June 2, 2015

We left Gering, NE this morning at 9:00 am (we have been practicing getting up earlier). Continued to follow Highway 26 West to the junction of Highway 29 North. 

This part of Nebraska is hill country, with the occasional outcropping of rock, acre upon acre of pasture land, isolated farms and no store within 50 miles! To top that off...no cell service, with the exception of one cell tower in the middle that had about a 5 mile radius, then boom...gone again!!

Shortly after that marvelous cell tower we came upon the Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, our stop over point. In a nutshell, and to quote the brochure, "About 19-20 million years ago drought struck the western Nebraska plains. Deprived of food, hundreds of animals died around a few shallow water holes. Over time their skeletons were buried in the silt, fine sand, and volcanic ash carried by the wind and reworked by streams. An ancient waterhole with hundreds of fossilized skeletons is preserved today in the Niobrara River Valley at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument."  The fossil beds were discovered by the farmer who owned the land at the time, and he invited paleontologist from universities across the country to view his findings.

 

Tonight we are camped at BJ's Campground in Lusk, WY. We have once again dodged a very noisy thunderstorm! It looked like it was going to hit us straight on, but then veered south, giving us a little rain. 

$10,000 question for tonight...How do you know you have been driving through Mid West Farmland???? When there are hundreds of thousands of bugs plastered to the front of the rig!!