Sunday, August 30 Scottsbluff, Nebraska to Sioux City, Iowa

It had been a long night of waking up to frequent train whistles. Why does the AAA campbook never mention that campgrounds are near railroad tracks?!? I woke up at 6:15 to rain drops on the tent and looked out to see ominous skies (déjà vu!). I woke the kids and we sprang into action. I must say I was impressed with how they all pitched in! We had everything taken down and loaded within 25 minutes…that’s pretty darn good for that huge tent and all our stuff!  We drove to the Scottsbluff National Monument.

and had breakfast at the picnic area ( I don't usually feed them donuts, really...it was an impulse buy since we hadn't been able to cook breakfast). It was a VERY cold morning…not a good one for having cereal outside, but they wrapped up in blankets and dealt with it.

We went to the museum at the visitor center and then drove to the top of the bluff (I don’t remember being able to do that when I was there when I was about 11).

The View Looking South

Looking Southwest

I could see Chimney Rock far in the distance, another Oregon Trail landmark.

View SE From the Top of Scotts Bluff

I was on the alert for Prairie Rattlesnakes…they make it sound like the place is infested with them!

The Oregon Trail Went Through This Gap

We left there and drove to Agate Fossil Beds National Monument. (You can see why we get our money’s worth out of our $80 annual parks pass that gets us into every national park, national monument, national historic site, etc.). I think we usually save at least several hundred dollars. They are a bargain!

Agate Fossil Beds is literally, and I am quoting the ranger, “the middle of nowhere, Nebraska”. The land, fossils and all, was donated by the family of James Cook, the rancher who owned the land and first discovered some interesting fossils there. Subsequent digs and studies by various institutions uncovered previously unknown mammal fossils and many other interesting things.

Original Fossil Discovery Site

Daemonilix Fossil

St. Patrick and Snake Sign

Area Where Daemonilix Fossils Are Found

This Shows the Burrow to the Side of the Daemonilix

One really interesting discovery was something called daemonilixes…these curvy things that are corkscrew shaped. The first man to discover them couldn’t figure out what they were and then 10 years later someone else discovered that they are actually fossilized burrows made by a type of prehistoric beaver. Some also have the nesting chambers off to the side. It was really interesting!

Ornery Logan

Ornery Logan giving St. Patrick a Ride

Coyote Scat

Jack's Bug

Fossilized Sand Dunes

Close-Up of Sand Dune Fossils

Bone Cabin

The fossils were fascinating but the man who owned the ranch had an entirely different part of his life that was fascinating... he was a very close friend of Chief Red Cloud, who was well known in the late 1800’s during the time of the Indian Wars.

When he and his people were put on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, they would get a pass every summer (a written document, I saw a copy) to leave the reservation and go stay at the ranch.

A Beautiful Place

Here, they could almost live in their old ways…they hunted and gathered, did their Sun Dance ceremonies, etc.

One of the Camp Areas Near the Ranch

Red Cloud and Cook had a very unique, special relationship. The visitor center has a shirt that Red Cloud gave to Cook that is normally on display, but due to a break-in they had many things off exhibit for renovation. I was disappointed, I really wanted to see it. However, I did discover one of Charlie Russell’s (one of my favorite artists) illustrated letters – it turns out he and Cook were very good friends! 

After leaving here we needed to put on a LOT of miles so we bypassed some other interesting things such as "Carhenge". And I have to say, NW Nebraska has some really beautiful spots…it looks a lot like the badlands/black hills in places. I wasn’t expecting that. We had sandwiches for lunch and McD’s in the car for dinner. I was channel-surfing on the radio and discovered the NPR show “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me!” and they were having a “best of” night. We all laughed until we cried…I had to literally slow way down at one point and wasn’t sure I would continue driving. It was really fun.  One thing they talked about was this:

"Frosty the Coal Man"   -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5DR1oyr4g8

We still didn’t make it to our hotel in Sioux City until 10:15 even though we made very few stops. I thought we were maybe seeing a few UFO’s at one point and was disappointed to find out they were just towers with lights on them.  :)