Spring Fever

With daytime highs reaching into the 80's, you can't blame us for succumbing to Spring Fever, since it is only March. St. Patrick's Day was beautiful and started out with North Platte's first annual St. Patrick's Day parade.
The Mister can trace his Scots-Irish heritage back to ancestors who fled from Scotland to Ireland following the 1715 rising, before emigrating to Pennsylvania later in the 18th century. He is proudly wearing his Maclaren clan tartan. Other Scotts-Irish surnames in his genealogy include Bailey, Knox, Cooney, O’Brien and MacDonald.

After that a trip to the river was definitely in order. All day we had toyed with actually getting IN the river and making it the first kayak trip of the year, but better sense prevailed and we settled for a scouting trip.

We were rewarded with three bald eagles just east of the Sarben bridge.
Yes, the water is going to be cold in mid-March even if the thermometer says 80 degrees.
Obviously a beaver has been hard at work, though why he would choose a tree so near the road isn't clear. Maybe it just tasted better than others.
Lots of fish, though they're only just carp.
Here's a picture of the North Platte River as it was on March 17, 2012.
And here's exactly the same stretch of river on June 11, 2011. What a difference less than a year makes. Last year tanking was tough because the water was too high, fast and dangerous. This year it may be tough because there isn't enough water. Thank goodness we have the optional kayaks.
To round out the trip we took the road west along the canal north of Sarben. Obviously some early pioneer spent a lot of time and effort building a stone house for themselves. Sad that it has fallen into disrepair.
A Union Pacific coal train crosses the North Platte river.

It was a beautiful end to a wonderful day.

Thanks for stopping by. The coffee is always on.