JEFF'S EXCELLENT GALENA ADVENTURE, JUNE 22-25, 2006
I left Thursday morning for Denver to the International Cultic Studies Association conference. I decided to go on backroads through Nebraska as a new way to travel. I saw turkey, a coyote, deer, and a hawk. First I saw the hawk flying over a farm. So I stopped and saw a big nest in the cottonwood tree right by the road. Then I saw the hawk coming toward the nest, so I took a photo
Just as I was snapping the photo I saw the little bird jump in. It must have been in the tree because it came out of nowhere. The hawk got to her nest, then flew over to a telephone pole and seemed to sulk over the nasty neighbor.
I went to the Chimney Rock outcropping after looking through the Bayback Museum just north of there. Then I went by the Courthouse and Jail rock formations, which are about 15 miles from Chimney Rock but of the same formation. You can climb on these, so I looked at one layer that is ash. It's so flimsy that I wonder how long this formation will last, since that layer just crumbles in your hand. When I got down I saw a turtle, so I went to take it's photo. About a 4-foot long snake was right next to it, which I hadn't seen. Fortunately, it wasn't a rattler
I don't think it's a poisonous snake. There was another one about 5 feet long stretching itself out on the road when I went by. I tried to avoid it but I think I ran over a bit of his tail. I went back to see, but it was gone.
The conference was pretty good. I got roped into videotaping some of the sessions, but they were the ones I wanted to go to anyway. Cathy Norman, Scientology head of the Austin Texas org, was there, whom I met. But then I never saw her again so didn't have a conversation. I saw some other friends and met some new ones. The sessions were great, including one on Aum Shinrikyo by the attorney who helps ex-members. Saturday I went across the street for dinner. Just as I was about finishing, a terrific rain storm started. It hailed up to dime-sized hail as well. The TV news later said it rained 1" in one hour. One of the trees at the hotel blew over.
I went back to S Dak. via highway 287, which is slow but was at least not as boring as the interstate. I went by the big coal mine in Wyoming again and got a better photo of the huge shovel they use at the strip mine. There was an antelope mom there with 2 kids, but I was too slow to get their photo.
So I got home Sunday about 6pm and decided to come to the cabins first before going to get my friend at the airport. But he had left a message that he was delayed until Monday anyhow, so taht worked out.