Sunday, July 3, 2011

Ionia Volcano

We crossed into Nebraska near Sioux City and set up camp at Ponca SP for the 4th of July weekend. It's a lovely park, full of families with small children, some of which established a dog walking service for campers. Oscar enjoyed that. Above, Wayne has hung the official rolling rally banner and is ready for the 4th of July. The other three Eggs are camped nearby.


Judy & Wayne stand at the very edge of a 200 ft cliff called the Ionia Volcano. On Aug 24, 1804 L&C described bluffs that appeared to be on fire "where no man could bear his hand in the earth at any depth." At that time, the river flowed up against the foot of the hill. It is believed that iron pyrite decomposition came in contact with water and the resulting heat ignited other combustible materials.

The Sioux City Public Museum has scaled replicas of a keel boat and pirouge like the ones used by Lewis & Clark. The museum recently moved from this cool old mansion into a modern facility right downtown.


The museum has an informative short movie about Sioux City's history. I found the Corn Palaces used to draw tourists to be a unique touch . . .

In Sioux City, this 100-foot obelisk, marks the final resting-place of Sergeant Charles Floyd, Jr., who was the only casualty during the long expedition. Sgt Floyd died from a ruptured appendix on Aug 20, 1804 and was buried on a nearby hill with full honors.

While we were out playing tourist, Oscar was out making new best friends. Here's his latest BFF, Mr. Buffalo.

To be continued . . .

2 comments:

Kimbopolo said...

That picture of Oscar is absolutely priceless!

Keep posting! What a hoot!

Gayle said...

I agree. He looks pretty cute.
The angle is favorable to that funny-looking head of his. :)

You're not missing anything here. It's suffocatingly miserably hot. Translation - it's HOT!!! Stay far, far away. But we miss you. We need to have dinner and hop in the pool afterwards. Having fun looking at your posts.