Sunny 64
Giant G&LW Tent.
We zipped through several different shows today. Let’s sum them up: We went to the G&LW (Gem & Lapidary Wholesalers) show held in a giant hard-sided tent (actually two tents). I call this one “the bead show” because of all the stacks of beads piled everywhere. Generally there is little that attracts me to this show except Bonnie likes beads.
Good buys were made on beads, but again they do not allow photography at this show.
I took a couple photos of the outside so you can get an idea of the massiveness of these tents.
These woodcarvings were just spectacular and prove there is more a a gem show then just rocks.
A shuttle took us over to the Holidome at the Holiday Inn nearby. There were some great carvings at the entrance to the main tent. This show features a lot of buy-sell type goods manufactured in India or China, so again of only minor interest to me. This is another wholesale show and no photography allowed.
Imagine waling into the 22nd Street Show and seeing this!
We had time left, and my legs were still OK, so we decided to hit the 22nd Street Show. They upgraded this year to a new hard sided tent on a paved pad. This was much nicer than the tent on dusty dirt that they had last year. The one thing that stood out was the 80 foot Apatasaurus excelsus from Wyoming in the middle of the show. This dinosaur was obviously a replica as the price was only $175,000 (maybe less if you paid cash).
Apatasaurus-$175,000
There were some great fossil dealers at the show among a wide variety of other things.
As a plus I could take some photos.
Wonderful fossils if you have the money. I think these were reproductions.
We observed a prehistoric crocodile that apparently had a sweet tooth, as he had a mouthful of candy.
Just down the road from the 22nd Street Show is the JG&M (Jewelry, Gem, & Mineral Exposition) show. This show sometimes has some interesting stuff. They did allow photos, and I’m glad they did, because there were some very interesting crystals displays.
Croc with sweet tooth.
close-up of the hungry croc. If you buy the croc the candy is free!
Stopping at the Tucson Showplace we got to see our pal Archy Ammerman from Archy’s Rock Shop in Mason, Michigan. He specializes in Cabochons, but he did have some real nice Stichtite rough from Australia. This rock looks sort of like Ruby and Fuschite, but the spots in it are lavender. I’m eager to cut some for my jewelry.
All in all it was a busy day, with minimal cash outflow, but lots of memories.
We are off soon to our favorite Tucson steakhouse, the Silver Saddle… YUM!
One of the most frightening things I saw today.
How would you like to be attacked by this killer shark?
Crystal globe on a base.
If this is not a Rhodochrosite Gorilla, what is?
The Iris is growing under the Orange tree in our daughter Holly's house.