Thursday, June 24, 2004
Aurora
I got hung up reading in the Central City Library, so I didn't leave until after 5 pm. I crossed the Platte River just south of town. If I hadn't already known that the Platte was near dry from the drought in Western Nebraska, I would have been disappointed; as it is, I could have waded across the three trickles. There were more ATV tracks than water. No trace of the Oregon or California wagon trails remain, this area is given over to farmland, and I saw from the Nebraska Highway map I carry that I had crossed the Mormon Trail; very near to where I slept outside Palmer Monday night. I made about 6 miles before it got too dark to see, and camped out again in a field. Today got increasingly cloudy, windy, and rainy, and yes, I got wet. I reached Aurora about 2 PM.
Coming up out of the Platte Valley, the plains are not quite perfectly flat, but close enough to it for plenty of corn and soybean fields. I saw a couple of wheat fields, as well, and a pasture with a few cows. Nothing spectacular, unless you are thrilled by agriculture.
As a sometime student of physics, I have found that textbooks are sprinkled with examples of high-speed photography taken by Harold Edgerton of MIT. I was delighted to learn that there is a science museum here dedicated to him and his work (Aurora was his hometown). One of the town's major summer festivals, A'ror'n days, started today: I may visit a few events, but it's not such a major event that I plan to stay long. I expect to stay the night here and leave for York, sometime tomorrow; a 23 mile or 2-day trip.
Coming up out of the Platte Valley, the plains are not quite perfectly flat, but close enough to it for plenty of corn and soybean fields. I saw a couple of wheat fields, as well, and a pasture with a few cows. Nothing spectacular, unless you are thrilled by agriculture.
As a sometime student of physics, I have found that textbooks are sprinkled with examples of high-speed photography taken by Harold Edgerton of MIT. I was delighted to learn that there is a science museum here dedicated to him and his work (Aurora was his hometown). One of the town's major summer festivals, A'ror'n days, started today: I may visit a few events, but it's not such a major event that I plan to stay long. I expect to stay the night here and leave for York, sometime tomorrow; a 23 mile or 2-day trip.
