Hi all!  It’s great to be a part of this site.  I’ve been perusing introductions by other members and enjoyed reading about how you all became interested in rock hounding.    My interest was brought on in a much different manner than most.
I have two young boys, 9 and 11 years old.  They love video games.  I cannot stand for them to be on electronics every spare moment they have.  It drives me crazy and tugs on my “guilt strings” as a mother when they are indoors on their ipad when they should be outdoors getting some physical activity and fresh air.  Two years ago, their favorite game was minecraft.  I was reluctant, but allowed my boys to introduce me to the game thinking it would at least allow us to have a shared activity.   It took me multiple tries to get into the game but I must admit that I too became a little addicted to it for a time.
I thought about what allured me to the game and realized it was not so much the building of structures and definitely not the battling, it was the excitement of finding  treasures… veins of gold and diamonds and trying to determine what clues would allow me to be more successful in finding those things.  My boys would tell me “mom, you’re the best miner ever!” as I filled their chests with gems and minerals.    Now, I not only felt guilty about all the time my boys spent playing, but all the time I was now putting into it. 
I wondered if I could use their Minecraft interest to lure them out of the house and hopefully interest them in some healthier forms of recreation.   I was not familiar with mining in NC at the time but wondered if it would allow them some of the same feelings of interest and success that the game did and decided to do a quick internet search.  I found Hiddenite, NC and decided that we would make a trip there in the hopes that my boys would enjoy it and prefer to do some actual mining rather than video games.  They loved it!  (Though I think I am much more addicted to it than they are).  Since then, we have made a few trips to Diamond Hill mine, Crabtree Emerald Mine and attended the Spruce Pine mineral and gem festival.  We have joined a few clubs, including a junior rockhounds club for the boys, but the trips have been few and far between.  Not only that, they are pretty far in distance.  I really want to foster their interest in gems and minerals.  I am always on the lookout for nearby trips.  If it’s too long a trip (5+ hours of driving), I’m afraid it will dampen or extinguish their interest pretty quickly.  So, I am real excited about the Burgin mine trip coming up soon.  If anyone knows of other good places to go that are within a few hours of Charlotte, please advise.  I would appreciate it.  Or if you are in the Charlotte area and would be willing to share some of your expertise with myself and my boys on a nearby trip, please let me know.  Though I have learned a lot reading, my knowledge is still quite limited and I want my boys to receive accurate answers to their many questions.    Thank you all!  I hope to get to meet some of you soon!