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Saved: February 24th 2016
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Camping in the city park
Our Rig with Scotts Bluff in the background. The Platte River is in front of the rig and at the back of the park is the zoo. Seriously! But no smell. Arrived at Scottsbluff in the middle of the pm and got set up, ran out to the store, got things out to wipe down the RV, and prepared to grill outside. Can you guess what happened? We got our first heavy rain since we left Sunshine RV Resort in Lake Placid, Fla. the middle of April. How about that? We have been commenting on how fortunate we have been with weather. We have now had a thunderstorm and a short rain --- which came just after we had wiped down the RV to remove dust. It lasted a whole half hour at the most with drizzle, rain, heavy rain, and then drizzle. Then it was gone!!!!! And out I went to grill! It was to rain all night but if it did we didn't notice. In the morning there was the sun once again and weather looked good. We planned our day, got our water bottles ready for hikes, and grabbed our raincoats (just in case), and took off for new sights. Our first destination was Carhenge (not Stonehenge) which is located near Alliance, Ne. Carhenge is a replica of Stonehenge, England's ancient alignment of stones that chart the phases of
Old School or church
Saw this along the way and it caught my attention. I wanted to explore but grass was to high & tough to reach it. the sun and the moon. Created from Vintage automobiles, the dimensions of Carhenge replicate Stonehenge. The cars are primarily from the 1950's and 1960's. They are planted trunk down and rise 15-17 feet. The cars are approximately 7 feet wide; the same size as the standing stones of Stonehenge. It was sort of weird and a little hard to follow since we didn't know a lot about the real Stonehenge. But we did enjoy our free tour and, after leaving, found ourselves thinking and talking about what we saw. They also had a few other car presentations, some by artists besides the one that did Carhenge. Located in a farm field it didn't present itself as much, but we were surprised at how much publicity it has had, and the large number of people that have come to see it.
From there we traveled back (after having lunch) to Scottsbluff where we went to see the Scottsbluff Nat'l Monument. From 1841 to 1866, 500,000 pioneers traveled the Oregon Trail, finding their way through the Mitchell Pass as a final gateway to the Rocky Mountains. Scotts Bluff looms over the historic Mitchell Pass and North Platte River Valley rising to
Carhenge
As mentioned it is a replica of the Stonehenge of England. Can you figure it out? about 6465 feet. You can drive up to the top, going thru three tunnels, and traveling 1.6 miles to the parking lot at the top. Or you can walk the 1.6 mile trail that winds around the bluff, finally reaching the top after quite a steep climb. As the weather was 99 degrees we decided to take a shuttle up and then walk down, that is, after walking 2 other trails at the top. So we got a good workout by walking about 2+ miles on a very hot day. Finishing up at the visitor's center was a good idea. We entered to a cool building and immediately went to see a movie on the area and the pioneers and their travels. We then explored the visitor center. Leaving, we felt that we had a new appreciation for the hardships our forefathers dealt with and the drive they must have had to go on under such trying times. It was now about 6 pm and time to head back to the RV for the evening-----ought to sleep well tonight.
We decided to go to the zoo which is right beside our rv park and is owned by the city.
For $2.00 ea we got to see this small zoo. Entering we had low expectations as it is in a smaller city, cost little to nothing to get in, and didn't appear to be much. We were surprised to find some animals/etc that we didn't either recognize or expect to find in such a small park. It was obvious that they didn't have a huge cash flow but volunteers help take care of the zoo and landscape. It got crowded by the time we left and families obviously brought the kids for several hours of fun --- seeing the animals, playing in the water playground and having a picnic. It was time well spent and we can say that it was clean and never did we notice an odor anywhere in the zoo. Now that is surprising! Just took a few photos.
We then decided to go to Chimney Rock to see where nearly half a million westbound emigrants and other travelers on the 2,000 mile Oregon trail, and the California Trails viewed this landmark in the early to mid 1800s. A few wrote letters and drawings describing their trip west, and a number climbed as high as they
Other car part formations
The fish one is called "Salmon Run" and the back one is obviously a dinosaur. could to scratch their names in the rock. (What they didn't know was that most of the names eroded in a short time as the rock was brule clay with interlayers of volcanic ash and Arikaree sandstone.) Today's estimate for the height of Chimney Rock is 325' from the base to the tip. The spire itself is 120'. This rock was a strong symbol for the westward settlers as it indicated that they had traveled 1/3 of the way or about 500 miles from Missouri. Only a thousand to go and they felt excitement and trepidation for they were headed toward the Rocky Mountains and an arduous trip. Remember that on a good day they may travel 15 miles and most of the time these settlers walked beside their wagons; they didn't ride as most people imagined. The other thing that we were reminded of was that Indian attacks were few and far between but for journalists it made for good print. (Sounds just like today, doesn't it?) Many travelers were lost along the trail to disease (especially cholera), while others found it simply beyond their capabilities and turned back. Then there were those who carelessly lost their lives by
Title "Fourd Seasons"
The colors are supposed to represent the different seasons of wheat. shooting themselves thru careless handling of their rifles and pistols. Those that had traveled to the west and then either returned or wrote back about their trip repeatedly told others what to take and to leave much of their personal treasures behind. One person even wrote that on his next trip he would take his wagon and team, and nothing more, for he could pick up anything he needed along the trail where others threw things overboard. This included food items as well as household items. Anything to lighten the load! We found new information in each place as we read the accounts of our ancestors.
As I reflect back on our trip I am continually amazed at the things we have found at each place we stop. We had no plans to find anything at Scotts Bluff, Casper, Cody, or many of the other stops. We knew we had to pull off the road after a period of time and simply looked for places we could stay while we planned for our intentional visits to well known areas. It is the little in between things that have come as a surprise and brought much fun to the trip
Covered Wagon
I'll bet you all got this one! as we discover our nation's history. What fun! What new experiences we are having! What joy it is as we look forward to what lies ahead. Stay tuned! We are off to Custer, SD.
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