This is Part I of my three part series of reports 'Heading West.' I have compiled these photos and stories for a few reasons. One, many of my friends and family have asked why I went out to California so much and did I get any pictures. Many of my customers are interested in what I am bringing back. And I also wanted to show some of the world class specimens the Lincoln La Paz collection is made of.

I went to California three times in the past year or so because, well, it took me three times to figure out what I wanted, which was everything. Yes, I took a ton of pictures. These three reports are edited down from around 1,500 photos. I do sell a lot of the stuff I brought back, but, the pieces I am showing you here are a glimpse of the museum collection I am building. You will notice that many, if not all are marked, NFS (Not for sale) Specimens for sale are at my website: www.trinitite.net

Note, to fully understand my reasons for three trips, you will need to read all three parts of these reports. If you are strictly into trinitite, some parts of the reports may be of no interest to you. But, for some, you may find my side trips to other spots interesting if you have never been, or might be thinking of going. I hope you enjoy the pictures and the stories that go with them.

In late 2022, I began a steady dialogue with my friend, Harry, in California. I was very interested in Harry's trinitite collection which was comprised of the largest green specimens known and the finest red and black specimens in the world! The collection was originally built by a man named Lincoln LaPaz (1897-1985) who was Harry's deceased father-in-law. Harry's wife, Mary, is one of La Paz's two daughters. When La Paz passed away in 1985, Harry and Mary and her sister Jean were in charge of his estate. Harry found a metal barrel in the backyard behind a shed. Inside was a treasure trove of trinitite!

La Paz was well known in the 1900s for his work with meteoritics and astronomy. The study of meteorites and falling stars, meteors. Along with his world class trinitites, he also had a fantastic collection of meteorites, including many rare and famous falls; Odessa, Barringer, Norton, Belmont and more.

I collect trinitite. My goal is to build and preserve the largest and best collection of this historical material in the world. Harry would show me photos of some of his very rare red and large green trinitite pieces. At first, I just bought a few pieces. Some very nice reds and large greens for my museum collection. But, as with all addictions, I couldn't quit, and there was no cure! These were the finest trinitite specimens I had ever seen. I had to have more!

Over the next several months, I purchased many fine specimens from Harry, so many, that it was becoming an issue with shipping the pieces from California to my home in North Carolina without some sort of damage. The damage was usually minimal, but when you are talking about super rare historical artifacts, any damage is too much! One day, while having a phone conversation with Harry, I suggested to him that I would like to come out west and meet him, and look at the specimens first hand. This way I could pick and choose what I wanted and not worry about any shipping damage. He agreed, and I began to plan my trip.

I scheduled the trip for September of 2023. I would drive my GMC van out west. I do not fly and I hate planes. I used to fly a small plane in my early 20s. I was taught to fly by my friend, Pat Williams, who was a Captain in the Civil Air Patrol. We had many adventures in the 1980s flying small Cessna planes, and had many close calls as well. On Christmas morning in 1987, Pat and his son, Pat Jr., took off in a small plane from a Montgomery County, Maryland airfield. The plane crashed shortly after take off, killing Pat and nearly killing his son. I never got into another plane. Besides, I like to see all the different things this country has to offer. You just don't get to see that at 30,000 ft. Patrick D. Williams SR, died 1987

I planned the trip to include some visits to other places I had been wanting to see. I loaded the van for days of off road and truck stop camping and packed plenty of extra supplies in case of emergencies.

The next day, I made it to Texas and planned to travel until I got to El Paso to get a meal and spend the night. (I have no freakin idea why I thought that would be a good idea.)

Lots of urban stuff. If you like that sort of thing. I enjoyed the unpopulated areas, oil wells, scenery. Some of the buildings and 'hot wheels' track roads and bridges were unusual, at least for me. Nothing unusual about the roads in North Carolina except the potholes.

Very late that night, I made it to El Paso. As I said before, I have no idea why I chose this place to spend the night. This city never sleeps! As I approached, all I could see were blinding city lights and a border wall that was lit up like an airplane runway.

I found a Wal-Mart and parked in an unsuspecting spot next to the buggy return. Needless to say, it was a 24 hour Wal-Mart, and all the locals enjoy partying in the lot all night. Fortunately for me, I am used to sleeping in truck stops, and nothing is noisier than a truck stop. I slept like a rock!

The next day, I was working my way through New Mexico.

That's my Cat, Bear (on the left), and my Mom on the dash. Did I mention that I bring all my relatives and pets on my trips. My Dad and Son, R.J. were also with us. You will meet them a little later.

I finally made it to Arizona, and I was looking forward to my next stop, Tombstone!

I had been out west a couple of times in the past. The first time I went was 2002, with my Dad and Son, R.J. We traveled for almost a month and visited many cool spots. The Petrified Forest, the Barringer Meteor Crater, the Grand Canyon, the Capulin Volcano and more. Then we spent a week with my Dad's brother, Uncle Jack and Aunt Helen in Colorado Springs. While Dad hung out at Jacks house, me and R.J. spent a week rockhounding Colorado. We went on to check out more great spots on the way home. We planned another trip out there a few years later, but my Uncle died just a few weeks before we were going to leave. I never made it back until 2019 when I went to purchase a sizable amount of the Wallace Smith trinitite collection. But that is another story that can be found on my website.

I have many old photos of my Dad, his brother Jack and my grandparents traveling out west in the 1930s. I always wanted to visit some of the places they went. On the list was Tombstone.