Neil Young Archives Volume 1

Yes, I have some catching up to do on the rest of the spring break trip... it'll come. But the Neil Young archives are coming! No seriously. They've been talked about for as long as I've been a fan of NY- 14 of my 30 years. Yep, most of you know me as a Neil Young nut... and I'm torn about this. Ten discs on CD, DVD or Blue Ray? I'm a poor-ass grad student. I can't afford a couple to a few hundred bucks (depending on the format). Much less a few hundred bucks for a Blue Ray player... and couple hundred bucks beyond that for the HD TV I don't own (hell, I don't even own a TV). But the the Blue Ray version offers SO much more. And there's 4 more volumes to come in the next few years. Am I gonna kick myself if I don't just start getting em' on Blue Ray? Student loans? Here's a link to a nice LA Weekly article.

http://www.laweekly.com/2009-04-30/music/box-of-dreams-decades-in-the-making-neil-young-39-s-archives-vol-1-is-unveiled/1

Spring Road Trip Day 4 - Greetings from Kearney, NE

Got up early and began our 60o mile trek east to view the sandhill crane migration stopover point near Kearney, NE. On the way, we took a short detour and checked out the Cheyenne train depot and museum.



Mark had a good time goofing around- definitely not acting his old age. Carefully read his survey response...



We got to Kearney in time to make it to a bridge over the Platte River and witness some spectacular sights. Tomorrow, we are in a blind on the river at daybreak...

Spring Road Trip Day 3 - Greetings from the Great Divide Basin, WY

Whew, I'm pooped... it was another full day. John and I got the tire fixed while Mark went to work for a few hours. While waiting for our $23.61 tire patch, we poked around downtown Rock Springs.



We picked up Mark and headed north into the Great Divide Basin. Our first stop: White Mountain petroglyphs. This site is held sacred by the Shoshone, Arapaho and Ute tribes. Apparently they were created 200-1000 years ago, depicting both pre- and post-European themes.




Just a bit further north we stopped at the Boar's Tusk, the neck of an ancient volcano, similar to Devil's Tower in NE Wyoming.



Stumbled across some sand dunes and onto an old sheepherding structure at Rock Cabin Springs, where I proceeded to acquire a migraine headache complete with fractured vision. Fun. At least it wasn't a brain hemorrhage. Water and some ibuprofen did the trick when we finally arrived at some semblance of civilization 5 hours later.




Our final stop of the day was at the Jonah natural gas fields. 33,000 acres and growing. The Bureau of Land Management (under Bush) allowed the wells to be drilled at double the advised density in prime sage grouse and antelope habitat, resulting in impacts that will last 100+ years.


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Spring Road Trip Day 2 - Greetings from Rock Springs, WY

Woke up early and hit the road by 8am. Snowy landscapes, lots of golden eagles in Idaho south of Pocatello.




A little further on down the road, we went stopped at Fossil Butte National Monument http://www.nps.gov/fobu/. An ancient lake bed has preserved plant, mammal, amphibian, reptile, and bird fossils in amazing abundance.

Another 100 miles and we arrived to a warm welcome from our friend Mark in Rock Springs, WY and hit the road (again) for a quick drive on the Pilot Butte Wild Horse Scenic Tour. This follows the windy rim of White Mountain for 13 miles. Wild horses were seen, flat tire ensued.

Spring Road Trip Day 1 - Greetings from Pocatello, ID

Man, life was pretty busy before I left. School, work, research was eating me alive. I should probably be working as I write this... but, spring break has held precedent. The plan was to meet up with my buddy John in Missoula, MT, drive down to Rock Springs, WY to meet up with our friend Mark, drive to Nebraska to observe the sandhill crane migration, and finally retrace our steps back. So, here's pictures and a bit of words about first two days.

Day 1:

I left the house at 4:50am to make by 6:00am flight.. Travel was seamless and arrived in Missoula by 11:30am. Went to pick up our rental car at Dollar Rent-a-Car, my former place of employment (for 4 years!). It was nice to see Joe and Jeff.. yakked for a while. Finally hit the road about 1:30.



It was nice to see Montana. I've been too-and-from enough over the years now that the landscape and landmarks are no longer shocking to see after a long absence. The weather was bright and sunny. We st0pped at Monida Pass on the Montana/Idaho border where it wasn't spring-like.



We continued south on I-15 until we hit Hell's Half Acre National Landmark between Idaho Falls and Pocatello, ID. Hell's Half Acre is a 3-4,000 year old lava field. Juniper and sagebrush have begun to recolonize the landscape here- a nice example of primary succession!



Rolled into Pocatello about 7:30pm. Had dinner at Portneuf Brewing Company... good beer and food. Listened to "interesting" folks in the hotel room next to us most of the night.

Hello, in there.

Content to come soon. Heading on a wide ranging exploration of the west and midwest. I'll keep ya' posted...