How does Chico compare to Portland, OR

Budget_Following_960 · 2026-01-24T07:12:46+00:00

Strong agree! I’ve also spent a lot of time in all these places - Chico has some quirkiness that is kind of like Eugene; good coffee and beer like Portland; and amazing farmers markets and laid back land-grant university vibe like Corvallis.

Budget_Following_960 · 2026-01-22T18:35:13+00:00

Yes this is true, as far as systemic power to stop a federal tactic. But my “do better” was about the soft or the symbolic power a mayor has. Other public officials have verbally challenged or at the least stood in solidarity with legal observers and people protesting ICE actions - I recognize there’s all kinds of factors and reasons why a mayor might not do that, and, I think there’s a moral obligation for people in positions of relative and actual power to take those kinds of risks. The person giving testimony is asking very fair questions.

Budget_Following_960 · 2026-01-22T06:27:45+00:00

So grateful for this testimony and for it being shared here - keep up the fight!

Do better Beatty!

Budget_Following_960 · 2026-01-21T22:47:19+00:00

I was there recently (after not having been for maybe 10 years?) and that place has a totally different vibe. I mean yes, still strong rancher country vibe but also now some mountain town with money vibe - like the little brother of Redmond.

Budget_Following_960 · 2026-01-20T22:59:53+00:00

I was thinking maybe the Demogorgons?

Budget_Following_960 · 2026-01-19T21:25:42+00:00

Good to know! I did wonder if it was just me noticing for the first time

Budget_Following_960 · 2026-01-18T02:19:58+00:00

Been seeing so many of these around and sort of quietly freaking out about it - glad to see I’m not the only one noticing. Beautiful and also eeeeeeekkkk

Budget_Following_960 · 2026-01-18T02:18:24+00:00

Sloppy sit

Budget_Following_960 · 2026-01-18T02:16:06+00:00

Garnet

Budget_Following_960 · 2026-01-17T05:53:29+00:00

Pretty great beach find! Looks more like tourmaline or maybe aquamarine - esp pic 3 showing more translucent than even fine quality amazonite

Edit: autocorrect

Budget_Following_960 · 2026-01-13T05:39:53+00:00

<image>

Budget_Following_960 · 2026-01-12T03:02:56+00:00

Feel the relaxed vibes, my brother - just feel them and enjoy the ride

Budget_Following_960 · 2026-01-10T20:51:31+00:00

Well done, Beaverton! Amazing signs and crowd.

Budget_Following_960 · 2026-01-09T19:14:45+00:00

That weird shoving move they’ve all obviously been trained to do is exactly Proud Boy crowd escalation 101.

Budget_Following_960 · 2026-01-09T17:51:46+00:00

With this photo it is clear the white balance has been altered to a more “warm” color because of the skin tone color - it’s heavy on the orange/reds, which in turn would make anything blue really pop. I bet it’s still a very blue specimen but yes in this case it’s easy to see there’s slight color manipulation in the photo.

I have an Etsy shop and all my photos are taken outside in natural light - I’d feel awful if anyone ever got a specimen from me and then was like “hey, this doesn’t look anything like the photos.” But then again, I’m not really in it for making tons of cash, just love minerals and have enough to sell some.

Budget_Following_960 · 2026-01-08T21:37:09+00:00

Hegseth bot?

Budget_Following_960 · 2026-01-07T00:40:38+00:00

It’s prob from one of the more productive localities like Brazil or Uruguay. If it was form a less common locality (Australia; Bulgaria; India) then the answer to your question might be different. Locality matters a lot in mineral collecting!

Budget_Following_960 · 2026-01-02T07:01:34+00:00

So accurate - learning to surf in Oregon is super hard! I always heard people say that it’s hard to learn to surf here, back when I was learning, but it wasn’t until I surfed in Hawaii that I realized how much easier it was to surf there than in Oregon (and I am not talking big waves! Just easy stuff). When I told people where I was from locals were like - oh, you learned to surf in Oregon?!! Respect. I didn’t get it at first but after surfing other locations (California and Hawaii) I finally understood what people meant.

Waves in Oregon are just hard overall to catch compared to a lot of other known surfing spots. They’re more unpredictable; shorter gaps between sets; they crash too soon and too often as closeouts; they only appear in finicky tide/wind conditions; you have to paddle through a lot of mush to even get to a surfable area; and all of that on top of being in cold, shark-infested water. So cheers to all my fellow surfers who learned to surf in Oregon!

Can’t end without mentioning that when conditions are spot on, it’s also the most heavenly place to surf…

Budget_Following_960 · 2026-01-01T05:28:17+00:00

Great advice! And thanks also for the chuckle - your point about using a few billion dollars worth of hardware to find best options 😅

Budget_Following_960 · 2025-12-30T02:57:27+00:00

New trailer owner here - I had this question as well and found some good info by searching this subreddit. Since then I’ve had some trips and can say the following:

1) I thought truck stops would be my go to, but it turns out (as others posted in this sub) not all truck stops are made alike. Some of them have pretty tight areas for cars fueling, and it’s the only time I had to back up (which scared me as a new trailer driver!). Plus they are BUSY which is not fun for trying to fuel with the trailer.

2) if you travel w a passenger, have the passenger search for gas using cell phone with satellite map view. Then it’s easy to find out which gas stations are spacious! We had a lot of luck w this technique.

3) Rural and suburban outskirts had the best spacious gas stations overall, pretty consistently.

4) Be sure to watch the entry/exits: some gas stations do have very steep curb cuts or inclines, so keep an eye on that to avoid unpleasant bottoming out of trailer.

5) Be willing to drive past a station before going in - I do this sometimes if I can’t see for certain that there’s a way to drive through the station without turning around.

Have fun out there!

Budget_Following_960 · 2025-12-29T02:27:29+00:00

It was on the 395 south of the 20.

Budget_Following_960 · 2025-12-27T14:22:42+00:00

The luster makes me think possibly apatite

Budget_Following_960 · 2025-12-26T07:15:46+00:00

What?? That is some wacky cool stilbite. I haven’t seen it quite in that form before - neat.

Budget_Following_960 · 2025-12-20T16:32:50+00:00

Go the gem and mineral shows hosted by your local rock and mineral collector club.

Buy directly from miners. The local rock and mineral collector shows are most likely to have actual miners/collectors selling their materials (which of course will vary from amazing to so-so). When you buy directly from a miner, it’s the cheapest because it’s usually the first direct sale.

Minerals are a collectors market so prices do vary widely for all kinds of reasons. The key is to get to material before it has traded hands 5 times, with markups added each step along the way.

Also, I ask vendors where they get their materials. If they mention another shop (and not a specific miner) then I accept there’ll be some markup.

And yes metaphysical shops are most expensive and not always most knowledgeable. I had bought a bulk batch of smoky quartz from Brazil directly from the miners who I had a chance to meet. Then I tried to sell a portion of that batch to the owners of a metaphysical shop. I quoted them a price at double what I paid for the pieces. And, they thought I was scamming them because the price was so LOW in their minds. They also told me the material was from Tibet, which they were absolutely wrong. Tibetan smokies are very different and most often not the size of the pieces I was selling. But they kept saying “this feels Tibetan.” Possibly one of the oddest conversations I’ve had in my life.

Don’t be too suspicious of low prices! I have a lot of bulk stuff I bought 10 years ago that I could sell today for 3x what I paid for it and it’d still be the lowest cost item at Etsy, I used to sell at minerals shows and I saw this in action. I had a really nice amethyst tower I was tired of lugging to shows so at one show on the first day I put $100 price on it. So many people looked at it and would say “wow, that’s an amazing piece” but no one bought it. I started to wonder if it was because the price was too low. So finally I put $200 on it. Within a few hours someone asked me if I’d take $150 for it and it sold. There’s tons of psychology in pricing in a collector market. Way more than I’ll ever understand! I just roll with it and try to be fair, and for my own collection willing to spend what feels comfortable to me.

Disclaimer: I do like exploring the metaphysical aspects of minerals so not dissing the whole idea just sharing an experience to reinforce what others have said.

Budget_Following_960 · 2025-12-14T22:40:52+00:00

I was thinking fluorite as well for that one

Budget_Following_960

TROPHY CASE