Hello, Shofs! I'm in SE MO and I have really enjoyed reading this thread! It's so good to see a young person with a useful hobby! Wish I'd known about this kind of fun when I was younger. So, I'm late to the party, at age 60ish and am going on my first prospecting gig tomorrow! I'm heading to Crater of Diamonds in AR. haha! I'm hoping it will give me some classifying experience, in a safe setting, before I head out into the wilderness in August. While in AR, I'd like to head over to the Coleman Mine, and Mt. Ida too, for some crystal quartz prospecting. Then, I'll spend most of the summer kayaking and practicing in some local creeks and going back to Mt. Ida now and then. Btw, I picked my username in honor of my first prospecting effort.... I'm sure it will be ironic! The Crater's diamonds are mostly .25 pts or less, so my hopes are already dashed. However, it's a camping trip and that alone should be fun. Plus, I get to meet lots of 'prospector' type people.