Since I was really going all out on this vacation doing touristy things, I took my little brother gold panning yesterday. We paid $10 each for a bucket of dirt from the Indian Valley Mine. The owners gave us a tutorial and away we went. It’s actually harder than I thought and there’s definitely a technique to finding the gold (and keeping it from washing away!). We each found a few flakes which my brother let me keep. I also collected a small handful of gemstones including five tiny pieces of amethyst — my birthstone — which was cool.
While it doesn’t look like I can plan my retirement, it sure was fun!
Attempts in Domesticity 
I did that with my kids in Mexico. I think they stocked the panning area with crystals and things, which made it more fun for the kids.
It’s definitely fun when you see the sparkle — I got super excited with each little gemstone. What’s hilarious is they had little snow globes in the gift shop filled with the same gold flakes (but like 10 times more than we found) selling for half the price we paid for our buckets. But it was all for the experience! Never done it before and had a blast with my brother as we figured out the technique.