First Post and Some Favorite Specimens!

This first post will be a little lengthy, later ones will probably be shorter and more about the specific rocks being covered.

For as long as I can remember, stopping to pick up a neat little rock that caught my eye has been a common occurrence. Most of the time it would end up back on the floor after a little admiration. On occasion however, that little rock was coming home with me! Over time those occasions added up to a small pile of interesting-to-me rocks, some rather plain, and others more striking. Despite how much I enjoyed inspecting random rocks when out and about, taking rocks home was never really my priority. That was until a friend mentioned rock tumbling in passing... straight down the lapidary rabbit hole!

I began researching rock tumblers and rock collecting in general, which I've since learned is referred to as Rockhounding. Without even purchasing a tumbler I began to grab more rocks as I walked around the local wash, and this time they'd be coming home with me. Bringing home 20 some odd rocks after an hour or two's hike, several times a week. They added up quick and I was just as quick to order a 2x 3lb. barrel tumbler and all the necessary supplies to make use of it. By the time it arrived I had heaps of varied quartzes, translucent whites and oranges, opaque whites and pinkish-reds all waiting to be tumbled. At the time of writing, I have not produced any fully tumbled rocks yet, and only one barrel is on the third grit stage. The other barrel will essentially be perpetually on stage one, topping it up with rough, raw rocks as I separate out ones that will be ready for later stages when the other barrel finishes.

In the month span that I've grown into this interest, I have amassed hundreds of rocks and dont plan to stop any time soon. Some of those rocks look remarkable even before tumbling (or in some cases wouldn't fare well in the tumbler anyways). Of those specimens I've selected a few as my "favorites" though honestly I have too many to realistically rank or pick my number one. The following pictures are some examples of those favorites, and at least an attempt to identify them. As an amateur rockhound, knowing a rock is cool is far easier than knowing what the rock is!

In no particular order: