M-Taliesin
01-03-2011, 01:54 AM
Howdy Folks!
Here is an oldie but a goodie from back in July of 2009!
I started out to scout the Virginia Dale station up north of Fort Collins. It was an old stage stop along the Overland Trail. It serviced stage coaches, wagon trains, and others travelling west toward California. Folks were frequently attacked by outlaws in the vincinity, and there is a tallish mountain that was used as a hide-out by highwaymen. It is believed that outlaws cached some of their ill-gotten booty somewhere on Robber's Roost, as it came to be known. The station manager was one Jack Slade, who many suspect was in cahoots with the outlaw bands in the vicinity. Later on, Jack Slade became known as the infamous outlaw Black Jack Slade. What I found on my arrival is that many of the old buildings remain standing, and I will try to get permission to hunt the Virginia Dale Station later, and possibly try to get access to the Robber's Roost as well.
Then I kept going north to Laramie. The first tot lot I found was in a local park and it gave up a whole bunch of coins in fairly short time. My second stop was another park, and it gave up coins and small jewelry items. In particular to my interest was an earring that is stamped 10k! GOLD!!!! My hunting was slowed by the waves of rain that drifted over the area. It would be raining one minute, then clear the next!
It is the third stop that raises some issues. I drove west several miles to a school that looked good, and I was going to drive to the corner and turn a 180 and return to park so I could hunt the 4 tot lots covered in wood chips. But when I got to the corner, I noticed a nice park about a block away. I decided to check it out. The Kiwanis Park also had a sizable playground covered in wood chips and I decided to hunt that before trying the school I'd passed earlier.
As I started hunting, there was a light drizzle coming down. When I went around the west side of the tot lot structure, the wind came up suddenly and loudly! My Koss headphones fit my skull fairly tightly, but the wind ripped them from my head along with my hat. The headset fell up! Before my bewildered eyes, the headphones (with the hat still stuck between the earphones) was floating some 3 feet or so above my head. I recall thinking to myself Well, there's something ya don't see everyday!
I had to pull them down to me using the cord to reel them in. It was while I was thus engaged that I noticed how horrific loud the wind was. And I also noticed there was a funnel almost directly above me. It was difficult to keep my footing as the powerful wind ripped at me with a pure fury.
Once I got the headphones back down from dangling above me, I got myself under the tot lot structure to seek refuge from the wind. Wood chips were swirling around, 6 to 10 feet above the surface. Some of them, whipped by the wind, hit me and stung my skin. As I looked out at the whirlpool of chips dancing in the wind, I recall thinking There's another thing ya don't see everyday!
I stayed put while the tot lot structure shook around me and wondered how well anchored the darn thing was. Eventually the wind died down and I came back out into a light rain to complete searching this playground. Once that was done, I headed for my car and noticed that several trees in the park had been either split in half or knocked down entirely. It did not dawn on me that a tornado had just passed over my head. I was distracted by my annoyance at the constant interruption from the weather to my hunt.
After going back to the school, about a block away, and finding little there, I decided to get myself home to Aurora. That's when I noticed that city workers were busily removing other trees and branches that had been knocked down by the whirlwind. They had trucks, wood chippers, and a back hoe. I stopped to tell the foreman that there were damanged trees in the park. He thanked me and I drove back in the direction of I-80. A police officer was directing traffic because all the traffic lights were out of service. I chatted with him and learned a tree had fallen across the power lines and left that part of Laramie without any electric power.
My wife, upon hearing my tale, asked whether I was frightened by the twister passing close over my head. I told her no, because I was simply too annoyed at being stopped from hunting by a blustery wind!
Anyhow, my best take was a 10k gold earring. I also found a bracelet that looks silver but ain't. I got a 2007 Canadian penny and several other small jewelry items along with 137 clad coins.
My take that day was:
16 Quarters = $4.00
18 Nickels = $0.40
27 Dimes = $2.70
76 Pennies = $0.76
Total = $7.86
Coin Count = 137 coins.
Thanks for Lookin, and hope you enjoy the photos!
I know there will be some folks who will not believe this story, but it is totally true. Ya can't make this stuff up! I'd find it difficult to believe my own self, had it not happened to me!
Blessings,
M-Taliesin
Here is an oldie but a goodie from back in July of 2009!
I started out to scout the Virginia Dale station up north of Fort Collins. It was an old stage stop along the Overland Trail. It serviced stage coaches, wagon trains, and others travelling west toward California. Folks were frequently attacked by outlaws in the vincinity, and there is a tallish mountain that was used as a hide-out by highwaymen. It is believed that outlaws cached some of their ill-gotten booty somewhere on Robber's Roost, as it came to be known. The station manager was one Jack Slade, who many suspect was in cahoots with the outlaw bands in the vicinity. Later on, Jack Slade became known as the infamous outlaw Black Jack Slade. What I found on my arrival is that many of the old buildings remain standing, and I will try to get permission to hunt the Virginia Dale Station later, and possibly try to get access to the Robber's Roost as well.
Then I kept going north to Laramie. The first tot lot I found was in a local park and it gave up a whole bunch of coins in fairly short time. My second stop was another park, and it gave up coins and small jewelry items. In particular to my interest was an earring that is stamped 10k! GOLD!!!! My hunting was slowed by the waves of rain that drifted over the area. It would be raining one minute, then clear the next!
It is the third stop that raises some issues. I drove west several miles to a school that looked good, and I was going to drive to the corner and turn a 180 and return to park so I could hunt the 4 tot lots covered in wood chips. But when I got to the corner, I noticed a nice park about a block away. I decided to check it out. The Kiwanis Park also had a sizable playground covered in wood chips and I decided to hunt that before trying the school I'd passed earlier.
As I started hunting, there was a light drizzle coming down. When I went around the west side of the tot lot structure, the wind came up suddenly and loudly! My Koss headphones fit my skull fairly tightly, but the wind ripped them from my head along with my hat. The headset fell up! Before my bewildered eyes, the headphones (with the hat still stuck between the earphones) was floating some 3 feet or so above my head. I recall thinking to myself Well, there's something ya don't see everyday!
I had to pull them down to me using the cord to reel them in. It was while I was thus engaged that I noticed how horrific loud the wind was. And I also noticed there was a funnel almost directly above me. It was difficult to keep my footing as the powerful wind ripped at me with a pure fury.
Once I got the headphones back down from dangling above me, I got myself under the tot lot structure to seek refuge from the wind. Wood chips were swirling around, 6 to 10 feet above the surface. Some of them, whipped by the wind, hit me and stung my skin. As I looked out at the whirlpool of chips dancing in the wind, I recall thinking There's another thing ya don't see everyday!
I stayed put while the tot lot structure shook around me and wondered how well anchored the darn thing was. Eventually the wind died down and I came back out into a light rain to complete searching this playground. Once that was done, I headed for my car and noticed that several trees in the park had been either split in half or knocked down entirely. It did not dawn on me that a tornado had just passed over my head. I was distracted by my annoyance at the constant interruption from the weather to my hunt.
After going back to the school, about a block away, and finding little there, I decided to get myself home to Aurora. That's when I noticed that city workers were busily removing other trees and branches that had been knocked down by the whirlwind. They had trucks, wood chippers, and a back hoe. I stopped to tell the foreman that there were damanged trees in the park. He thanked me and I drove back in the direction of I-80. A police officer was directing traffic because all the traffic lights were out of service. I chatted with him and learned a tree had fallen across the power lines and left that part of Laramie without any electric power.
My wife, upon hearing my tale, asked whether I was frightened by the twister passing close over my head. I told her no, because I was simply too annoyed at being stopped from hunting by a blustery wind!
Anyhow, my best take was a 10k gold earring. I also found a bracelet that looks silver but ain't. I got a 2007 Canadian penny and several other small jewelry items along with 137 clad coins.
My take that day was:
16 Quarters = $4.00
18 Nickels = $0.40
27 Dimes = $2.70
76 Pennies = $0.76
Total = $7.86
Coin Count = 137 coins.
Thanks for Lookin, and hope you enjoy the photos!
I know there will be some folks who will not believe this story, but it is totally true. Ya can't make this stuff up! I'd find it difficult to believe my own self, had it not happened to me!
Blessings,
M-Taliesin