New to this "gold thing"..., Not even a member of a club yet... just need pointed in the right dire Options

[ChuckD]

Let me apologize in advance for what is probably going to be a long-winded "testimonial".

Hello, Folks... from south Texas.
As of a month ago, I had zero interest in looking for gold. And being as up until that time, I had never watched a single episode of any of the "gold shows" on tv, I didn't even know that there was really enough gold in the continental US to bother looking for it. I've worked in refineries and in the oilfield for the vast majority of my working life. I am currently "retired". And BORED to tears.
Then, about a month ago, a single random comment by the landowner of a hunting lease that we hunt on in the Texas hill country changed everything. She stated that last year following a flood that she was down in the creek and she looked down and thought she had seen something glittering that looked like gold. Nobody really responded, and the conversation turned to "What's for breakfast?".
But I couldn't get the thought out of my head. So I'm on my phone later that day, researching the possibility of "gold in Texas". Well, I found out that although we may have a lot of "black gold" the yellow stuff is pretty scarce around here! But while researching, I came across a video of a guy in Colorado running a highbanker. Then another guy, panning. To put it mildly, I was intrigued... actually, I believe at that point in time I was INFECTED. Terminally. I found myself watching video after video of people prospecting and mining gold through various methods. In the last month, I have watched a minimum of 50 plus hours of YouTube videos and read countless pages of info on the subject of gold prospecting. I feel nosy, but I have been on multiple "gold club" forums, reading member's comments to one another. It's as if I've really gotten gold fever... and never even found a flake! I have since ordered and received three gold pans, a snuffer/sniffer? bottle, a magnifier, tweezers, a 1/2" classifier, built my own 1/4" classifier and headed back to the Texas hill country,filled up six buckets from various parts of the creek and panned through it. All to no avail... which is pretty much what I expected. And due to my inexperience, I probably would have missed any gold had there been any. Which leads me to today... I am currently writing this while sitting here at discount tire, getting new tires for my truck in preparation for a trip to Colorado. I have gathered up a dozen 5 gal buckets and lids from Firehouse Subs along with the other items I mentioned. I haven't purchased a sluice or anything else, because I want to talk to someone with some experience before I do anything else.
I am willing to join a club, but do not really know which one to join. A couple of them seem to have a considerable amount of internal drama. I just want to head to Colorado, find a place to pitch a tent by the side of a creek and spend a couple two or three weeks looking for some gold. I'm 52 years old, divorced with two children, both grown, currently in a relationship with a very sweet, understanding lady for ten years plus... she's still working but doesn't mind if I take a "leave of absence- she knows I'm going crazy here at home. I have an abundance of free time on my hands for the foreseeable future, and I am ready for a little adventure. I would head out right now, but I'm afraid I would find myself standing in a stream with no gold, bumping shoulders with tourists, or worse, on somebody else's claim, violating the law, or perhaps eaten by a bear.
I've camped and hunted my whole life... but here in south Texas, I'm at the top of the food chain- not so, in Colorado. I'm sure there's all kinds of things that I haven't taken into account as far as preparing for camping in Colorado. Kind of hard to admit for a person like myself who has always been very independent, at home in the woods, an experienced hunter... but I need a babysitter! Or a very understanding partner. I'm free and willing to work, ready to learn... and totally LOST.
I don't even know what's "do-able"..., so I don't know what questions to ask about this gold stuff. So I'll just throw this out there, and y'all can tell me if I'm nuts... Here's what I WISH for...
I want to head to Colorado, camp by a river or somewhere near a place where I can look for gold. I'm willing to buy a sluice or a small highbanker... I just need advice on exactly WHICH one, if either, to get. I'm willing to pay to camp if necessary. I'm willing to team up and share costs with someone. I'm not looking to get rich... But I also don't want to drive a thousand miles to Colorado and not at least LEARN something. Well, my truck's ready... so now I'm heading to Toyota to get an alignment.
Now I'm at Toyota...
I'm actually writing this in my "notes" on my phone, so I can copy and paste it to some club's forum later- I don't even know if I can post anything on a forum yet, unless I'm a member ...
Here's my email address...if anyone cares to contact me. Anyone who cares to email me, I can then give them my phone number so we can talk in person if they wish.
Again, sorry about writing an entire novel...
Cwdjr34@aol.com