11. June 2009 by CJohnson.

   In talking to several Hotels, Motels and Resorts we found a real need this season. The need was that while many people are interested in going on our all day rafting trip. Time delays and airport security juggling prevents them from enjoying this event when headed back to Anchorage. After talking with John and the resorts we may have come up with a solution. A shorter version of the trip.  Approx 1 hour panning plus a clam peacful float down the Kenai River and wildlife refuge. All for only $ 69 bucks.  Now if that’s not a great deal I don’t know what is other than having the time to go on the all day gold-n-paddel excursion.  

Call John at 1-907-598-1808 for more details. 

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1. June 2009 by CJohnson.

What’s happening this Week.

• The Cooper Landing store looks Awesome! Everyone did a great job of cleaning up the winter leftovers.
• River raft prospecting trips are raging with great feedback!
• Sterling / Soldotna store is almost complete.
• Kenai Convention and Visitors Bureau Center now has Prospector John’s jerky in stock
• We may have a month of May winner for most gold found in a gold pan by a family from Colorado.

Rain or shine we have fun at Prospector John’s

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1. June 2009 by CJohnson.

My First Time Gold Panning  

I’ll never forget the first time I tried my hand at gold panning.

The air was crisp, the smell of the pines as the morning breeze picked up.

The smell of coffee, onions and fresh fried potato hash browns that would soon be our breakfast.

I was 30 + and had two kids but I felt like a kid myself on Christmas day.

What would I find panning for gold?

Would I find anything at all?

If I found any gold would I drop out of the gold pan and loose it?

How hard would it be?

I’d overheard some people at work talking about the panning trip they had gone on the month before.

Somehow during the eves dropping and asking some questions I was invited to join them on this excursion to gold pan with them.

I never had panned for gold in my life and knew very little except what I’d seen on TV and had read in treasure and metal detector magazines articles from time to time.

But here I was gold panning and I was as excited about it as an 8 year old and his first BB gun.

As my new found friends would try to explain and then let me have a go at it.

I paid close attention and would practice a little but wanted to find the gold.

That first time panning for gold would take me almost 1 hour to see I had nothing.

The second pan full of dirt would reveal what is often referred to as flour gold and gold panning fever set in.

I never lost that gold fever although it’s not as high as it was when I first started. But I still jump around hoot and holler at a good sized nugget or picker.

My gold panning fever sets in as soon as the weather permits. I’m always glad to see flour, flakes and small slivers in the bottom of my gold pan, the more the merrier.

But for me with growing number of years in experience gold panning I’m finding I enjoy the companionship, lifelong friends and family outings experienced as a result of gold panning.

No matter how much you know and how good you become you can always learn something new from everyone….even novices.

So if you’ve never given gold panning a try there’s more to it than just running out, buying a gold pan, finding a stream and searching for gold. The riches and treasure you find may be in the experience and memories you keep as well.

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21. May 2009 by CJohnson.

Hello,

 A special thank you— Thanks for your patience and understanding over the last few weeks.

Today is the day we officially open the Soldotna store. It’s been hectic and fun over the last several weeks.

We’ve had many visitors drop in to check out the action and see what we’re doing. We’ve met several new friends and even got reacquainted with a few not seen for several years. We look forward too seeing some of our new friends over the next week as the season kicks into high gear and the Salmon start to run.

If you happened to miss all the excitement last weekend it was a blast! We look forward to even more events like this. (Check out what’s new page) Scott’s wood carving is absolutely out of this world.

Our jerky is online now and can be ordered.

Neither John or myself had a camera handy during the final construction stage so if anyone happens to have photo’s we can use please let us know  editor@goldpan-alaska.com   thanks.

Not sure if I mentioned this earlier but John was able to get a new trail approved so we now have 2 river rafting prospecting trips to choose from.

This summer is going to be great!

CJ

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28. April 2009 by CJohnson.

    I wanted to apologize for not being on top as I wanted over the last week or so. We have new exciting products and events coming down the chute. I’m still working on adding even more great products to our new online store.

By May 11^th everything should be back to normal again.

What happens by May 11^th?

If you’ve ever moved your entire family you can recant your own memories of this little saga. —

The plan: Relocate most of entire family including one (mother – in law) and 3 pets to other parts of the country (Lower 48). 

Coordinate movers, hired help, weather, utilities, phone and more.

Scale down personal belongings, furniture and more to fit smaller 1200 Sq ft. home for Mom and Dad only.

(2 children turn 18 this year and out of the nest) Mom came to live with us after Dad passed away last year and is ready to move into her own apartment.

Time frame for completing this simple task is 30 days.

I’d like to take the credit for this miraculous feat of juggling, but my wife seemed to accomplish most of it and left me to clean the garage, finish construction projects around the house, paint, cleanup and heavy lifting. She managed all the finite details while still working a full time job and having dinner ready?

I won’t bore you with more details or ask your help to discover how my wife magically compresses time?

The main point is that by May 11^th John and I will be working closely along with our great staff to deliver constant improvement to you — our friends.  Stay tuned for more to come. Thanks for the great feedback and support.

Sincerely

Carl Johnson

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3. April 2009 by CJohnson.

 Hi Friends,

  We did it after several months of planning and testing.

We’re so excited in being able to offer what you asked for.

Pan-A-Month is finally here.

You asked for a simpler way to order Prospector John’s rich pay dirt each month.

John has always been easy to reach, but with our many new projects under way and all the gearing up for summer, new staff, traveling and such. Your suggestions just made good sense!

    It’s all under your control. Pan-A-Month allows you to order the quantity of pay dirt you can pan out, when you want. Cold weather, rain, melting snow, forgetting to call John —

— None– of these things matter anymore.

We started small to make sure everything works as planned with 1lb and 2 lb bags.

As you request higher quantities, we’ll add those as well.

Let us know what you think.

Sincere Thanks

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3. April 2009 by CJohnson.

    Prospector John’s “New” re-designed website went live April 1^st.   No Joke!

This was a great Launch in our “Grand Re-Opening”.

We hope everyone finds the new website refreshing, entertaining, and informative.

Our main focus and goal was for the site to become a window which makes it easier to do business with us.

So many of our friends told us how difficult it is sometimes to get out there and pan whenever they want.

We’ve taken your comments and suggestions to heart, and are working to implement many of the changes you’ve suggested.

A sincere “Thank You”  to all our customers, for your patience and support.

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27. March 2009 by CJohnson.

   Gold in them there unemployment lines….

As the economy turned sour, many started turning to gold…Prospector John experienced hundreds of inquiries of how to buy just gold?

Several thousands of search result inquires from Google, Yahoo and MSN over the same period showed people were interested to find “Where do you sell gold”  “What is the price of gold” “Can I buy Gold”

Even major media has been posting stories of how gold is saving the lives and mortgages of those who are currently unemployed or going through economic hardships till things get better.

As I write this article gold is hovering today at $923.17 an ounce.

At this price it’s easy to see why more people are looking to “Learn the art of gold panning” Using gold prospecting and panning as a hedge bet against the fluctuating dollar.

Several State Governments since declaring sovereignty recently are putting legislation to vote that if passed would allow payment of debts with precious metals, “gold and Silver”.

If this legislation passes in the State levels it could mean that gold has value to purchase just as it did back in the 1800’s and times before 1971.

The Gold Rush of 2009!   

It may very well be… You don’t have to wait till everyone has staked their claim…

Call Prospector John’s and learn the art of gold panning, sluicing and reading the river for gold you can keep.

Only $24.95 per person  3 for $49.95  Each additional person per group only $15.00

Includes your own poke of exceptionally rich pay-dirt and sample vials to keep the gold you find.

Run your pay-dirt through sluices or use a pan we provide here at Prospector John’s.

1-907-598-1808

References for article:

www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/NEW-CALIFORNIA-GOLD-RUSH.html

Google Search Database

www.Goldprice.org

Federation of American Scientists http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL30315.pdf

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/06/states.fed/

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27. March 2009 by CJohnson.

Hello Everyone,

 Well as you can see Prospector John’s going through a lot of changes this season.

Thanks for being so patient and also the great critique and input you’ve given along the way.

We’ve wanted an updated site too make things easier for our friends and family (you) to get information and questions answered as soon as possible.

To the many hundreds of friends who mailed in or posted those great comments on Ebay and here at home in Cooper Landing… a sincere thanks.  

Glad our products lived up to your expectations and beyond. We strive for constant improvement.

Several new changes to look forward too:

New website!

Working on new events schedule calendar.

New Online Store.

New Website Grand Re-Opening

New Product Promotions.

More Products based on your requests.

A New Jerky Line

More Thrills…

More Gold….

More Fun…

More Staff to help!!!

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