Hey Moms! You can dig for Diamonds at Crater of Diamonds State Park!

The carful of kids pack up the essentials and hit the road again for Nova Scotia. Why? Well, I don't know--it's there, we've never seen it and it'll be fun. This might haunt me later.

Before you can get to the edge of North America, you have to drive halfway across North America. The carful of kids live in Central Texas so we like to check out a few things every time we pack up the SUV and head out.

I start early on the first day of a road trip and log a lot of miles--the kids are excited. Melissa (my best friend and road tripping accomplice) and I talk over the options as we race up I-35 towards DFW.  The choices are: Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site or Crater of Diamonds State Park, both in Arkansas.

Learning how to mine for diamonds

While both have their merits, there's only one where you can dig for diamonds. This road tripping mom is feeling lucky. The carful of kids roll into the park in the early afternoon and notice it's busy. There is a waterpark next to the diamond field.

The carful of kids pay our admission and rent some tools for about $30 and we're ready--until the park ranger tells us to attend the demonstration on diamond hunting.

With a little knowledge and absolutely no technique, we hit the 38-acre field. Just a heads up, it's dirty so leave the cute sandals in the car.

The carful of kids dig for an hour before we take our bucket of treasure-ladden dirt to the covered pavilion to wash our soil through a fine screen. This is a bit tedious but the thrill of discovering the next big find pushes you forward.

Being kids, they get bored before Mom finds the ultimate souvenir. We head back to the visitors center for free diamond identification.

I don't remember the names of what I found--shiny, tiny rocks that I put into a tiny glass vial. But don't let that discourage you--this is a fun day that kids will learn about geology and mining. And when you are hot and dirty from mining, you can go play in the water park next door!

For next time--mine in the morning; it can be hot and humid on a summer afternoon. If you want to make it a weekend, there are 50 campsites; reserve ahead of time, this is a popular state park.  It is conveniently located 45 miles off of I-30, north of Hope, Arkansas.

The carful of kids load back up in the SUV for our final destination of the day--Memphis, Tennessee, where we will submerge ourselves in ribs and rock-n-roll.