Safety and More Adventures

Being Safe on the Road

Charlie and I want to thank you for all the comments and encouragement regarding this blog. It is great to see so many people enjoying it. We also want to let you know that we are delaying the posting by a few days just to be cautious and safe on the road. We are aware of bloggers that have had safety issues while traveling and telling their stories in a public forum and so we are hoping to avoid those types of issues in our travels. Note: Please forgive any present tense/past tense mistakes in my writing. lol Happy reading...and dreaming!

 

May 18 - Rested and Ready to GO!!

Had a great night’s sleep at Streeter Park in Aurora, Nebraska. It was so quiet and peaceful. Got up this morning and had breakfast and then did a clean-up of Lilah. One of the things I like about our Roadtrek being a small space is that you must stay on top of the clutter. “Use it and put it away” becomes the motto when traveling. So our clean-up took about 15 minutes. Gotta love that! It was nice also to move at our own pace instead of some external schedule. 

The Archway

We pulled out of Streeter Park about 10:30 am ready for the day’s adventures.  We stopped at The Archway Museum. If you have traveled I80 through this area, you will recognize this place. It spans the interstate and has a wild west fort appearance. We were met at the door by a host dressed in full out mountain man attire. Buckskins, floppy hat, walking stick. He had long white hair, long white beard and lots of wrinkles. You just knew you would hear some great stories if only you could sit with him around the campfire. 

The tour of the place takes you up and over the interstate. Your admission price gets you a set of headphones and it is a self-guided tour through the exhibits. We decided not to take the tour but instead cruise the gift shop and purchase a gift for our granddaughter. Outside there are replica structures, woven wire buffalo, and some buffalo statues. We take a few pictures and decide to move on.

 The Archway

We make another stop at Kearney for the now infamous bear spray. Our daughter will be glad to know that we have this – ya know, just in case!!

We ducked into Gothenburg to see the Pony Express station. The cabin, which was originally outside of town, was moved to the city park. It was a great little exhibit with many artifacts from the time period. The hostess was really knowledgeable and we enjoyed talking with her. The highlight was that you could send a postcard stamped with the Pony Express stamp. Of course, we couldn’t pass that up!! (Shhh, Tif don’t tell Amelia.) 

 The Pony Express Station

Next we set sail for Ogalala. Upon arriving and after a quick fuel stop, we are FINALLY off the interstate!!! Yay!! OMG, the scenery on Route 26 is amazing and the road is in great condition. Charlie says Illinois could learn a thing or two about road maintenance from Nebraska. 

Did I say mention cows?

We see thousands of cows happily grazing along the way. Well, I can only imagine that they are happy. They have these amazingly large and wide open pastures – oh, wait, maybe those are called “ranges” out here. These cows have it good! Rolling hills, lots of shade, babbling brooks…what cow wouldn’t be happy!! Oh wait, what is that big corral?? Oh no, the holding area for the “not-so-lucky” cows. Dang, this story took a switchback turn in a hurry and went crashing off the edge of the cliff!! Poor cows!! Well, at least they had a happy beginning!

Pioneers on the Move 
 

Route 26 runs along the Platt River and is part of the Oregon and Mormon Trails. We stop at several historic markers and read about the pioneers that once traveled here with the hopes of finding a better life in the West. We contemplated their struggles, fears, successes and joy. I got butterflies in my stomach thinking about the fact that at any one moment we could actually be crossing the exact spot that some pioneer had stepped on. How amazing!! There are places you can go where you can actually still see the ruts left by the wagon wheels. (We are too early in the season and they are closed.) How amazing!!

 Trail City Marker

What is that? 

Our next awe-inspiring vision comes in the form of Chimney Rock outside of Bayard, Oregon. What a strange looking rock formation!! It makes you wonder what the pioneers thought when they saw it! I think if it was me walking past it, I would have tripped many times because I would have been looking up at it and not watching where I was stepping. lol

Chimney Rock

Minatare Lake

We located the Minatare State Recreation Area on Minatare Lake and thought it sounded like a decent place to spend the night. It is north of Minatare about 7 miles on a county blacktop that seems to get narrower the closer you get to the lake. There are three camping areas; one of which is primitive. They have nice showers, electric hook-up and a dump station. The sites are level and paved. Most are reserved but we find one near the shower house and settle in. The cost was $20 for the site and $5 for a daily permit.

My only caution about the place is to look up before picking a site. There are many cottonwood trees surrounding each campsite. Can you tell I have a thing about “widow makers”?! I refuse to park directly under big hanging limbs. You know the kind that suddenly break and land on you as you sleep. Kinda freaks me out! lol We drove around the camping area twice to find just the right spot. My Charlie is a good guy for sure!!

Lake Minatare

We got another good night of sleep and wake up in the morning to rain! No matter, though, we are on the adventure of a lifetime…so we break camp and head off for Douglas, Wyoming and our first Boondockers Welcome experience!!

Here’s hoping for happy trails!

Charlie and Tammy