West... To California In Search of Geodes

Eric has become a rock hound during our stay in western Arizona.  He has been collecting Quartz, Jasper and coarse pieces of Lava during our walks and while golfing at the Quartzsite Golf Course.

It's time for a drive west 

to California to look 

for Geodes.  

Geodes are spherical rocks with hollow cavities that are lined by crystals.  In this part of the country, they are formed by volcanic activity.  A bubble of carbon dioxide and water vapor forms in a volcano's lava flow.  As the molten rock cools, an empty space is left behind.  The dissolved gases cool and form crystals inside the hardened rock.

Eric found a site, east of Blythe, California, that has abundant Geodes.

We follow a dirt road...

.... to Mule Mountains
Long-Term Visitor Area.

A blooming Ocotillo...

I've been looking for this

cactus since the desert

started to flower.

The Hauser Geode Beds
are that-a-way....

The road is long

With many a winding turns

We park in the middle of a
rock-strewn volcanic area.

 The Geodes are around here... somewhere.

Eric takes a bucket & rock

hammer & sets off in

 search of Geodes.

Previous visitors have left

evidence of their searches.

Eric picks a spot & digs into the

soft soil with his rock hammer.

I look around on the ground for rocks that look like solid bubbles.

There's an arch up there....

I like finding the unexpected.

Over thousands of years, the

elements hollowed out this

formation.

My small collection of 

possible Geodes.

There aren't a lot of rocks that look like bubbles lying around on the ground here.

Eric gathered a bigger, more

varied collection of rocks.

This rock, called a nodule, 

has solid Quartz inside.

My brother, Al, calls this

type of rock a "Thunder Egg."

We can beak open the other stones at another time.

It's time to load up the

Jeep & start our drive

east to Arizona.

Eric stops, one more time, so

I can get another photo of

the Ocotillo in bloom.