Blogs from Nebraska, United States, North America - page 5

This will be a relatively short post as our recent trip to Omaha was just a short one to visit the zoo. However, I’ll post plenty of photos which will probably show what we did better than I can describe it. As I mentioned, there was really only one reason that took us to Omaha – it’s zoo. It has a reputation for being the best in the world which is a massive call for a zoo that sits in pretty much in the middle of nowhere. However, we’d heard nothing but good stories about it, and it’s only just over two hours drive away so decided to head up for the weekend. We made the short drive up and checked into the hotel before ducking into Omaha to explore. The first thing that struck us ... read more

Day 5: Left the CG in Ogallala, NE just before 9 AM. Made a quick stop at Walmart for ice, some meds, and a replacement daylight running light for the Trailblazer. Headed west on US 26. Stopped first at Chimney Rock National Monument which has a very nice visitors center. Second stop was Scotts Bluff NE - - another nice visitors center. The bluff is quite spectacular when viewed from the visitors center. Both of these NE really emphasize what an ordeal the pioneers went through to open the west. They also clearly pointed out the impact on the native American Indians. Last visit was to Agate Fossil Bed NE about half way between Mitchell, NE and Harrison, NE (population 251). What a neat place Agate is! Really nice displays of some of the fossils (whole ... read more

Thursday, 11 June, 2015 Another trip begins. This year our granddaughter, Jenna, is ten and will be traveling with us. My cousins, Gena and Bob, arrived at our house yesterday afternoon. We were still trying to get the trailer loaded and it was a hot, sticky day for it. As we were finishing supper, Michael and Jamie came by with Jenna's bicycle, and stayed for a short visit. We all showered and headed for bed early. Thursday morning we were up early, had a hearty breakfast casserole, and finished packing the camper. David came by and brought us some of his beef jerky for the trip, and helped us hook up the camper to the truck. Kim brought Jenna and we got all her gear loaded before heading out, sweating like mules in the muggy morning ... read more

I can't tell you how many times I've driven underneath the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument in Kearney, Nebraska. It extends across I-80, so anyone who's driven through Nebraska has seen it. Yet I never stopped.... ...Until today! (Most of the photos of the monument and trail are posted at the bottom of this page.) I don't really know what to call the monument. A museum, perhaps? It's designed by Disney, and it's an audio tour of the migration west across the United States. Wherever you're standing in the monument, your headset picks up the proper channel for what you're looking at. So, you can move through the exhibits quickly or leisurely. It first discussed the first settlers who moved west in wagons on various trails, like the Oregon Trail and Mormon Trail. It talked ... read more

AUGUST 28, 2014 I stopped by Buffalo Bill’s ranch in North Platte this morning but it wasn’t open yet so all I got was a picture of the house. If I ever finally win the lottery I would like to build one just like it somewhere else. The gas station that I stopped at in North Platte had two kinds of gas; regular and super. Both were 87 octane but the regular was $3.499 and the super was $3.299. Over in Broken Bow I was able to run down the location of Great Grampa George Sylvester’s homestead and obtain a copy of the land patent and a plat map showing where it was. I called the present owners, but did not reach them so did not get access to the land. It was about 11.5 miles ... read more