Day 15: Westward, Ho!

Well, we have had a bit of a mix-up on our publishing, so you may have received several days out of order this evening. They may also be duplicates.....I'd love to blame it on the thunder storms-my goodness we don't know what a thunder storm is in Northern CA!- but, it was actually operator-error: mine.

To summarize, we left Lincoln Nebraska early this morning under cloudy skies, cool temperatures, and a smattering of rain. I was excited about all the interesting sites I had read about along the route. Some of them panned out and some would have been better spent with a gin and tonic.

John got sleepy leaving Lincoln and relinquished his truck to me and then took a nap....Hee, Hee, Hee... I pointed the truck straight for Gothenburg with its pony express station and a sod-house museum. John woke too late to complain, and after all, I was driving. I really like these mid-western 75 hour per mile speed limits.

Gothenberg Nebraska is a beautiful little town; tree lined streets and lovely homes. And there in the middle of a public park is a Pony Express Way Station that was torn down with each bit of lumber numbered to reconstruct it exactly when it was moved from its original location. I can't remember the name of the civic organization that did this (Lions, Rotary Club?..) but they are to be applauded for saving this bit of our history and reassembling it with cement (more permanent than daubed mud) and having it open to the public. These way stations were ten miles apart-all that a fresh horse could be expected to run full out. The very informative gentleman in care of the way station told us that there were dozens of these that were torn down and burned for fire wood over the years-they were scattered everywhere over the map during the Pony Express's short life; one year before the transcontinental telegraph system put them out of business.

Next I prodded John into stopping at the Sod-Home Museum. This was not an original; as far as they know none of these have survived, but it was a sod home built with historically accurate construction methods. These dwellings are so uniquely primitive and beautiful in such an organic way. I had to buy the book ,of course, of the turn-of-the-century photographer,Soloman Butcher, who recorded the lives of these prarie pioneers. The photos are not original, but reprints from his original glass plate negatives. However, I was glad to know that they lined the walls of the sod homes with 3 or 4 coats of lime and lined the ceilings with muslin cloth to keep the little crawly things that live in the roots of the sod grasses at bay. Quite a surprise if you slept with your mouth open......

Then we were on to North Platte, best known for rail roads and Buffalo Bill Cody and his Wild West Show. William Cody had his Scouts Rest Ranch here in North Platte and there are several parks, museums, and best of all, tacky gift shops to commemorate his life. Cody started his young adult life as a Pony Express Rider and then went on to enlist in the army as a scout. Mostly, however, he was a master showman. Next door to our hotel is the Cody Fort. It is a combination kids playground, museum, and gift shop, that also houses a (I'm estimating here) 25 foot whittled miniature display of the Wild West Show that is slightly animated and runs every half hour. It took 12 years for this guy to whittle all the parts. I did not realize that elephants, East Indians, Gauchos, and various Asian groups, as well as at least three musical bands, were all part of this extraveganza, along with the sharpshooters ('Annie Oakley has always been a hero), bison, American Indians, and trick riders. It is easy to understand, however, when you visit the Scouts Rest Ranch. The barn is HUGE!

Next we went to the North Platte Historical Museum. Unfortunately, like so many we have visited, a jumble of objects and replicas. They did have an authentic Sears and Roebuck mail order home. I have always wondered how that worked. They also had a little display of the Canteen that served the WWII soldiers. Because North Platte is a railroad hub, the women of the community, along with their families, donated the food to serve about 2,000 soldiers a day, 7 days a week, homemade sandwiches, birthday cakes (about 36 a day), pastries, coffee, and farm fresh cold milk. All of this from about 10 or 15 mid-western "mothers" who took turns to be on duty at all times. Not the movie version of jitterbugging, quick romance, canteens, but a lovely idea to think that young boys going off to the front were always welcomed and treated as sons. It's too bad that this museum so indicriminately mixes the real with replicas. They should visit the Struhm Pioneer Family Museum in Grand Island-still one of my favorites this whole trip because of its dedication to authenticity as well as its beautiful, claen presentation.

Back at the motel,John, tired of all my side trips, left me alone to go shopping-with the Cody Fort with all of its wonderful tacky tourist items just across the parking lot! Silly man. Christmas stockings this year will have a definite Wester Movement theme to them.

Wewent to the Whiskey Creek Bar and Grille for dinner, also just across the parking lot. Unpretentious, decent food at a reasonable price, great old movie western posters, and bucket of peanuts to shell, eat, and throw the shells on the floor kind of place. An insteresting thing in the MidWest, you can always order a baked sweet potato instead of a baking potato on the side-sweet potatoes being so much better for you, I truly appreciate this. I'll close with a couple of old movie posters and a picture of Annie Oakley.
On to Colorado tomorrow....Where is the time going?

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