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Hello Everyone, Since I am away from my usual haunts and fossil hunts and currently on the left coast ... we decided (ok, I insisted like a small excited child) that we take our annual trip to Ed's House of Gems on Sandy Blvd. in Portland, Oregon. Since meeting my wife's folks and seeing her old stomping grounds as a child ... her family's frequent visits to this old dive bar of a rock shop was one of the extra bonuses that sealed the deal and now we have two kids. haha. Ok, so Ed's is a family run business and has been around at least as long as we have .. 40 + years. It is a building tucked a bit away from a street filled with mariner themed dive bars, Chinese restaurants, and establishments of ill repute (?) Ok, it's Portland so they have a bikini drive through coffee hut nearby as well..... Keeping it weird. The storefront has probably not changed over the decades so it borders on the kitsch .. which honestly is back in style now. It's just a fantastic trip down memory lane when 'my' family used to pile into a car for two weeks and drive across the desert Southwest (with one tape player between 3 kids) . These rock shops it seemed were dotted along the highway and we were screaming bloody murder anytime we spotted one, because my dad (I know) secretly wanted to stop at all of them as well. Piled in big metal caged bins were boulders of obsidian or agate, petrified wood, and rose quartz ... buy it by the pound. We usually left with our little trinkets and mineral treats. Always loved those stops, and they are a disappearing breed with online taking over and shuttering the brick and mortar locations. I think the other rock shop here in Oregon that is worth a look is a little place on the way to Bend, OR but I digress. Anyhoo .. inside the store is filled with everything a rockhound would want. Minerals in the rough, slabs, tools, tumblers, mineral specimens, Moroccan fakes, Moroccan real, Riker mounts, shells, fossils etc ..... I love every inch of that rock infested place .. and now it is a new tradition for the next generation. I hope it sticks around for a few more ......