There's gold in Walmart's parking lot! Literally...

Have you ever wanted to start looking for gold but don't really know where to look? Well, the place to go might not be as far as might think...

Before I give away my secret spot though, I'd like to give you a little backstory first. 

One day a few months back my family and I were out at the Salt River doing some fishing, swimming, and basically just playing in the water on a hot Arizona day. We noticed something a bit out of the ordinary from the people next to us. They were sitting out in the water with a couple of pans and it looked to us like they were panning for gold right next to where we were fishing... 

Naturally, being ever interested in the shiny yellow metal, I went right over and started talking to them about what they were doing. As I got there they showed me a little gold nugget they had just pulled out of the mud a couple minutes before... I had always had an interest in finding gold but never really knew where to look. My stepson Damian on the other hand had never really seen gold before but when he heard that it was worth money, potentially a lot of money, he got the 'gold fever' something fierce! 

(The family looking for gold)

From that day on, every day he would ask me if we could go look for some gold. "Can we go find some gold today dad, where do you think we would find gold dad, and can I keep whatever gold I find?" were questions I would hear pretty much on a daily basis. However, with the new baby, getting out to look for gold was not an easy endeavor. 

That would all change as one Friday afternoon we were finally able to escape and get back out to that spot where we saw that couple gold panning. We packed up my old gold panning stuff and we were ready to head out to the spot. We even went out to the store and bought a little gold panning kit for Damian and also a mini sluice box for dad because I just knew with more technology I could really bring home the gold!

(That's me, being a true 49er)

However, the trip turned into a giant disappointment with nothing to show for our hours of hard work but some microscopic particles that may have been gold or may have just been mica. In fact the only thing we brought home that day were some painful sunburns! We went home feeling utterly defeated and I hung up my sluice and gold pans deciding I was not going to be doing that again for a while as I couldn't handle the disappointment. Damian on the other hand, would not be defeated so easily...

From that day forward everywhere he went he would look in the sand and dirt and pick up rocks in search for that elusive metal. It was nice to see him have such ambition. However, the questions I got would tend to wear on me after a while. From the school playground, to the park, to the wash by our house, he would collect rocks and bring them to me and ask... "hey dad, is this gold?" Every time I would look at these rocks (that were not even close to resembling gold by the way) and I would have to shake my head and say... "no son, that is not gold."

This process went on for months... everywhere we went... "hey dad, is this gold?"

It got to the point where I almost didn't even really look at the rocks he was showing me because I knew it wouldn't be gold... I would just sigh and say the same thing every time... "no son, that is not gold."

However, a couple weeks ago, that would all change...

It was a Sunday afternoon and we were finishing up our grocery shopping at the local Walmart. Damian ran off to the decorative rock piles with the trees that they have in a lot of parking lots. This is what he always did when we were out in public... He started going through a pile of rocks not far from our car like he usually does as we loaded the groceries in the car. As we were finishing up he came up to me holding a rock and asked his usual question..."hey dad, is this gold?"

I didn't even really look at the rock, I just did a passing glance and said... "no...." However, something that sparkled caught my eye as I was turning away. I paused, and turned back to give the rock another look. Saying, "hold on there for one second, let me see that rock a little closer Damian..." I examined it and right there in the middle of the rock, there appeared to be a tiny streak of gold running right through the middle of it! I couldn't believe it... did Damian really just find gold in the Walmart parking lot?!

(If you look very closely the lower left hand corner has a tiny gold streak) 

After pausing for several seconds, I turned back to him and gave him the answer he had been longing to hear for months now... "yes son, I believe that is gold!"

All he could say was... "I knew it! I get to keep all the money from this dad!"

Ever since that day, anytime Damian asks me "hey dad, is this gold", I always take him seriously and examine every rock he hands me very closely. 

So, there you have it... gold can be found anywhere... even in a Walmart parking lot! :)

(That's us, including the baby!)

Hope you enjoyed my story!

This has been an original story by @jrcornel.

Image Source for first picture:

1. http://www.ebay.com/bhp/gold-nugget

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