Well this was going to be the year.  I finally had a good cut-off saw (Steahl) and there was now plenty of experience for me to know what to do with it....
 

The weather forecast was for two days of great weather.  Everything was really looking good.
 

The reality was I did not do as well as I had in the past, especially last year.  It was not that I didn't find some nice specimens but none better then in the years past.
 

The quarry had had two blasts for our collecting enhancement, of 37 and 9 tons respectively.  The size of the group of collectors was probably only about 60 or so on Saturday and 40 or so on Sunday.  Both of these numbers representing a significant decrease from last year's numbers.  And to think that last year's weather was much worse....go figure.   Maybe it was too nice a forecast...
 

The material from the blast did not seem to hold as many treasurers as in the past.  Although that is hard to estimate as you only have to judge what you happen to see during the day and then at the awards ceremony during the dinner event.   Don't get me wrong there were still a number of nice specimens found.  Maybe it's just that I did not find them.
 

Saturday was poor for me despite my efforts.  Sunday was much better once I was free to roam.  Once able I headed back to the ramp area and almost immediately surpassed Saturday's production.  The blocks although large and difficult to get at have crystals within.  That is all I need to keep me going and going and going.   Kind of like that battery bunny thing.
 

The only problem was time.  Instead of being out of there at 1:00 pm as advertised the plan became for us to be out by noon.  So many rocks so little time....
 

This 2006 version of the "Fluorite Fantasy Weekend" was different in several respects.  The first of which was my trip partner, Larry Johnson.  This was our first trip traveling together.  As a result we had a lot to talk about on the ride both to and from.  The drives passed quickly.  The traffic although heavy at times (given the Columbus Day weekend) was not too bad. 

On Friday we left early, about 11:00 am and drove just over 5 hours to reach our motel.  We stayed at the Roadside Inn in Manchester, NY.  This left us about 10 miles or so from the quarry,  about a 20 minute drive.

That coupled with the fact that there is a place for breakfast right across the street made the location great.
 

This was my first time with my used Steahl cut-off saw.  I cannot say enough about how well this saw performs.  It is so much better than the others I have tried.  As you can tell I am sold on this brand.
 

Finally this was the first time the weather has been so great.  In the few times I have gone out there I have experienced a great deal of nasty weather including a little snow, lots of rain and just nasty raw and damp weather. 

This time the weather could not have been any better.  Given that only a week later Buffalo had a 20 inch plus snow storm I guess we were really lucky.
 

Saturday for Larry Johnson turned out to be his day.  He hooked up with a couple who had found a nice block of rock with several nicely populated fluorite pockets.  He had a saw; they had the good rock.  The couple hesitated for a while but after an hour or so realized that they could help each other.  It worked out well for both of them.  The couple ended up with a large crystal and Larry Johnson got a very nice matrix specimen.  This specimen was good enough in fact to win the best fluorite matrix specimen at the dinner.
 

On Sunday after Larry got his boots (that's another story) he finished working what was left of the rock.  The results of his efforts turned out to be only to determine that there was nothing of any significance left to find in that rock.
 

Almost everyone else spent most of Sunday in the northeast wall area on the same level but far from Saturday's area.  There was a lot of activity but I have no idea what was found.   Based on all the activity and the saws running I am sure something good was found.
 

There were also others, a few, working here and there on the large rocks. 

These were almost all people with cut-off saws.  The grapevine had it that some were successful in finding nice specimens.
 

Once it started approaching noon they started rounding everyone up and we were all outside the gate by a couple of minutes after noon.
 

So we were off on our way home with thoughts of our collecting and dreams of returning in the future.
 

Now a few thoughts:

It would really be great to be able to spend a week in this quarry.  I am sure it would be really productive.   There just is not enough time over the compacted collecting weekend.  That is on Saturday from 8 to 3 and Sunday 8 to 1 (or noon).
 

The need here for the cut-off saw is tremendous.  Without it it could be a real effort in futility.
 

The Wayne County Mineral Club is to be commended for there efforts in conjunction with this trip.

They are a pretty good group of people.
 

The dinner (this year at David Kord's home) was very good and well worth attending.  The food was very good and plentiful.  The only thing that was not very good was the swapping and selling.  It seems to have just about died.  The judging and awards ceremony was fun.  I even got to be one of the three judges this year.
 

This area of western New York (not far from Rochester) is beautiful this time of year.  You see the fall and holiday decorations the colors of the leaves and the green of the fields.
 

The weather as I stated earlier was fabulous this year.  The days began with frost but quickly warmed to the 60's, with lots of sun and little wind.
 

The costs for the whole weekend were probably not much more than a little more than $100.00 when you share expenses.
 

One item of note is if you intend to be in this area (Rochester, NY) on this weekend get your reservations early.   There were few motel rooms left in the area even two weeks before.  Apparently between the colleges events that weekend and other events there is a rather large demand for rooms.

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