.