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Area 51 and beyond:
We arrived back at the Little A'Le'Inn around 5am and promptly fell asleep. When we awoke we decided to go look for fossils in the surrounding areas. Bob had talked to the owner of the Little A'Le'Inn, a man by the name of Joe Travis. Joe told us to head north of Rachel for about twenty miles, that we might find something out that way. We never found any fossils, but we did find an old abandoned mine half way up the side of a small mountain. The view from where we were was spectacular. Then, clouds started to move in. At first it was a gentle rain, then it became violent. Hail started to fall and lightening was crashing all around us. We decided it was time to leave. If we had waited any longer we may not have been able to get off the mountain. The rain was washing out the road in certain areas. Luckily, we put the Blazer into 4-wheel drive and were able to escape without harm. We returned to Rachel and stopped at the Area 51 trailer. While there we gave the new frequency to Joerg and made plans to follow him out in the desert that night, but bad storms kept any of us from going out. |
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The next morning we had to leave Rachel and the base behind. We were headed for Idaho for a few days of fishing, panning for gold, and camping. Idaho was definitely a change of pace. We saw trees and grass again! We ended up somewhere in Idaho looking for a place called Elk City. The roads to Elk City are gravel ones, and the Blazer was soon caked with dust. Needless to say, these are rough roads that go up and down mountains. If you would happen to wreck and go off the road, chances are high that no one would ever find you. It was getting late and we were no where near Elk City. Yes, we were lost. That's when we saw the Magruder Massacre sign. How pleasant. We ended up camping somewhere in the Bitterroot National Forest for a few days. Panning for gold in the Idaho stream was interesting. I found something that may be gold, or at the very least looks like gold. They also say Bigfoot lives up in that area somewhere, but we did not see him. |
We're lost, it's dark, and here's this sign... |
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After a few days of camping in Idaho we began the long journey home. We went through Montana, then into Wyoming. While in Wyoming we took some time out to see the Devils Tower. Yes, the same Devils Tower featured in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. And what was even more amazing were the people rock climbing on the side of it. I took a few pictures of the tower, then we were on our way again. We hit part of the Bad Lands in South Dakota and gambled at a few casino's in Deadwood. Deadwood still has the wild west feel to it, and we lost about 5 bucks there. We aren't good gamblers apparently. Also, we had planned on doing some panning for gold in South Dakota, but most of the streams had dried up. Then we tried looking for fossils in the dry streambeds, but found nothing. On our way back we also briefly stopped at Sturgis. If you don't know, Sturgis is where all the bikers go for a big rally of sorts every year. As we neared the Missouri River, it began to get very humid again. Soon we were driving over the aforementioned river when I pointed out to Bob that it was the longest river in the USA. He argued with me, saying the longest river was the Mississippi. He ended the argument by saying: "I was right nine years ago and I'm still right now. Don't try to argue with me, I'm a school teacher!" |
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