Heading West (Part II, Page 1)
January 23rd - 30th, 2024
The Lincoln La Paz Trinitite Collection
Also:
The National Museum of Nuclear Science and History - The DoBell Ranch Petrified Wood.
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While my first trip to California to acquire a lot of the Lincoln La Paz collection was fantastic, it left me wondering about what I did not bring home. And worse, why didn't I bring it home while I had the opportunity. After all, it is almost a 5,000 mile round trip to get there and back. How often does someone do that?
The answer to that question is 118 days. I returned from my first trip on September 27th, 2023 and was on the road again on January 23rd, 2024. I took a different route this time for a change of scenery. I was actually planning to return a couple of weeks earlier, but a major winter storm slammed the mid-west and some southeast areas and covered us up with snow. I waited long enough for the roads to get passable, then I headed west.
I wasn't even home from my first trip when I started thinking about the very large trinitites I had left behind. I had every opportunity to get them, but didn't. One thing I learned, never second guess yourself about something you feel strongly about. I feel very confident in my ability to choose the best of the best when purchasing for my personal collection and for my business. I have been doing this for decades. So, I was picking and choosing during my September trip. What I did not realize until later is that I was picking and choosing from the finest trinitite collection in the world. There is no 'pick and choose' option when you are dealing with the best of the best. You choose it all!
That was my goal on my return trip, less than four months from the earlier trip. And I kept that in mind for around 2,480 miles.
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Gas prices were down 40 - 50 cents per gallon from my previous trip. The election year was creating all sorts of political games, and the current administration getting the prices down was one of their tools to try and win votes.
I pulled into a Loves Truck Stop for my first night and slept well in the parking lot. I got back on the road about 6am the next morning and headed on towards Albuquerque, New Mexico, which would be my first stop along the way. I wanted to re-visit the Nuclear Science Museum in that city. It has all sorts of great displays related to the Trinity test. I knew they had added more displays since my last trip in 2019, so I was anxious to see what had changed. |
I believe this life size replica of the 100 ft. steel tower that held the Gadget Bomb was new. I do not remember seeing it in 2019. |
The Gadget replica is awesome and I enjoyed seeing it again. |
Replicas of 'Fat Man' and 'Little Boy'. These are the two bombs that were dropped on Japan during World War II. |
Remnants of the prior weeks storm were still evident at the top of the mountain in Arizona. It made for some tricky driving at the highest elevations. Once I got down the other side, things cleared up a bit. |
| The threat of bad weather hung around for a while, but the further south and west I went, the better things got. It finally cleared up once I got a ways into California. |
I made it over the mountains and to Harry's place by early afternoon. We got out the treasures and began sorting through things. These two pieces are what Harry calls, 'triniloose.' They started as regular red and black trinitite. Harry decided to do some experimenting with them to see what would happen with some torch heat applied. The result are the two very smooth glassy samples you see here. NFS. |
A large trinitite in my museum collection. 173.4 grams. NFS. |
Very small spheres/pearls, dumbbells. Small samples like these are extremely hard to come by. NFS. |
A very unique specimen of a rock from the Trinity site covered with a layer of trinitite. NFS. |
I loaded the rest of the LaPaz trinitite and secured it for the trip home. Then we got out some meteorites. I couldn't help myself and ended up buying a fantastic big Odessa specimen for my collection. It was special as it was collected by Mary and her father, Lincoln, from the Odessa Crater in the 1930s. |
This is the meteorite specimen I brought home from my January trip. 2,973 gms. from Odessa, Texas. Collected by Lincoln, Mary and Jean La Paz. cir. 1937 - 1939. NFS. The 3,291 gm. specimen pictured above this one is the, 'one that got away'... But not for too long.
Once again, we had a great dinner prepared by Harry and Mary and indulged in a few more 'Black Russians' to celebrate a great day of dealing! |
The next morning, I said goodbye to my friends and headed back into Arizona and back north towards Holbrook. I wanted to give the DoBell Ranch another visit. I only had a few hundred pounds of petrified wood from my first visit. I figured I needed a few hundred more! |
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