Ashfall State Park

Part 2 of our Memorial Day Extravaganza was a visit to Ashfall State Historical Park, about 1/2 hour south of Niobrara. This is the coolest place in the complete middle of nowhere that has hundreds of excavated fossil skeletons still in place where they were found.

The Rhino Barn is the central hilight of the park. It's a large barn that was built over the excavation and lets visitors see how the bones are arranged. Each bone was left in place and the remaining ash was dug out down to the underlying sandstone that formed the original ground surface.

This area was a watering hole similar to those you see on National Geographic full of rhinos, camels, and deer. A gigantic volcano in southern Idaho erupted 12 million years ago and blanketed the area with 10-20 inches of ash. The watering hole filled in, animals came here seeking water, died, and were buried by more ash. There are unborn Rhinos still in the womb, big rhinos, baby rhinos, etc. The whole thing is very cool.

We got a special treat and got to meet Dr. Voorhies, the guy that runs the whole thing and has been here forever. He was busy digging out some bones and took a few minutes to talk geology with me and the boys. He made the mistake of giving each boy a handfull of volcanic ash to inspect - GP unloaded it from him upwind and gave him a facefull of ash. Sorry Dr. Vhoorhies!

Niobrara St. Park - Memorial Day Weekend '07

This weekend we hit the road and saw some parts of Nebraska we had never seen. We drove north to Niobrara State Park where the Niobrara and Missouri Rivers converge.

This is a panorama of the Missouri River taken from the South Dakota side. The boys were fired up to learn that we were in South Dakota. They have fond memories of our trip to the Black Hills last year.

JP scoped out an awsome campsite that was secluded, out of the wind, and overlooked the Niobrara. We were afraid that we would not be able to find a campsite on Memorial Day weekend, but there were plenty to be had. It's a little different than being around Chicago on a holiday weekend.

Our campsite sat on some bluffs 30 feet above the river. The wind from the east carried bugs over the river and wetlands and then up the bluffs. All day until dusk swarms of Martins and other fly-catchers flew around the campsite and kept the air free of bugs. Too bad they could not eat ticks. On the other hand, if they could eat ticks, that would mean that ticks could fly and that would be nearly as bad as if spiders and scorpions could fly.

We went for a short hike from the campground down to the river. On the way we came across a flag that Lewis & Clark raised.

At the bottom of the bluffs runs a rails-to-trails trail, complete with a bridge over the Niobrara.
Our campsite is in the trees about half-way between the cleared grassy area and the left side of the picture.
This is the view from our campsite. The Niobrara train trail bridge is in the foreground, and the highway bridge to South Dakota is visible in the distance. The main channel of the river ran under the bluffs we were on and we could hear the gurgle of the water - very relaxing.

The park was half short grass prarie and half wooded with a mix of hardwoods and red cedars. It had an out-west feel to it with the cedars and cool dry air.

After our hike, we returned to the campsite and cooked up some dinner. JP started finding ticks on everyone and from there it turned into the beginning of what felt like a horror movie. The boys had ticks, the dog had ticks, the tent had ticks, etc. Bug spray and frontline did not seem to offer any protection. We pulled 30 or so off the dog before bed, but were uneasy letting her in the tent knowing that she still had more in her fur. I went to bed an hour after JP and the kids and was pleased to find the dog sleeping on my pillow when I entered the tent.

Saturday we went for a horse trail ride around the park. The boys enjoyed the independence of being able to ride by themselves. The ride was only an hour, but we sure felt it when we dismounted and then spent 6 hours in the car.

NGPC Fishin' Day

May 19th was Nebraska's Game & Parks Commision's Fishin' Day where the game wardens come out and provide free fishing licenses, poles, & worms for the day to city folk that have never fished. We took advantage of the beautiful (but windy) day and hit Wagontrain lake for some exciting bluegill action.

The water was still high and murky from the rain we have been getting, but the little bluegills and sunfish were hungry and ready to feast on our wiggly worms.

Alex from next door came along and had a good time. The NGPC guys handed out some nice fish ID books and the boys had a good time pointing out to us that there are fish called "Suckers" for at least an hour.

The lake was ice free and the boys enjoyed getting their feet (and everything else) wet.

Cub Scout Promotions

This year's end-of-year cub scout Pack 15 picnic was double exciting - GP became the pack's first Tiger Cub for next year. CP earned his wolf badge and is now on his way to becoming a Bear. GP got his blue shirt and could not be more excited.

I cannot believe that CP is now wearing the blue neckerchief. When we started scouts only two years ago, he was such a little guy and the bear scouts seemed so mature. He has grown up since then and is now one of the (somewhat) mature kids. Next year at this time he will be getting his Webelos neckerchief.

We are looking forward to the annual "Fun with Son" campout, as we will all be able to attend.

Mothers' Day Weekend

As usual, Saturday morning rolled around and I woke up at 5 AM instead of sleeping in. I siezed the day and made it out to Stagecoach Lake for some sunrise fishing. The lake was a sheet of glass. The water was still churned up from the previous week's rains. I think the fish are overstuffed as a result of eating all the bugs that washed in the lake.

The Grammas drove out for the weekend and had a great time.

We had an extra e-fence collar for Daisy, the Grammas' dog. Whe figured out the whole fence thing in only two shocks and was able to roam free with Maggie. The two of them played and ran around with the kids all weekend.

We had the second non-windy day since we moved here two years ago so we treated the Grammas to an air show. The boys shot their rockets, flew a rubber-band balsa plane, and demonstrated their skills at flying the bungee launched RC glider.

Busy Weekend Part 2

Gramma & Grampa provided some babysitting for GP while we ran CP up the far north edge of Lincoln for a Cub Scout tennis outing at the Nebraska Tennis Center. All the scouts got a nice taste of tennis from the drill Sargent instructor that was able to keep all the boys in check.

The morning after another night of heavy rains, we drove around the neighborhood to check out the damage. The normally artificial rivers at Wilderness Ridge had turned into real rivers with waterfalls and rapids. Too bad we do not have a kayak.

GP rode around with Maggie & Gramma in the back seat.

This is the Big Blue river in Beatrice on the Monday following the big rains. It's normally 20' below the bridge and only a few inches deep most of the year. Shortly after I took this picture the city closed the bridge (highway 136).

The flood overran the city's sewage plant, so the town just dumped all their raw sewage into the river for a couple days. This underscores the point that rivers are not a good place to swim or drink from.

Busy Weekend Part 1

Gramma & Grampa stopped on their way back from Florida. I'm not sure how it works out that Lincoln lies on the line between Florida and Southern Utah, but I'm glad that it does and we were happy to see them. Grampa got a Husker sweatshirt for his birthday. The boys did a pirate theme for the cake to match the funny card they got him. The front of the card showed some pirates and said something about getting some pirate booty for your birthday. Inside when the card is opened, all the pirates dropped their drawers and gave grampa the full moon. Nothing could be funnier to two boys!

In keeping with their recent tradition, Gramma & Grampa brought a mess of bad weather with them. We got around 5" of rain in a day. All the creeks and rivers jumped out of their banks. Below is Salt Creek, a small creek near us that is normally 4 feet wide and only inches deep. Here where it passes under 14th stret at Wilderness Park, it's now 15 feet deep and over a hundred feet wide.

I have always wondered about the flood debris I've seen hanging way up in the trees. What sort of flood does it take to raise such a small creek 15 feet? Now I know.

During a break in the rain, we drove out to Yankee Hill Lake, which until this rainfall had been dry due to reconstruction. It's the closest of the Salt Creek lakes to us and I have been sad that it did not have water. Now it is full (from one storm) and just needs to grow some fish. Until then, it's a great place to take the boys to shoot BB guns.