Prairie Agate Rock Shop, Crawford, Nebraska

As we travel, besides wildlife, we also keep an eye out for rock shops. So, when we passed one in Crawford, Nebraska I told Renita and of course we had to turn around and check it out. The door was open, and the proprietor was sitting in an easy chair enjoying the sunshine. Parking, we saw that the yard was full of the usual. Piles of rough rocks and rows of bins containing slabs.

Gary, the owner told us that he had lots of fossils, polished slabs, and high-quality rough inside. He told us of the titanothere skull his son had dug out and prepared and that it was enclosed in a glass case. It was a perfect two horned specimen and other large skulls were nearby. One case contained wooly mammoth teeth and teeth from other Pleistocene mammals.

All of his specimens had documentation that showed they had been legally collected and Gary showed an incredible knowledge, one of the most knowledgeable we have ever met. I asked him if he had any blue agate and he proudly told me all about the Nebraska State Gemstone, Nebraska Blue, Its found in the White River Formation which is the rock that that Crawford rests upon. As he told us about it he took out a UV flashlight and explained that much of the agate emits a strong green fluorescence.

We both decided we had to have some for specimens and for making jewelry. He handed us each our own uv light and then showed us piece after piece. Now not all the agate fluoresces only that which contains adamite. That mineral will then only fluoresces if it also contains some Uranium Oxide. Uranium is in almost all the petrified wood and fossil dinosaur bone out west. One storey goes that the first atom bomb partially was made from uranium collected from such fossilized wood. As he showed us piece after piece, we grabbed each one and he suggested we should go into his Ultra Violet Dark room where he had many specimens on display. All were for sale, and we left the room with more exquisite pieces. We now have so much Nebraska Blue that we probably have a lifetime supply. When we return to Wyoming next spring the first order of business will be to make a case full of cabochons for our summer shows! If you are ever in the town of Crawford, Nebraska be sure to stop in and enjoy the rocks and fossils! Clear skies, and of course rock on! Ps I am having trouble taking pictures of the green color as my uv light overpowers the green fluorescence with the strong visible purple that the light emits. Arrgh!

Back to Wyoming

It’s a long drive from Grand Isle to Jackson, Wyoming, about 1900 miles. The plan was to drive it in five days as we can no longer jump in the car and drive eight hundred miles in one day. So the first stage was from Grand Isle to Shreveport, LA. The main attraction in Shreveport was whole deep-fried catfish! Severa years ago, we stopped there, and I had the best catfish ever, (ones I did not cook)1 Getting a room we next drove across town. The catfish was good, but it was overcooked. I still ate the three whole catfish, (drawn and headless), and it reminded me of when we would go to the Waterloo Fish Market and order whole deep fried bullheads.

The next morning, we planned a long drive to Wichita, Ks. It was about five hundred and forty miles, and it was a brutal day. This time we ate at another fast-food restaurant and the food was ok, but typical fast food, mediocre/bland. Leg three was a shorter drive from Wichita, KS to Ogallala, NE. If you ever go there be sure to stop at the Petrified Wood Museum. It’s from the collection of two brothers and is filled with western petrified wood. They also made miniature stone houses, churches and other structures from pieces of petrified wood. Some were also music boxes. As we have gone to the museum on three previous trips we did not make a fourth visit.

Day four was from Ogallala to Casper, Wyoming. Before we reached Wyoming we passed through a small town and Renita noticed a Rock Shop! Of course we had to stop! Had lots of beautiful specimens but the ones we wanted were not for sale. As we searched through the shop I found a small case of Larimar! It was rough precut slabs. The time to buy something is when you first see it. I made an offer for the case with eight small pieces, and he jumped at my offer. Darn, I offered too much. So now when we get back to our place in Star Valley I need to set aside a day to turn the precut slabs into finished pieces. Then we will hopefully wrap them in sterling silver and sell enough to make some money.

The sale made their day and his wife yelled from the living room, buy more! Passing Chumney Rock in Nebraska, We cheered when we read the welcome to Wyoming sign. By this time, we were tired of fast food and bought two tv dinners. When we were first married, we ate them as a treat and they were just as good, much better and cheaper than food. Finally on day four we left Casper and drove to Jackson. We had heard that the grizzly bears were out and so we hoped to have a repeat of 2022 when we took pictures of grizzly 399 and her four sub adults, (she released them three weeks later).

From Star Valley to Yankton South Dakota

We finished the winterization of our fifth wheel and headed south, (kind of). The plan was to cross Togwotee Pass, heading first for a short visit with our friends Nancy and Bob. However, as we neared Moran Junction Renita saw on Google Maps, that there was a traffic jam along the Pilgram Creek Road. Probably a bear jam! Changing course we drove to Pilgram Creek to see rows of cars with many photographers having tripods out all set up.

They had seen a morning grizzly and were waiting for it to make another appearance. Finding a place to park, we saw there were bear management people present and that orange cones blocked the Pilgrim Creek Road. We waited for a couple of hours but the only thing we saw were more cars. Stalling for more time we ate our lunch, but we never saw any bears> we finally gave up and so we headed for the pass. Our goal for the first day was to reach Douglas but with our delay we only made it to Casper.

The next day we planned on driving over five hundred miles to reach our friend’s new residence in Yankton, South Dakota. Following Google Maps, we crossed into Nebraska and drove parallel to the South Dakota border. The road was named the Outlaw Trail, and it was a narrow and rough old road, in need of maintenance. It was the first time we have driven through the Sand Hills of Nebraska. Below the high weathered cliffs sand dunes were everywhere. The dunes are partially covered in vegetation which has anchored them in place. A small change in climate would cause the vegetation to disappear and the dunes would move again, which would be a disaster for the ranches in the dune fields.

You could see blowouts on some of the dune faces, white areas where the vegetation was striped and the underling sand was exposed. The land seems to be hovering on the edge of a knife. With climate change will the desert soon reappear?

Crossing into South Dakota we arrived at our friend’s new home. They had sold their house in Kansas, due to the high taxes on their house and because Kansas taxes pensions and Social Security. South Dakota does not have any income tax, (like Wyoming). Being welcomed with open arms we were glad to visit their new place and to rest for a few days before we headed south to our place in Texas! Clear skies ps The sand dunes are on the flat plains below the cliffs. IT is difficult to see them as they are very gradual slopes covered with the short grass prairie. In places you can see the sand peeking through and even places where lagre spots are bare of any vegetation.

Homeward Bound

It was finally time to head north. We had stayed for a full month longer than we usually do because our place in Wyoming was not yet open. The temps in south Texas heated up and the humidity made it more than we could stand so we spent most of the day indoors. The plan was to drive the seventeen hundred miles in four days, which is a huge mount of driving without breaks.

The first day on the road was a drive of four hundred plus miles to Sweet Water Texas. Once we got on the way, (we had a lot of prepare the fifth wheel for storage), it was ten thirty which meant that we would get to Sweet Water about six in the afternoon.

If you have never been to south Texas, the area we crossed was really flat. At least there were lots of scrub brush to break up the monotony and crossing several rivers. All of the rivers we crossed were low due to the drought that eastern and central Texas is currently undergoing. Gas was cheap and when we reached Sweet Water, we found a nice place to stay along with fast food restaurants nearby.

The second day was another drive of about the same length but this day we drove through some areas with buttes, and the area near the Canadian River was really quite pretty. It reminded us of some areas in southwest Wyoming.

This day we as we neared Oklahoma a warning light came on. We had never seen a warming light on this car and this one said that a tire was underinflated and needed to be checked. Renita even got a text message from Subaru!

We had just left Perryton, Texas and turning around we went to Perryton Tires, There the staff welcomed us and got our car in and after removing the tire and looking for a leak, put the tire on and sent us on our way free of charge. We offered to pay but the tire man thanked us and said no payment was necessary! If anyone ever sees them self in need of tires or service Perryton Tires is the place to go!

After spending the night in Garden City, Kansas we left on day three for another leg to Sidney, Nebraska. There were lots of detours and we got off route so bad that our gps stopped receiving data. We found a map of Kansas, in a small convenience store in Atwood, Kansas. We decided to take a longer route to get back on track as the road we had been on was narrow. It had rained most of the day and we dreaded going on such a road with no shoulders.

The highlight of the day was when we stopped at a small picnic area. There two American goldfinches flew nearby and landed in a small bush next to the car. They were brilliantly colored in their breeding plumage, (and puffed up from the cold temperatures as it was forty-five degrees Fahrenheit), but they flew away before we could get any pictures.

We reached Sidney, Nebraska and were shocked to see the gas price was fifty cents higher per gallon than the town that we had passed through forty miles earlier. It seemed like price gouging to the extreme which is pretty typical when you are in a town next to the interstate.

We left Sidney and drove across Wyoming, stopping for the night at the Little America on Interstate eighty. It was an easy drive, a little less than four hundred miles.  The mountains were covered with snow and it was so nice to see mountains!

Our rv park did not open till the next day and so we were only one hundred and fifty miles away. It was the first time we have stayed at Little America and the room was nice but dated. They do have two grills there and so we had our usual chicken and cheeseburgers. The highlight of our stay there were the two red breasted nuthatches that stopped to look at us before continuing their hunt for bugs.

The final day started with a short drive and we arrived at eleven am. The rest of the day was spent checking for damage, (no damage to our fifth wheel), and unpacking. It is amazing how much stuff we brought in our Subaru.

Clear skies

Running form the Snow

It seems like we cut it closer every year. With three more doctor’s appointments, getting the truck and fifth wheel ready, and of course a last fishing day all caused us delay. As we got ready to leave, a strong arctic cold front caught us and so we had to clean snow off the fifth wheel and truck. Luckily it warmed up enough to clear the roads as we hooked up and pulled out.

The first day we had to weatherize the Bighorn and so we didn’t leave until ten am. Driving further then we like to, we made it to Rawlins,Wyoming. The next day’s afternoon forecast was for forty mile an hour plus winds and a winter storm watch and so we left early, trying to make it over the Elk Mountain pass.

The crosswinds were strong but we made it through the pass and by the time we reached Laramie, the drive became easier. Still we drove to Cheyenne and then into Nebraska finally reaching Chappell. There we spent two nights waiting out more high wind warnings and taking  a break from the drive.

I had forgotten our computer power supply and so we drove fifty miles to Sidney, Nebraska. Pursing a power supply we returned home to discover that the power supply did not fit our Dell computer, even though it was labeled for Dells.

Still the next day we headed out. Its harvest time here and so we passed brown fields of sun flowers, corn, and lots of sorghum, all waiting for the combines and grain bins. At one point a truck pulled out of a field in front of another truck and I had to pull our rig onto the shoulder. The oncoming truck was able to stop, and so, thank God, all was well. My hat was off to the truck driver that was paying attention!

We spent the next night at the fairgrounds in Colby, Kansas and while we were there we exchanged the power supply for one that worked. It rained heavy that night and most of the next morning. We finally reached Dodge City and parked at a dry gravel pull though in a pricey rv park. The temperature today is nearly seventy and we are both glad we missed the snowstorm at Elk Mountain. Here we bought some more things we left in Wyoming and took another rest.

Tomorrow, should be an east day as we are only driving for three hours to Newton, Kansas. There we are going to purchase some rocks, go figure, and meet up with my fishing and teaching partner Bob. They sold their place in Rapid City and moved to eastern Kansas to be nearer his wife’s family.

Clear skies and Safe Travels

From Florida to Wyoming, Caught in a Wyoming Blizard

I look out the window and watch the snow as the thirty mile per hour winds blow it parallel to the ground. The fifth wheel shakes, even though our stabilizers are down, and of course the dog needs to go outside.

At least we are camped in a spot with electricity and water and that’s great as our solar panel system is covered with snow. We are here for at least two more days, welcome home to Wyoming!

It hardly seems possible that we were wading in the Gulf, with a hot Florida breeze blowing across the Island at Bunces Pass. Leaving Florida, we flew back to Houston where we picked up our truck. The next day we hooked up the fifth wheel and headed northwest across Texas.

Two driving days of three hundred miles each, found us in Amarillo where we took a break. We don’t drive the distances we once did and now drive two days before taking a two-night rest in a camping spot. Of course Amarillo has a rock shop, and we managed to buy some excellent bright green Wyoming jade.

From there we drove first to Seibert, Colorado and then to Cheyenne. We try to stay at Passport America discount parks as the participating parks offer a fifty percent discount. Renita suggested a bypass around Denver and while the road was not the best we avoided all the heavy traffic.

Two days of travel meant we would stay for two days in Cheyenne. There we celebrated Mother’s Day by eating out at a Red Lobster, (lol, we just can’t get enough seafood). A winter storm was approaching and so we left on Tuesday trying to beat the storm as we drove over the highest pass on Interstate 80, (The town of Buford is located there, and it is expected to receive twelve to twenty four inches of snow with sixty+ mph winds).

Lucky us, we had a strong west wind and so we didn’t have any danger of blowing over. Winds of over forty miles an hour plus make for dangerous driving in a high profile vehicle and we try to avoid driving when the wind reaches thirty. Wyoming does have a new online road conditions map and we safely made it to Rock Springs.

So we sit here and hopefully the storm will quickly pass over. The forecast is for temperatures next week that will reach the seventies. One can only hope? Clear skies

From York to Branson.

We left York with our fingers crossed and, hoping for clear skies and no more truck problems, headed for Keosauqua, Iowa. There Renita’s sister and brother were taking part in the Fall Festival. The campground was full when we arrived at Lacey Keosauqua Sate Park, but waiting patiently for people to leave, we found a spot with water and electricity. 

The park is such a beautiful spot and it always brings me into focus. There are few places as quiet and peaceful. Parking the rig we drove into Keosauqua and met Pam at their vender tables in the Firehouse. Roy was working at their artist coop in Bentonsport, talk about busy retired people.

Returning to the camper we watched as the campground emptied and the park returned to normal. The next day, driving to town we had to stop as a flock of turkeys blocked the road. A tom turkey paused to show off his beard and it was the longest beard I have ever seen.

That evening deer moved back into the campground and it was as it should be. We did spend the days visiting and of course sampling the pork tenderloins, of which Iowa is famous. Our favorite was at a place called Misty’s, but they were all good.

From Iowa we drove south to Lake of the Ozarks.. We are taking our time as we cross the country and using the, "2,2,2", rule we are enjoying our stops,(the rule is that you drive 200 miles, stop by two pm, and stay for two days).  The movie “Deep Water Horizon” was playing at the local theater. As we were camping at Grand Isle, Louisiana, when the rig exploded we needed to see the film, Suffice it to say that we both cried as we watched the films story as to how the disaster unfolded.

After the film was over Renita told me she had had the same image in her mind. That was of the crosses commemorating those lost. So I am reposting our feelings from 2013.

“We stopped to read the crosses, with the names of those lost during the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. Three years ago, almost to the day and we were here as the smoky clouds covered our camper at the state park. Gary told me we had passed the deadline to file a health claim and I told him I would probably never live long enough before BP would ever pay a cent,(right now the trial to place the blame has just begin and the judge will now determine who is/was responsible).”

Oh and the charges were dropped. Companies and people with money are rarely held responsible for their actions! Now we are sitting in Bronson, Mo and the plan is to head to Montgomery, Alabama before continuing to Florida and our usual stop in St Petersburg. Clear skies

The Nebraska Gem and Mineral Show and The Clayton Museum

From Ogallala we made a short drive pull to York, Nebraska. The reason for stopping there was that the Nebraska Gem and Mineral show was being held in Omaha. Normally we would try and find a closer park but there was a Nebraska Home football game in Lincoln and we didn’t want to fight the rv parks near the game.

So we made the drive to the rock show and the first booth we stopped at had a lot of beautiful stone. As we left almost everything in Wyoming, we had room for new rocks and we bought some. I was really looking for dinosaur bone and other materials for knife handles as we are adding those and letter openers to our store.

The next day we planned on driving to southern Iowa and so we got the rig ready to travel. Starting the truck, I put it into reverse and the truck started to move before jerking to a halt. Putting the truck into drive also caused a sudden lurch accompanied by a loud noise coming from the transmission. After a tow and followed by lengthy repairs, we now have a new, warrantied, remanufactured transmission.

Deciding to drive around a bit, before getting back on the road, we went to the Clayton Historical Collection housed in York College. It’s a private collection of Byzantine and Roman artifacts from 800 BC to about 300 AD.

Looking for art work we found lots of cool things including a carnelian studded sword sheath, partial piece, and a carnelian engraved ring. The stones were all formed in cabochon, like the shape of the stones we grind today. The ring was used for impressing seals. There were also displays of wax seals, ancient coins, and one case had a Roman trident and a fishhook.

The museum also contained ancient pottery including small oil lamps and a large amphora used for storing oil, wine, and other foods. I would be afraid to purchase any of these things now as you would really have to be on guard for modern forgeries.

So now we are halfway to our Keosauqua, Iowa. After visiting Renita's sister and husband, Pam and Roy, we will continue on to Florida. Our original plans were to go to North Carolina and then Florida but the hurricane has devastated the areas we were planning on visiting.

In fact, my brother’s wife texted us to let us know there was flooding and rescues being conducted in their city. She did say that they were okay and that they still had power. So we are adding extra prayers for our family, friends, and all the good people of the southeast coast. Clear skies.

Off to Florida, Heading East by Southeast 2016

Before we left Star Valley we had to winterize our Bighorn fifth wheel. Here the snows are deep and so many buy or build boxes for the roof of their fifth wheels. The purpose of this is for safety to prevent the person who shovels the roof from falling through one of the skylights.

Draining and bypassing the water heater, the next step was to run rv antifreeze through the waterlines. It’s really easy with our rig as we have an attached hose that one inserts into the gallon jug before running the faucets till they turn pink.

Finishing we hooked up to our new, (to us), rig and headed for Casper. There I had my last doctor appointment. As we neared Casper we got an email saying my appointment was in Riverton, but we continued to Casper, and camped at an rv park.

The next day we drove to Riverton and made the mistake of stopping at two of our favorite rock shops. Exchanging lots of perfectly good money, for rocks, we left happy as we had found some beautiful Wyoming jade, a new mine find called purple sage, (a purple muscovite mica), and some finished green jade knifes.

The doctor’s appointment was good, no change in my heart, and the next day we left for the long trip to Florida. Seventy-five miles down the road the low coolant light came on! Opening the hood, I saw that some hose had blown and we had dumped all of the trucks coolant.

A quick call too Good Sams and five hours later the tow truck showed up having traveled all the way from Casper. Luckily a dealership was in Wheatland and two hours later the problem was fixed. It was the same hose that had failed last year and the problem was the repair shop in Afton had used the wrong pressure hose, (I definitely intend to return next year to have a discussion with the service department).

Our next hop was to Ogalalla, Nebraska and then on to York. At the rest area we spotted a beautiful baby snake which we move to a safer place. It was coiled up under a bench and it soon would have been killed by a less understanding visitor. We are now parked here for two days as there is a Gem and Mineral show in Omaha where we plan to exchange more light weight money for rock ballast for our new rig. After all Lucy, (Renita), and I can never have too many rocks! Clear skies

The University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln Nebraska

We extended our stay here in York, Nebraska as a winter warning was issued for west of us. Here the forecast was for high wind and rain while up to eight inches of snow was supposed to fall in North Platte and Ogallala.
Luckily we are used to entertaining ourselves and so we decided to drive to Lincoln to visit the Nebraska State Museum at the University of Nebraska Morrell Hall. Its website said it had the most complete elephant fossil collection in the world.

After a short drive we actually found a parking place for our large truck. We kind of stuck out but what the heck surely the campus police will not write a ticket for visitors to the museum? In front of the place a huge Colombian Mammoth bronze cast sculpture demanded that we take a picture of it.

Entering we bought tickets and we climbed to the third floor to the mineral and rock exhibits. Lots of meteorites were on display along with many minerals we have in our collection. Still it was pretty cool to be able to study so many excellent specimens. The third floor also contained quite a few Jurassic specimens and dinosaur exhibits which always draw us in.

One exhibit was a huge dinosaur femur. It reminded me of the brontosaurus femur I had seen while doing my geology summer field work in Wyoming way back in 1973. That bone was still in situ, in place, and had just been discovered but not yet dug up.On the same floor a weapon display contained a beheading sword, a heavily jeweled Turkish flintlock pistol, and many native American atlalt points.

The next level was dominated by the elephant, mammoth, and mastodon skeletons. Many were of mastodons and mammoths we had never heard of. Mammoth teeth were in many of the displays and we marveled as we viewed  shoveler, four tuskers, and scooped mammoths. Of course there were the usual Woolly and Colombian mammoths.

Other displays showed different types of fossil rhinoceros, camels, extinct pronghorns, burrowing giant beaver fossil and casts. We both liked the giant armadillo fossil and we concentrated on studying the teeth as they are often found in the Peace River in Florida.

The lowest level had lots of exhibits of fossil fish, and one of my favorites a huge limestone slab made almost entirely of complete crinoid fossils. Called the lily of the sea they are actually an animal that was attached to the sea floor on a long pedestal, at the top of which the animal was crowned with multi armed segments that caught food as it flowed by.
The Museum really does have the best elephant mammoth, and mastadon displays we have seen, and for any fossil buff it ranks up there as one of the best we have visited. Now we can go back and look at our collection, adding to our stories we tell when people stop by our booths! Clear skies.

Catalpas, Harvest Time, and Reconnecting With Family

Leaving North Platte we and made a series of short drives. Along the way the corn and soybean harvest were in full swing and we passed many trucks carrying the harvest to the elevators. Crossing into Iowa we spent a night at a beautiful campground in Waukee, Iowa.

The private camp ground was dominated by tall Catalpa Trees and while I had seen them before, I had never seen so many! The trees seemed to take on an almost human form and some seemed to show their personalities in the gnarled and bent branches.

There were also apple and crab apple trees, all laden with unpicked fuirt. Perhaps the owners were waiting for the first frost After frosting the apples are imparted with a special flavor and are used to make a special brewed cider.

Our next stop was in Waterloo and Cedar Falls.  There we drove to the house where Renita grew up and it brought back memories, so many memories.

We stopped to pray at our parents graves and I was surprised to see that my folks headstone had been placed on the website One Billion Graves. I really think its a good service, this website provides and encourage you all to consider registering your families graves. I have so many Aunts and Uncles and if I could easily find their graves, I would try to visit them.

We next stopped at our Alma Matter and bought sports wear for the upcoming basketball season, "Go Panthers, (the University of Northern Iowa)"! Another task was to find the best pork tenderloin and we ate three monster sandwiches in four days.

The rest of the time was spent visiting family and we didn't have time to visit them all, (My parents were both farm kids and between the two of them had seventeen brothers and sisters, producing about ninety three first cousins). Still we reconnected with several families on my Dads side and were able to learn and discover what had been important in their lives.

Too soon it was time to head south to spend a few days with Renita's sister Pam and her husband Roy. They live in Keosauqua, a place filled with peace and Iowa's quiet beauty. That story is for another entry and so its time to sign off in this one. Clear skies.