HMS Beangle

One of the things we decided to do early on when planning this adventure was to save the bulk of The Boy’s ashes so that we could release them at special places we find along the way. Cherish. Embrace. Let go. The past year and a half has been an exercise in living those words.

Jeff found a lovely flat rock while he was walking the Poudre River, looking for good spots to fish. He wanted it to be the first place. The water rushing down from the mountains is soothing and Big Horn Sheep scramble up and down the cliffs across from it. We thought he would have enjoyed that. I imagined him saying, “I could climb that.”

For the most part, we did a lot of nothing last weekend. And that’s what we needed. A lot of nothing. Rest, relaxation, sorting, bagging things up, and lazy time together. We went on a short, easy hike through Hewlett Gulch on Labor Day, but that was our big outing.

I found these Broad-leafed Sweet Peas along the trail and wondered if they were native or leftovers from the homestead that used to occupy the land. The only obvious reminders of that family’s time that we saw are the foundations of two buildings. I wonder what they were: a home? a cottage? a barn? an outbuilding? I’ll never know.

We started our days with a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs topped with wilted spinach — to “make it healthy” as Jeff said. Don’t tell our GP.

Nebraska looks like a Windows start screen. There are buttes and ravines out there too, but for the most part it looks like this.

I want to make this perfectly clear, Agate Fossil Beds National Monument doesn’t get enough love. I wish more people took the time to drive out and visit it. It’s an interesting place with friendly, hardworking, and informative staff. Too little staff, though, to be honest. When we arrived, one woman was nearly run off her feet trying to engage with visitors by explaining exhibits, answering questions, giving directions, turning on the intro film, and welcoming others as they arrived. After a while, another person arrived to work the desk and handle gift shop sales. A good reminder that budget and personnel cuts on paper are being felt for real in the field.

The man who homesteaded the Agate Fossil Beds property had a wonderful respect for and friendship with the local Native American tribes, and the National Monument has given a section of the visitor center space to documenting and explaining their close relationships. He championed their causes to Washington, DC and at Fort Robinson, fighting to have their treaties upheld and their way of life respected. They honored him and his family in numerous ways in return, most clearly in the thousands of pieces of minutely decorated clothing and moccasins they made for him and his family members. They’re stunning.

While walking the path up to the site’s twin buttes, we saw this adorable wild cucumber plant growing on a bridge crossing the wetlands. I looked it up later: It is poisonous and can cause burns. Look, don’t touch. Bummer.

As it was getting late, we decided to spend the night at a scenic overlook/truck stop. We had a quick dinner of shrimp and cocktail sauce (cause we’re fancy like that) and raspberries.

Our only neighbors were a semi-truck driver getting his required hours of rest and a random dumpster. Very different reasons for us all to be there, but we all enjoyed the same prairie sunset.

We woke to high winds and lots of low clouds, but the forecast said no rain. The clouds remained much of the day, but we never did get rain.

Something we’re having to learn is that there isn’t a lot of anything in Nebraska outside of the larger cities. We knew we had to get fuel sooner rather than later, so we stopped at the first gas station and were glad we did. We probably drove another 60 miles before coming across the next one. While I’m sure running out of gas on a narrow two-lane and extremely rural road would be an adventure, it’s one we hope to avoid.