Blogs from North Platte, Nebraska, United States, North America

I wasn't sure where I was going to stop when I started this day, but I decided on staying in Nebraska for a couple of reasons. First was the fatigue and work factor: yesterday was the least driving I had done on this trip, but being in the sun and in a College Football atmosphere for several hours takes its toll, not to mention the excitement of the game itself. The other factor is money. Hotels in Colorado (my next stop) are expensive! Denver, you would imagine; but 1.5 hours outside Denver and still twice what I'm paying here in North Platte, Nebraska. There's a magical line at the border called taxes and cost of living, I guess. I'll pass on paying for those things. My hotel in Kansas was certainly not the Ritz, but it ... read more

Our plan was to find a McDonald's or Burger King play place for dinner. We thought we'd let the kids get out of the car for a couple of hours before dressing them in their jammies and setting out on the road while they slept for part of the night. We checked out a few websites and decided to make our stop in North Platte, Nebraska. Unfortunately, the Burger King had their restaurant listed as having a play area when it didn't. It appeared the play area was turned into a conference room. We drove across the street to McDonald's but had no luck there. A friendly employee directed us to Centennial Park, a park just a couple blocks west on Leota Street. We played there for hours. Andrew chased Oliver around the open, grassy area, ... read more

Yes, literally in the footsteps - or wagon tracks as it were - of the America pioneers, expanding across the Great Plains and deserts to the valleys of the west, all in the name of Manifest Destiny. We were, naturally, doing things backwards, having started (both in terms of this trip and of life) in the Northwestern corner of the country and traversing eastward, relocating much of our stuff from Seattle back to Kentucky. "Hold on just a moment," you say. "Weren't you living in New York? And didn't you join Travelblog in the first place because you were making an epic cross-country move from Kentucky to Seattle?" How very astute of you, good reader. Yes. We were and we did. But life, just like a neatly planned itinerary, rarely goes as planned. If we're lucky, ... read more

We need to get out of Nebraska. It rained all night long and the campgrounds are saturated. We are setting our sights on McCook, Ne to Oakley, KS, then west to Colorado Springs. I have thoughts about how we will tackle the Rockies - mid state route or south state route - be we know we want daylight to see the sights. Interesting enough is the fact that 16 inches of snow fell in South Park Colorado. Though this is north of where we want to drive, it still puts an alert out there. Gary is now ungrappling the camper. We will be off shortly. Fred and Ethel have settled down a bit knowing that they would have to get their feet wet to enjoy some up close territory smelling. Til Later!... read more

Finally reached North Platte. Luckily there was a spot open at the Holiday RV Park. Got in, hooked up and supper ready in aboutn 20 minutes. Glad I cooked up some ground beef and froze it. The trip was non eventful until we were a few miles south of O'Neil, Nebraska. I guess the road washed out and a DOT employee had just set up a stop to turn people around seconds before we arrived. We had to back track and go a different route. When we got to O'Neil, we found several places were the water was over the road. This is the Elk Horn River. I have added a couple pictures. Then we headed south towards Broken Bow and found out a bridge was out just north of Taylor, a town we were travelin ... read more