I’m moving about the country again. I spent some time in New York. It was good to see a different part of America but I’d be lying if I said my heart (at least where the U.S. is concerned) isn’t in the west. I’m in Grand Junction for a month and then at the beginning of January I’m headed north to Hill City South Dakota (Where my lovely girlfriend Erin will join me) to start a job at Black Hills Institute of Geological Research (BHI) where I’ll be working hopefully more in the field (though not in January) with fossils. For those who don’t know, BHI was responsible for finding and excavating the two largest and most complete T-Rex skeletons the world has ever known Stan and Sue (now at the Chicago Field Museum). I’m lucky to be working with them and hopefully I’ll be able to post some cool dinosaur blogs in the future.
The Black Hills is also home to Jewel Cave, longest cave in North America and I hope to do some cave exploring while I’m there too. My mom actually grew up just down the road from Herb and Jan Conn, two of the original explorers of Jewel, who lived in a small cave made into a house.
The Black Hills is of course also the heartland of the Sioux and has a town named after General Custer, famous for his violent death partly due to his own incompetence and partly due to native American military genius. The Sioux were the epitome of what people think of when Native Americans come to mind; a proud people of tipis and bison who quickly adopted horses and fought valiantly for their freedom.
There’s so much to explore and learn in the beautiful Black Hills and I hope to share the experience with you, the followers of my blog!
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