In August 2014 I took a ride on a Harley Davidson Road King around Flathead Lake, Montana, visiting rock shops to find Montana Agate (also called moss agate), a chalcedony with black moss-like inclusions found in Yellowstone river riverbeds.
Rock shops visited: Junction Rock Shop, Montana Within Rock Shop LLC, Kehoe’s Agate Shop, Mineralholics LLC, The Treasure Outpost in Whitefish, Rocks and Things Metaphysical.
12-day, 2600-mile BMW motorcycle ride from San Diego to Arcata CA. Rock hunting: Chapman’s Gem and Mineral Shop (obsidian, jasper, rhodonite), Glass Beach in Fort Bragg, and Jade Cove in Big Sur (nephrite/serpentine cliffs).
Educational post about colored diamonds: impurities cause color (boron=blue, nitrogen=yellow, radiation=green, plastic deformation=red/pink). Mentions the 35-carat Wittelsbach blue diamond ($24M at Christie’s 2008) and BPM 37093 – the largest known diamond in the universe (a white dwarf star nicknamed Lucy).
