Friday, January 20, 2012

Geoclub trip...finally! - In the beginning there was a van...

Hi all!

So I'm finally starting to write about the Geoclub trip I took in May. I think it took this long just to process all the cool things I saw on the trip!

One of my favorite books, The Phantom Tollbooth, has a review on the back cover that starts with "Let me start by saying, this is the best book ever." Since the first time I read that book I have been impressed that someone publicly gave a book such an outstanding endorsement. The best book ever?!?! Wow! Well let me start my recollections of this trip by saying, after months of ruminating on the events of those two weeks, that this was the best trip ever. Hats off to Megan for her wonderful planning and improvising along the way!

Our first day we left the geology building at 6 am with our destination for the day being Lewis and Clark State Park, Iowa. We had several misadventures that day, beginning a mere three hours later at 9 am when we stopped in Kentucky for gas and gas station fare for those who hadn't brought breakfast. Everyone spills out of the big van, with Megan and myself being the last ones out. My "job" is to run over to the gas station to see if they take our Fleet 1 card that we had to use for the university vans. Upon returning, Megan whispers to me, "Sarah, I think I locked the keys in the van." Her suspicions were confirmed immediately by peering in through the van window. Yep, right there in the cupholder, the only set of van keys. As everyone hunkered down in the town's Chamber of Commerce building to stay out of the windy, unseasonably cold weather, we managed to call a local locksmith who was able to retrieve the keys for us. So with a slight delay, back on the road again!

This was taken when passing through Nashville, Illinois, if I remember right. It wasn't Nashville, TN, which was why we took the picture.


Strangely enough, we had a huge number of St. Louis fans in the car. Not sure what the hype is all about, but we did take this picture while driving by on the interstate.


There's not much geology above the ground driving through the Midwest. A lot of the geology of Indiana and surrounding locations is below the ground as caves. So not too much to see the first day aside from water towers and arches. However, we did encounter some "excitement" in Cameron, Missouri. In an attempt to catch up with the minivan, which had gained a considerable lead after our key excitement in Kentucky, we got a speeding ticket. However, not only did we get a speeding ticket, but all of us were asked to get out of the van and line up along the side of the road while the vehicle was drug-searched. All the dog found was my cinnamon-brown sugar mini-bagels. The process was long and drawn out, but at the end of the day we did find out, thanks to Megan, that the little camera in the cop car is not what they use to film "Cops." We were also informed by the cops that there are ticks in Missouri. Who knew?

The one piece of geology we did see that day were large loess deposits. Loess is very fine-grained sediment carried by wind that often forms steeply dipping mounds in previously glaciated terrain, hence the large loess mounds in the Midwest. Pictured below are the mounds we were able to see from the road.


We skirted Kansas City, so I didn't see it with my own eyes, but I'm sure it's plenty up-to-date! I have it on good authority from the minivan, which after the speeding ticket/drug bust had even MORE of a lead, that Omaha is pretty nice as well. Yet another place I didn't see with my own eyes.

We arrived at the state park very late that night and went straight to bed so we could get a fresh start in the morning. The morning started out quite exciting - as we were pulling out from our campsite someone spotted something magenta on the ground in the path of the van - it was Felicia's underwear. Great start to the trip: locking the keys in the car, speeding ticket, drug search, underwear in the road. Like I said, this was the best trip ever.

Got to go do real work, but I'll post Day 2 later tonight!

Happy trails!
Sarah

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