The gas station owner, who was dressed in jeans and had a long beard, praised: "Your car is very good."
His eyes glanced at Ji Yu, who was picking snacks in front of the shelves, winked at Gao Jing, and showed a smile that every man would understand: "Your girl is even better, she is a good horse."
Gao Jinghehe.
The drive from New York City to Arkansas, which is more than a thousand miles, takes nearly two days.
Gao Jing, on the other hand, walked and stopped with his senior sister.
Enjoy the scenery along the way and rest for a night in a beautiful town from time to time.
It has been five days since the two left New City.
Still haven't reached the destination yet.
But this is precisely the fun of self-driving travel, and it is rare to be so relaxed in Gaojing.
Ji Yu came over holding the selected snacks.
The gas station owner scanned the QR code to pay the bill one by one and asked: "Where are you going?"
He usually doesn't have that much curiosity, but it's rare to see two Asians appear in his store.
So I asked a few more questions.
Gao Jing replied: "Little Rock."
"Little Rock?"
The gas station owner looked disapproving: "What fun is there!"
Although he is from Arkansas.
But he doesn't have much favorable impressions of his state capital.
In fact, Arkansas, which is located in the southern region, is also a small transparent state in Mricken.
It covers an area of 130,000 square kilometers and has a population of just over two million.
Apart from the beautiful scenery and abundant natural resources, there is nothing else worthy of praise.
Gao Jing smiled: "Let's go dig diamonds."
"ah?"
The gas station owner was confused.
Then he laughed loudly: "Young man, I know where you are going."
"But believe me, there are no more diamonds to dig in that place. You will definitely be disappointed if you go there!"
Gao Dingding nodded: "Thank you for your advice."
After paying for gas and snacks, Gao Jing took Ji Yu and left the roadside gas station.
The boss looked at the two figures and shook his head helplessly.
Another tourist who was deceived.
The BMW station wagon with a full tank of gas is back on the road.
Ji Yu, who was sitting in the passenger seat, couldn't help but ask: "Are we really going to dig for diamonds?"
She already knew the destination of this trip and was quite interested in it.
But the reminder from the local gas station owner just now was obviously well-intentioned.
Gao Jing smiled: "Of course, the tickets are not expensive, just go and have fun."
Senior Sister Ji thought it was right and nodded: "Yes."
After driving along the highway for more than half an hour, the car entered the urban area of the capital of Arkansas.
Ji Yu was a little disappointed: "Is this Little Rock City?"
Although it is the capital and largest city of a state.
But if you only look at the urban landscape, Little Rock is really not as good as many county-level cities in the country.
There are no modern high-rise buildings here, and most of the buildings are products of the last century.
The population is not large either.
After arriving at their destination, the two stayed at the hotel they booked.
The next morning, Gao Jing took Ji Yu to Crater of Diamonds State Park in southwest Arkansas!
This is the only diamond mine park in the world that is open to the public. Anyone who buys a ticket can go in and mine diamonds without any additional fees.
If you are lucky enough to find a diamond, the park also provides free appraisal services.
No need to pay taxes!
Since the Crater of Diamonds State Park opened to the public in 1972, more than 29,000 diamonds have been discovered so far, which is equivalent to an average of one to two diamonds discovered every day.
Among these diamonds, more than 700 are over 1 carat!
The largest diamond in North America is produced here, with the Diamond Park’s highest record being 40 carats.
In 1990, a lucky man dug up a 3.03-carat diamond here and then sent it to New City for processing.
Later, the diamond was certified by an authoritative authority as grade o/o/o.
This is the highest grade of diamond.
Such a perfect diamond can only appear once in every billion!
Another thing worth mentioning is that.
The former First Lady of Myricken's favorite diamond, "Con Canary", also came from this park.
She used it to show off her beauty at both of her presidential husband's inaugurations.
Gao Jing smiled and asked his senior: "Do you want to dig one out too?"
Ji Yu's heart was pounding when he heard this, but he was self-aware: "How can you be so lucky!"
Gao Jing winked at her: "Maybe."
Believe in miracles!
It's only an hour's drive from Little Rock to Crater of Diamonds State Park. After passing through layers of covered woods, meadows and lakes, a piece of dark brown land appears in front of you.
And it was plowed into neat ridges.
Gao Jing parked his car in the parking lot outside the park and came down to buy two tickets.
The entrance fee to Diamond Park is NT$6, and children are only half price.
Of course Gao Jing and Ji Yu can't buy children's tickets, but the admission fee of 12 MYR is really a bargain.
This famous park is actually very small, only 15 hectares.
It looks like a small farm surrounded by woods.
It is said that the underground here was originally a volcanic channel 95 million years ago.
When a volcano erupts, deep diamonds are thrown to the upper part of the lava, so a large number of diamonds appear on the surface.
When the two came in, there were already many tourists digging inside.
Digging for diamonds naturally requires tools.
According to the regulations of the park, no mechanical equipment can be used here.
Only rent the tools they provide.
Gao Jing rented a set of equipment at the tourist service center, including shovels, plastic buckets, gloves, screens, etc.
Then we can start working.
The method of digging diamonds is actually very simple. Just use a shovel to put the soil on the ground into a plastic bucket, then take it to the sink next to it for sifting and washing, and finally pick out the gems from the stones.
If you are lucky enough.
In addition to diamonds, there are also semi-precious stones such as peridot, garnet, amethyst, and agate.
Newbie tourists who don’t know anything at all can compare and choose through the photos posted by the park.
There are also specialized appraisers to help with appraisals.
"Let's divide the work and cooperate."
Gao Jing suggested, "I'll dig the soil and you'll sift it."
The weather today is very good, the sky is clear and the sun is shining brightly. Of course, he will do the hard work.
Ji Yu was eager to try: "Okay."
Gao Jing chose a location not far from the sifting sink.
Started to become a digger.
The soil here is very hard, and the park authorities used excavators to dig out neat ridges.
Digging is undoubtedly hard work.
But it was nothing to Gao Jing.
He first dug out the upper mud layer and dug a pit about one meter in diameter.
Then I dug half a bucket of soil out of it.
Bring it over to Ji Yu to play with.
Ji Yu has already put on plastic gloves.
On both sides of her, there were people carefully sifting mud in the sink.
Among them were several guys who looked very professional at first glance.
As long as you observe it for a moment, you will naturally understand the basic operation process.
"wow!"
Gao Jing just put the dug soil on the wooden screen grid.
A red-necked cowboy man very close to him suddenly let out a cheer of surprise.
Everyone around came close to watch the fun.
This lucky cowboy has just discovered a rough stone that is larger than a grain of rice.
The estimated price is around two to three hundred dollars.
He is also the first treasure digger to make a harvest today.
It is said that some people have been digging here for several years or even more than ten years, relying on the unearthed gems to make a living.
These people are called gem hunters.
Everyone congratulated the cowboy man and encouraged each other, making the atmosphere lively.
The result stimulated Ji Yu.
The senior sister was full of confidence: "Look at me!"
I don’t even think about big diamonds, but a few diamonds are worth the money.
What if you win the jackpot?
Well, those who spend five or ten yuan to buy lottery tickets think so too!
Gao Jing smiled and said nothing, and asked her to work hard with the sieve.
He went back and continued digging holes.
When Gao Jing was searching for information about Crater of Diamonds State Park on the Internet, he saw someone on the Internet saying that the surface gems here had long been dug up.
For the sake of business, the park secretly scatters some small pieces of rough gemstones every once in a while.
Continue to attract tourists.
Gao Jing thinks this statement is very reasonable, and the gas station owner also reminded him.
But the surface of the earth is gone.
What about beneath the surface?
He dug a pit more than half a meter deep.
Looking around to see if no one was paying attention to him, Gao Jing quietly took off the bell hanging on his chest.