Mobile business offers thrill of treasure hunting

The Minecraft universe isn’t the only place where Whidbey kids can scavenge precious minerals and treasures with family and friends.

Three weeks ago, wife and husband duo Kim and Chuck Boyer opened Whidbey Gemstone Finders, a traveling “rough mining” business that brings the excitement of discovery in a safe and family-friendly fashion to festivals, birthday parties and other events.

Every weekend, the Boyers bring their silver trailer to a new location in Oak Harbor. Last Saturday, they were located in the parking lot next to the Auld Holland Inn, piquing the interest of locals with the two sluice boxes set up outside.

There, the Dunegan family rolled up their sleeves and got to work, pouring some sand from a bag into a sifting box and then shaking it in the sluice box’s water.

Four-year-old Orion Dunegan, a big fan of Transformers, returned home with a bag full of treasures, including a shark tooth, a big rock and an arrowhead that he found with the help of his dad, Joe. His 1-year-old brother Jason — also known as “Squish” — and their mother, Yessi, also took home some shiny and ancient riches.

The scene is very familiar to the Boyers, who not too long ago found themselves hooked by this activity while visiting Oregon. During spring break, they found a rough mining business and decided to give it a try. While their children enjoyed it for some time, Kim and Chuck couldn’t stop pouring, sifting and picking for the rest of the day.

Until then, the closest thing to mining the Boyers had ever done was looking for painted rocks around Whidbey. Five months after that fateful day, their cartoon selves smile with a pickaxe and mining garb in the logo of their business.

The Boyers moved to Oak Harbor from Spokane a year ago, after regularly vacationing on the island for six years. They are now hoping to bring their trailer to local festivals and private events to share with residents the same excitement they felt when they joined their first mining adventure.

The business offers 23 different packages that include real gemstones, crystals, fossils and shark teeth sourced from different parts of the globe, with prices ranging from $10 to $64.

The Rainbow Bag includes gemstones of different colors, like amethyst, tigers eye, sodalite, kyanite, amazonite, carnelian, bloodstone and tourmaline.

For those who feel a greater affinity for the classical elements, the Gemstone Finders offer the Air Bag, the Water Bag, the Fire Bag and the Earth Bag, all of which are inspired by gemstones with colors traditionally associated with those elements.

Those who dream of adventures under the sea and sword fights on ghost ships might particularly dig the Mermaid Bag — which includes seashells, amethyst, rose quartz, ocean charms and a treasure chest filled with plastic pearls — and the Pirate Bag — which contains pyrite, citrine, skeleton keys, seashells, three replica doubloons and a treasure chest with pyrite.

If the animal kingdom sounds more exciting, the Blue Bag might be the best choice, as it contains 15 different fossils, including shark teeth.

Navy families and veterans might enjoy the Patriotic Bag, which contains red, white and blue gems.

For big adventures, the Gemstone Finders also offer packages containing gemstones, arrowheads, fossils, shark teeth and large surprises.

Kim and Chuck said they have no idea of what people are going to find, which makes it even more exciting.

“You can get the same (bag) multiple times and you’re gonna get something different every time,” Kim said.

For updates on future locations, the Boyers invite community members to follow their Facebook page, Whidbey Gemstone Finders. For parties or any questions, email Whidbeygemstonefinders@gmail.com.