Field
Notes - Dispatch 36 – Rose Cottage– American Falls, Idaho, USA
Sunday,
December 29, 2017
Greetings Fellow Adventurers!
This afternoon the local cavalry troop used their freight wagons to
transport our safari equipment down to the railhead. The steam train
puffed into our small town right on time. (A branch line reached our
hamlet only this spring.) The men worked hard loading dozens of
wooden crates, filled with our scientific instruments and padded with
straw, into the boxcars as I supervised their work. It was
reassuring to hear the snap of the locks after the doors were rolled
shut. Finally, we are ready for our adventure.
Yes, this year we travel by rail going South, down out of good old
Idaho, through the Mormon country of Utah and then cross the
wasteland of the Nevada Mojave Desert to our base camp in the sands
of Palm Desert, California. There, for our sixth season, our
fieldwork will continue. Under that blistering desert sun, I am
sure, one day, we will discover and excavate fossilized dinosaur
eggs. And prove beyond doubt that cavemen possessed omelet
technology.
We will leave at first light in the morning. Or, more likely, around
tenish after I have a coffee and Danish. I am not one to risk my
health getting up early in the dark. I might trip over a cat. We
will spend our first night in the capital of the Utah territory, Salt
Lake City, and then the second night in the lonely, snow-encrusted,
mountain outpost of Cedar City, Utah. Next day, onward to our final
destination.
Barring derailments and Mormon train robbers, we will arrive at our
safari camp January 1. I understand the local tribes are preparing a
welcome feast and celebration for us. It will be good to taste bush
meat once again and see my faithful camel, Spitster.
This will be the last telegram you will receive from Scout and myself
until we reach our palm tree-lined oasis. I hope this missive finds
you and your tribe greeting the new year in good health and spirits.
Over and out for now.
