Simply amazing

This weekend was part of Tuscon's annual gem and mineral show. They had literally hundreds of vendors from all over the world stationed at locations all over town.

All the hotels along the highway had rock vendors camped out in the front and occupying all of the rooms. For several hours we wandered in and out of rooms at the Ramada and other hotels, pawing over the kinds of things you see behind glass cases in the Smithsonian.

It was truly one of the most interesting and unique things I have ever seen. There were miles upon miles of gems and minerals ranging from 10 foot geodes to tiny glass beads. The vendors had old skeletons of animals (some pictured here) and new shiny tiles to decorate every inch of one's home.

As we wandered through tent after tent of glowing gems, dried out animal bones, and overflowing tables of beads, we marveled at the variety of things people had brought to this corner of the desert. The whole experience was surreal.



Our day was capped off by an impromptu demonstration we saw through the folds of a tent where we were shopping for necklace beads. Two men in Mexican-style animal face masks were engaged in a sword fight in the open space behind two tents. The fight was a carefully choreographed dance and was absolutely beautiful to watch.

Tired from all the dust and the walking, we finally gave up on seeing all the rocks and headed to our hotel - a beautiful resort at the edge of town. We loved the rocks at the Ramada but we were grateful for a good night's sleep at a gem-free establishment

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