Poorly-planned roadtrip takes DNers to Ashfall

Genesis

Many eons ago, great beasts walked this land.

Beasts with horns, beasts with fangs, swift beasts and ferocious beasts stood where grass, corn and cattle stand today. These beasts ruled this land for millions of years.

Then, the world ended.

Half a continent away, there was a calm. Then there was fire. The Earth split open and unleashed a hellstorm of flame, rock, ash and death. Little survived this demonstration of Earth's unforgiving elemental fury.

This land was no exception.

The ash from the explosion rose high into the sky and traveled many miles until it eventually rained down on this land. For weeks, there was only ash. The ash choked the life out of the beasts. They knew that death was upon them, so they gathered together one final time. Death's icy hand slowly picked them from the realm of the living, one by one.

Then there was silence.

Then there was rebirth.

Impetus

The above legend illustrates a life-cycle that has played itself out on this planet many times over, millions of years before humanity had even begun its evolutionary journey. It's a shamanistic, Biblically epic story, but this story isn't about great beasts or extinction-level geologic events.

This story is about road trips.

Cuspis

Summer is quickly coming to an end. Soon, classes, homework and a job will occupy all of your time once again. Oh, and sorry that you didn't ever find the time to go anywhere this summer, because it's too late now.

Actually it isn't.

The state of Nebraska is full of pleasant day trips and interesting attractions.

You are doubtless wondering why a story going in this direction began with such an epic tale. Well, it's all true, and the story comes to life right here in Nebraska.

Time for another story.

Vacuus Cuspis

Four people set out on a road trip, all of them friends and coworkers. It was noon as they piled into the car. They gassed up and got some snacks and then drove out into the middle of nowhere. They were on their way to the Ashfall Fossil Bed, a site of almost poetic death.

As they drove, they saw nothing.

As they continued to drive, they continued to see nothing.

Up and over they drove, to north/central Nebraska. Nothing surrounded them.

Finally, after switching highways a dozen times and dealing with miles and miles of construction-congested roads, they found it.

Ashfall.

A modest wooden sign was the only indication they had arrived. From the highway there was nothing but windbreaks on the left and soybeans on the right. After a few miles on the indicated road, they finally saw what they came to see.

What they came to see was a mid-sized steel and aluminum building in the middle of nowhere, but first there were financial matters to tend to. They paid the nice lady at the welcome center and began to walk toward the metal mausoleum.

On the ground next to the sidewalk there was a sign that read "12 million years ago." Next to that sign was another that said "every step you take is approximately 30,000 years on this timeline." More signs dotted the sidewalk's edge going toward the building.

As the four walked, the mindset of being told that one is traveling further back in time than human civilization has existed with each step had an uncanny effect. The silence of the open plains and the lack of any other person in the area only intensified the effect.

Finally, they arrived at the building.

As soon as they walked through the doors, another strange sensation took hold.

The building was simply built over an excavated section of a hill, and the hill was full of ash. Under eons of ash, death dwelt.

The air was as still as the bones that jutted from the ash. Death was in this place. A mass graveyard of giant, pre-historic beasts laid before the four. They gazed in amazement.

Once their eyes were full, they left, for they had seen what they came to see.

They stopped at a house that had been remade into a restaurant, as remote and removed as Ashfall. The food was good.

They drove home.

Processus

Why do I tell you this story? To show you what can be done with a day and about 3 minutes of planning.

It is not too late to do something and go somewhere interesting. You still have time.

Our trip to Ashfall was poorly planned, terribly executed and highly taxing, yet we all had a blast. The camaraderie of a long drive to nowhere can be just as fulfilling as a day at Cedar Point. There are just a few things you need to remember.

First, music can make seven hours of driving fly by in four. Make mixtapes (CDs are fine), and play them as you go. Don't let one person hog the radio or the iPod, this makes the drive hell. Let everyone have a turn at the CD player. And make sure you make mixes that everyone will enjoy.

Second, snacks are essential. I don't think I have to go over this any further. Nothing ruins a potentially good time like nagging hunger and no gas stations or restaurants for miles.

Finally, directions and expectations. Know exactly where you're going and how long it will take you to get there. We messed this up real bad and almost had a bad time. Had we done a better job, we would have had more than 45 minutes to spend looking at the bones.

Remuneror

There are worthwhile locations all over Nebraska. It's never too late to take a trip.

Ashfall was a worthy location, no matter how complicated the trip became.

"You have to have an interest in history, paleontology, fossils," said Park Assistant Diane Ober. "Some are surprised by what they find, though. No one goes away dissapointed."

Count us among the latter.