Fishberry Campground, Valentine, Nebraska
When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, “She is really your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” . . . And Isaac responds just as his father did, and Abimelech chastises him just as his father did Abraham . . . So Abimelech gave orders to all the people: “Anyone who molests this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.” ~ Genesis 26:8-11 Personally, I find it pretty incredible that a Philistine king would make such a statement. It would seem that he has more of a moral compass than Isaac does. And isn’t that how it sometimes is in the world? There are times when non-Christians behave more Christ-like than those who call themselves Christians. Shame on us! And shame on Isaac.
We took it easy today. A late start to our day, a stop at the Visitor Center to talk about things to do in and around Valentine, and making preparations to do those things. Plus a stop at the Wilderness Area just outside of town.
The woman at the VC was extremely knowledgeable and helpful. That’s always a plus! Not every place we stop at is like that, and you have to wonder – Do they not know anything, or are they just unfriendly?
We came away with maps and information to plan a river trip (which will be tomorrow, because of the holiday), a general knowledge of the area, and also a small bit of information on how to spend our July 4th evening.
After saying farewell, we walked over to the National Park Service Visitor Center, where we spoke to a wonderful Ranger, and she started a movie for us about the Niobrara National Scenic River that runs through Nebraska.
The entire river is 568 miles long. The National Park part encompasses 76 miles of it.
In 1991, Congress set aside 76 miles for preservation under the management of the National Park Service with assistance from the local Niobrara Council. Several “outstandingly remarkable values” have been designated to be protected along the Niobrara National Scenic River, including: Fish and Wildlife, Scenery, Fossil Resources, Geology, and Recreation. The river was designated by Backpacker magazine as one of the 10 best rivers for canoeing in the United States. ~ Wikipedia
After the movie, we drove over to see the launch area we want to use tomorrow in order to check it out and make sure of where we’re planning on starting from. It’s good we did, because there were several launches to choose from. Looks like it’ll be a splendid day tomorrow!
Next was a drive to the National Wildlife Refuge. There wasn’t a lot there, and the Visitor Center was closed (we’re thinking because they have the one in town), so we just looked at their map and drove around checking out the sights.
Look at how many are up in North Dakota!
Most of the others seem to be congregated along the oceans, and the Mississippi River areas.
One of over 200 along the length of the river.
It’s all pretty shallow, but wide, and deep enough for tubing and paddling.
No motorboats! Yay!!
Smelled like it too!
And apparently there’s bugs, because the swallows seemed to love this area. : )
Groups of people (in any number) get together
and the companies lash the individual tubes together and off they go!
There’s supposed to be a herd of 300-350 buffalo within it’s confines, as well as some elk, but we didn’t see a single head. Not even from the elevated overlook using binoculars. ☹
Look at that spectacular view!!
Back at home, we spent a good bit of time researching, finally settled on an outfitter (Brewer’s) and went to visit them to schedule a time for tomorrow. We thought we were going to have to use their equipment, but in a grand God-inspired moment, Blaine asked about us using our own kayak and paying them to shuttle us. She said “Yes”! It cost us almost as much as renting their equipment, but it’ll be worth it for the comfort factor. The trip we chose takes 5.5 hours, and the thought of doing that in their canoe, just sounded extremely uncomfortable for people our age. 😊 The fee also included all our landing and Park entrance fees.
Being as how today is the first day of the month, we turned on the TV to check out the offering Dish has for the month. It’s called Neon Springs and features a lot of hot air balloons, red rocks that look like Sedona Arizona, a tiny “neon” town . . . .
You can sometimes hear the “whoosh” of the hot air filling the balloons. 
At nighttime, you can see (and hear) the flame shooting up into the balloon
And a spaceship. 😊
