2007  Tucson gem , mineral & Fossil show report Updated Feb. 18 , 2007  from Atlanta , Georgia , featuring Jackson's Crossroads amethyst.   AFTER you have read this page ( don't go no wheres till you have ! ) , you may wish to check out other  2007 tucson show reports here :  http://www.mineralshows.com/tucson2007/specials.shtml and also , here --be sure to see the inn suites page :   http://gamineral.org/tucson_update.html     In conclusion , this was not a good year for me at the show , as I was upstair at the InnSuites , and there just wasn't any traffic on the floor of the particular building where I was at.     One good thing that came out of the trip was being able to buy lots of crystals and facet rough to re-sale the rest of the year on ebay .  Special thanks to Terri ,  Mike Corrigan , Don & Marie Aldridge , who all helped me while I was in Tucson .      Anyone who has never been to Tucson for the huge gem show has no clue about what it is about.    The whole town is one big show , with every kind of rock , gem , mineral , crystal , etc , that you have ever heard , read or dreamed about .   And that,  in massive quantities .        This is the mecca of minerals .   All folks that consider themselves to be rockhounds should come out here at least once in their lives , and yearly if possible .     This year , like every year , is filled with great items and bargains and pitfalls , at every venue.         Upstairs here at the Innsuites has not been good in this particular block .    The whole floor on the side of the building I am on is filled with great dealers with excellant items  .  There is a meteorite man , a fossil guy ,  cinderhill that does jewelry , a pakistani with excellant pegmatite crystals of aquamarine , and a fellow selling brazilliam amethyst ( anahi mine ) .   It is really slow and I dont think anyone on this floor is having a good show.  Meanwhile , downstairs , things are jumping !     I have been scrambling to get good deals on quantities of items to sell in my ebay store . This photo mirage shows some of my recent ebay offerings. Most everything pictured is either currently for sale on ebay or will be within a few hours of this posting. The quartz with the green phantom is from my mine in Arkansas , the Lonesome Dove .  Click on one of the photos and watch what happens !  click the cubes to freeze and enlarge the pictures !    listen to this guy on the phone in one of the rooms .   also , note the tubs of facet rough. click the triangle to iniate player :Jan.23    My display cases arrived today , so I had to spend the day cleaning the glass and adding specimens to the cases .  I checked out the quality inn on Benson highway .  Only a few dealers had their doors open so far .   I checked out the Best Western , no one open but one Morrocoan dealer who sold me some nice  fossil shark teeth .  Pictures coming soon.    Jan.22 we awoke to a good dusting of snow here in Tucson. . The picture with the orange trees & palm trees with snow was taken off the balcony of the Arizona Mineral & fossil show , InnSuites 2cnd floor .   I can look out my window and see bright orange and very ripe oranges on the trees.       We  headed south of the border today .  We got on I-10 South then I-19 South .  WE traveled the 65 miles to Nogales ,  Mexico and parked in Ed's parking lot ( $4 ) and walked across the border.   I ate a nice lunch with a bottled mexican made coca-cola and another apple drink , and the whole delicisious meal was only $5 .  I also stopped at a bakery and got two huge donuts and a delcious small loaf of bread for a dollar and twenty cents !    I bought Terri a  "COACH" brand purse for $65 after some bargaining .   Terri bought herself a Luis Vutton purse at another stall for $55 , but it fell apart magically as soon as we crossed back into the United States . There where hundreds of pharmacies ( ? ) mainly because no prescription is needed for most medicines .   It started snowing lightly   , which added to the light coat on the multi-colored pastel houses perched precariously on the hillsides .     I recommend the trip from Tucson to Nogaled , Mexico.     In four hours you can be back  to Tucson with some souveneirs ,   a fun and delicious quick trip .    Take a hundred dollars and you can do it all .   I got back in time to do some shopping , and one of the neat items I picked up was staurolite fairy crosses from Russia .  These will be on ebay soon .  Sunday night it is snowing like crazy here .  Yes it is sticking , which is quite a sight to see on the palm trees and cactus of this desert town .   The locals say it is the first time in seven years for it to snow in Tucson.      Pictures tomorrow .            archives of the trip : Jan 19  I hit the road late Thursday , and overnighted just inside the Eastern border of Missipi .   jan 20  Early Friday Terri and I hit the road and road across Mississip , Louisiana , and 700 miles of Texas. As we got of off I-20 and hit I-10 , it start really bad freezing rain and snow.  As we got about 20 miles from Van Horn , there were cars running off the road and 6 tractor trailer rigs had jackknifed and overturned in the median.   I really thought we would end up the same way .  The roads were completely and heavily iced over. Luckily , my Jeep Grand Cherokee has computer assisted traction 4 wheel drive , plus antilock brakes.   We finally made it to Van Horn and got some sleep .   jan 21 Saturday morning we awoke to heavy snow .   We finally made it into Tucson about 2 in the afternoon.     Today , Sunday  Jan 21 , we went to the Desert Musuem ( just go west on speedway and follow the signs when it turns into Gates Pass )   just 12 miles from town .    The desert museum has birds , reptiles, big cats , bears , insects , and a killer mineral musuem .   It is just before you get to the sagauro national forest , and like most of this part of Arizona , cactus of every imaginal shape were everywhere !     After visiting the desert musuem , we checked various mineral shows and so far I have gotten some killer deals including amber ,which I will be putting on ebay soon !   We ate lunch at La Salsa on the corner of Speedway and Wilmot---- Recommended , lunch for two $20 .   We ate dinner at the old pueblo Grill .    That's right , we're down with OPG !   Dinner for two --- $60 and the best meal you'll ever eat !   Located next to the clarion hotel on Alvernon .      Look for a 2008 tucson show report again next year !