Day 6--Nebraska City to Valentine

The prediction for rain today came true! It was drizzly, very windy, and cloudy almost all the way across Nebraska. In a way this was probably a good thing because we had quite a few hours of driving scheduled, and the rain kept us in the car much more than usual.

Dismal River

Western Kingbird

Meadowlark

By the time we got to the sand hills area, which is in the north central part of the state, the sky had lightened considerably. I pestered Smoky with questions about why these beautiful rolling hills in the middle of Nebraska were made of sand (and covered in grass). He finally said, "Well, because there used to be an ocean here!" I didn't have time to research this issue today, but I will. If I get a different answer, I'll post it.

The streams in this part of the country reminded me of the streams I remembered in Yellowstone--so lovely in a very different way than the streams back home. We stopped a few times on our way to Valentine, Nebraska, to look at the streams. Some, at other times of the year, are great stopovers for ducks and other birds. How I wish we could see that!

We pulled into Valentine about 6:30, tired from the long day of driving and hungry, but there was more to see, and the sun was shining. So we picked up some subway sandwiches and headed for the Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge, just a few miles outside Valentine. We had just a little over an hour until sunset, but that was a terrific hour! We saw a small herd of bison, including calves, a few prairie dogs in their little towns, a hawk (not sure what kind), several western kingbirds and a number of meadowlarks, one of which sat reasonably close to the car and sang for us.

My favorite one of all Smoky's photos from today is the moonrise over the wildlife refuge. Reluctantly we headed to the motel at sunset. The visit to the wildlife refuge was a terrific way to end the day.

Moonrise over Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge

--Shann