Day 11 – Ft Kearny NE to North Platte NE – 100 miles across NE

We took it slow this morning, and finally left Ft Kearny at 11. About 50 miles out, we detoured back on US 30 to the Plum Creek Trail Derailment monument. Here some southern Cheyenne Indians destroyed some track causing a hand car and train to derail. Several railroad men were killed, and one man survived a scalping by playing dead. Then we were back on the freeway to North Platte.

We checked in to the Holiday RV Park in North Platte. We got a really pretty, large, tree shaded site. As we were setting up, a retired couple came by to chat. They are from Tennessee and are going to the Family Motor Coaching Rally in WA just like we are.

About 2:30 we went to the Lincoln County Museum. I wanted to see the exhibit they had about the North Platte Canteen. The museum had lot of interesting items, but I was focused on the canteen. They had a long – maybe 30 minute video about the canteen with lots of interviews. They also had some interesting exhibits about the canteen. I haven’t finished the book by Bob Greene “Once Upon a Town”, but it is truly an inspiring story. The photo is in the museum and shows some of the millions of servicemen that were served food, drinks, and hospitality from Dec 1941 to April 19, 1946 at the North Platte Canteen.

From there we went to the Golden Spike Tower. This is an 8 story tower with an enclosed air-conditioned observation floor on top with a magnificent view of the Union Pacific’s Bailey Yard. This is supposedly one of the world’s largest railroad yards, and it was awesome. There was a volunteer/retired railroader on duty who delightfully answered questions from everyone. I learned about humping. The yard has two large dirt mounds with tracks. Engines push cars to the top of the hump and over they go to join up on the right track to join a train. I got some wonderful photos which I will post on Flickr soon. After most everyone had left, we chatted with the volunteer. I asked him about accidents, and he said that he, unfortunately, had his fair share including two suicides. How dreadful. But it was a delightful hour spent watching a massive amount of trains being hooked up, passing through, engines being repaired.

From there we went to downtown North Platte to see the North Platte Canteen memorial. The old depot was torn down, and all that remains is this memorial. We returned to the RV, cleanup up a bit and then drove a short distance to Penny’s Diner for dinner. We are now doing laundry.

Day 10 – Kearney NE

It was a hot but pleasant day in Kearney. We started out at 9:45 and went down the road to Ft Kearney. It is a pretty park, with a visitors center. We watched a 20 minute film about the western expansion that was a little disjointed. We wandered through a few exhibits they had, and then we headed outside to a blacksmith shop. Bill went on to look at more exhibits while I stayed in the building to watch the barn swallows. They were flying through the blacksmith barn like greased lightning.

From there we went into town to the post office so I could mail my niece’s birthday present. Thank god for internet directions. Then we went to the Rails and Trails Museum. We got on the beginning of a guided tour with a grandmother and her two grandchildren. An old codger led the five of us through an old steam engine, some out buildings that have been moved to the site (boarding house, church, school, log cabin). He was slow and difficult to hear, but there was a lot of neat stuff in the buildings. It is sad to think that things I am personally acquainted with that are now considered archives! It was hot, and none of the buildings were air-conditioned, but we made it through an hour’s tour.

Then it was time for a taste of Nebraska. We had read about a fast food restaurant called Runza that serves runza sandwiches. These are fresh hot white bread rectangular buns filled with ground meat, cabbage, and onions. I got the one with cheese on it, and Bill got a swiss and mushroom one. We brought them back to the RV, and they were really quite tasty.

We sat out under a tree for a while, and it wasn’t too bad in the shade. We both got some naps in. And then we had the final treat of the day. Bill had found a Thai restaurant on Yelp on his phone called Wild Rice. It was just a little nothing building on a side street in Kearney, and we had a wonderful dinner. When the summer rolls arrived, the garnish was a work of art with carrots and lord knows what else. My Tom Khar soup was to die for. And the Pad Thai was good as was Bill’s pineapple fried rice. The garnishes on these plates were equally beautiful. I asked the waiter who had done them, and he said the female owner, and he would relay my appreciation of them. When we went to check out, the older female owner was by the cash register, and the waiter pointed her out. I conveyed my awe at her work, and she took me back to the kitchen to show me a carrot rose she had just done. I took photos, and then she showed me her brother in the back who was carving a watermelon. It was incredible. He said he was just learning, but it sure didn’t look like it. I took a photo of him and his work. It was the first time I had been invited back in a kitchen. We had been the last diners, so they did have the time.

Day 9 – Travel day – Gretna NE to Kearney NE – 190 miles through NE

It was a cool morning for us to pack up and leave. We got away from the campground at 9:30, stopped at Flying J for gas, and then were on the road at 10. We took US 30 instead of Interstate 80 because Bill wanted to follow the Union Pacific railroad. So it was trains and cornfields, small towns and silos.

In Columbus we passed the Higgins Memorial, built to honor the man who developed the Higgins boat – a troop landing craft used in WW II. We weren’t sure we could get the RV in the park where it was, so we just looked and I got a photo as we drove by slowly.

We eventually got back on I80 so we could drive under the Great Platte River Road Archway. Jack Nicholson went there in the movie “About Schmidt”. Since we couldn’t check in to the campground until 4, we went to the Arch. I thought it was going to be amazingly tacky, and I was pleasantly surprised. It was one of the most well-done museums we have seen this trip. It focuses on all the different people that made their way west. The information was quite concise but entertaining. It really was fun, and I got lots of photos. When we entered, we were met by a dude in old-time cowboy gear. We talked about the movie, and he said he was working there when it filmed there. He said Jack Nicholson was quite gracious.

When we left there, it was time to drive the 6 miles to Ft Kearny State Rec Area where we found our really lovely campsite. We are on a little lake with lots of trees and a huge area all to ourselves. There is only electricity in the campground, so we didn’t have to hook up water or the sewer. A tree was in the way of the satellite so we got the portable dish out and hooked that up. We had never used it before, but we got it set up and it connected quite easily. We sat out under the trees and enjoyed the fairly pleasant late afternoon.

We didn’t feel like cooking, so we went into town to Grandpa’s Steaks - a local steakhouse. It was a real contradiction – very expensive, lovely décor, but things like the faded napkins, butter in the little plastic containers, the worst bearnaise sauce ever, soggy garlic toast and dry biscuits really detracted from a good steak. Strange little place.

Tomorrow we don’t have a lot of sight-seeing to do, mainly just Ft Kearny. It should be a fun relaxing day.

Day 8 – Omaha NE and Council Bluffs IA

It was a pleasant day in Gretna NE. We had our coffee on the little patio outside the RV and then took off at 9:30 for Council Bluffs IA and the Union Pacific Railroad Museum. It is housed in a beautiful old Carnegie Library. There were lots of really interesting exhibits, and we spent an hour and a half there.

Then we drove back to Omaha (just a few miles) to the Durham Museum. This museum is housed in an old, beautiful Union Pacific Station. The lobby is beautiful. There were lots of train exhibits including several old passenger cars. There were also many others including an interesting Byron Reed collection of coins. It is a huge museum and was well worth the time spent there. I bought an interesting book by Bob Greene called “Once Upon a Town” about the city of North Platte NE during WW II and its North Platte Canteen that met every troop train that came through during the war years. We will be stopping there, so I thought it would be neat to read about it.

We drove a couple of blocks into historic downtown Omaha in search of lunch. Several of the restaurants that we had considered were closed due to a power outage the day before. We ended up at a Mexican restaurant called Stokes. I wasn’t expecting too much when I ordered the mushroom enchilada. It was amazing with mushrooms and Monterey jack cheese, covered in a ancho chile sauce with cinnamon. It was spicy yet sweet. Bill got two fish tacos, but I let him have one of my enchiladas which he thought was really tasty.

We got back to the RV at 3:30 and hung out. We worked on our travel day plans for tomorrow. I worked on some photos. And we watched some TV.

Dinner was light – fresh corn, the rest of the melon salad, and strawberries with ice cream. Not a bad life.

I am posting photos as often as I can/need to, and the link is on the right.

Day 7 – Travel Day – Oak Grove MO to Gretna NE – 234 miles through MO, IA, and NE

It was another pleasant travel day. We got on the road about 9:15 again. It was sunny and warm, but not horrendous. We made one rest area stop and arrived at the West Omaha KOA about 2. As we were checking in, they were making a pizza for delivery, so Bill ordered one for lunch. I think he did it just because he thought it was neat to have pizza delivered to our site. We have a really nice, specious site, and by the time we got hooked up, the pizza arrived.

We just hung out for most of the afternoon. At 6:30 we drove into the tiny town of Gretna to the grocery store. We needed a 9 volt battery and some Raid (wasps under the wooden deck at our site). We also picked up some fruit – apples, bananas, and strawberries.

We are just relaxing tonight since we have a couple of museums to go to tomorrow.

Day 6 – Travel Day – Granite City IL to Oak Grove MO – 224 miles through IL and MO

It was a pleasant but uneventful travel day. We left Granite City about 9:30. It was all interstate travel, and we made good time with a couple of rest area stops. It wasn’t as dreadfully hot as it has been, so that was good. We arrived in Oak Grove MO (just east of Kansas City) about 2 and got minimally setup. The storms came about 3:30. That seems to be the norm for our travels – hot days followed by thunderstorms followed by a cooling off.

We just hunkered down during the rain, read, and watched some TV. Off to Omaha tomorrow!

Day 5 St Louis

It was a little cooler today – didn’t reach 90 until 1pm. We headed out at 9 for the Gateway Arch and were there before it got too crowded. We bought tickets for the 10:45 tram ride up to the top. While we were waiting we went through the Museum of Western Expansion. Parts of it were really good, but parts of it needed signage. The trip to the top was a little iffy for Bill, but we did it, got photos, and came right down. The Mississippi River was flooding the river road and parking in front of the arch. Rather awesome.

We had lunch at Hannegan’s mainly to cool off. Then it was back to the RV park to nap and cool off. I worked on some photos which is fun with all the new software – takes longer than usual.

At 5, Bill discovered a find in our book “Off the Beaten Path”. Just 3 miles from our campground is the Old Chain of Rocks bridge. It was built and used by Route 66 as a toll bridge. When the Interstate bridges were built, they converted this to a pedestrian/bicycle bridge. We walked halfway across the Mississippi River, and I got photos of us on the Illinois side and the Missouri side. We could see the arch in downtown St Louis, and the river was really high and wide. What fun!!!

We finally found a real grocery store and stocked up on some items. I found the ingredients for our favorite two melon salad which I made tonight to eat on the road.

We are off again tomorrow on the road.

Day 4 St Louis

It was great to sleep in and not have to deal with driving and the heat first thing in the morning. We hung out around the RV checking our options for this day in the heat. In one of our books, I did read this funny (sad, really!) sentence: “St Louis doesn’t have that much of a tourist trade (the muggy weather here in summer keeps most sensible people far away).”

At 12:30 we headed out for the Cahokia Mounds the site of a native American Indian city from 700-1400. These people built enormous mounds amidst their city, many of which are still visible today and quite impressive. The Visitors Center was quite well done (and cool!) with an interesting movie and lots of interesting exhibits. It was too hot to tour the mounds let alone climb the biggest (about 100’ high).

Cahokia was about 20 minutes from our campsite, and the drive was not all that pleasant since the Tracker doesn’t cool very well. From there we drove back to the Lewis and Clark State Historic site at Camp Dubois. This is near to where L&C began their expedition. Having seen many of the L&C historic centers when we went west two years, this one did offer a few new items such as a keel boat exhibit. It wasn’t too cool in the center, but I made a find: a Lewis and Clark T-shirt with Lewis’s dog Seaman on the back! I so wanted one two years ago, but all I could find were kids.

We stopped by an Aldi’s grocery store (the only one we could find within 10 miles of the campground) to look for some produce. I had never been in one before, and I was amazed at the absence of any brand name items. We did get produce, though, so we are good for another few nights.

Then it was back to the RV to avoid the heat. The campground is on old Route 66 which we found interesting. Tonight we had some bad storms, but hopefully it will cool things off.

Day 3 St Louis MO – Lynnville IN to Granite City IL – 179 miles through IN and IL

Still hotter than blazes everywhere we go. We were up at 8, had some coffee and breakfast, and started to get ready to go. Our neighbors were out back in the shade and were quite friendly and chatty. We did manage to leave at 10 am which was fine since it was a short day.

We took our time and made a couple of stops including lunch at a rest area. We arrived at the Granite City IL KOA campground at 2. Granite City is just across the river from St Louis in an industrial area. The campground isn’t too bad, with trees and full hookups. We took our time getting hooked up because it was so horribly hot and humid. We would do a couple of things and then cool off inside. We will be here for 3 nights, so it was great to put the slideout out along with the awning and lawn chairs.

At 5:30 we took off to investigate the Lewis and Clark Historical Center just up the road from us. It was closed for the day, but from what we can tell, there are lots interesting exhibits in the center. Bill is excited that we will see the start and finish of the expedition in just this one trip. Two years ago we saw some of the middle section.

Then we went to dinner at Ravanelli’s in Granite City. It is an inexpensive Italian restaurant that advertised in the KOA brochure. The food wasn’t too bad for the price. Bill got the most enormous entrée salad either of us has ever seen. We stopped at Walmart to pick up a couple of items and then took the Tracker to a car wash to clean off the RV grime.

Now we are reveling in the coolness of the RV.

Day 2 - Travel Day from Milton WV to Lynnville IN – 301 miles through WV, KY, and IN

It was a pleasant day today except for the hideous heat and humidity. We were up at 7:30, packed, and left the campground at 8:45. The drive was a fairly easy one, and the scenery went from the small mountains to rolling hills. We stopped at 9:30 for gas and breakfast at a Flying J.

We made a couple of other rest area stops. It was almost difficult to keep the RV cool in the awful heat, but it was bearable. Traveling across I64 in southern Indiana is a lot of rolling hills nothingness. We arrived at Lynnville RV Park about 4. Lynnville is a tiny town – maybe 800 people. In 1964 the Peabody Coal Company gave Lynnville 1100 acres of strip mined land and lakes as a water supply and for recreation. It is no longer used as a water supply. The campground has 24 sites with electricity, water, and sewer for only $20.

When we arrived it was 96 degrees with a heat index of 106, so we only hooked up the electricity and turned on both air conditioners. It took about an hour for us to cool off. We also entered central time zone somewhere along the way. Bill took a nap, and I chatted with Mandy.

We are still having trouble with the satellite locking on, but we have figured out a workaround that takes a few minutes but seems to work.

Bill was going to grill steaks, but it was just too hot, so we went to Thara Jean’s Place in downtown Lynnville. It was listed as one of two restaurants in town. I was hoping for a breaded tenderloin (a blast from my past!), and it was on the menu. It was wonderful. They pound their own pork and make them there in the restaurant. It was huge – 2” larger than the bun. I was a very happy camper. Bill got catfish which wasn’t bad even though he said it had a bit too much breading. We brought home a fresh blackberry cobbler and picked up a small carton of ice cream on the way home. That was good, too!

Day 1 - Travel day from Raleigh NC to Milton WV – 356 miles through NC, VA, and WV.

We left the apartment at 8 and pulled out of the RV storage area at 9:05. We did have a bit of a problem getting out since two big trucks were blocking the road, but they eventually moved. It was a sunny day, and the trip went well. We stopped at a rest area before turning north at Winston-Salem. Next to us at the rest area was a fifth wheel which ended up playing leap frog with us all the way to the Milton KOA where we both are now camped. Bill said something to him as we checked in, but the old codger hadn’t even noticed us.

The next 5 hours were really beautiful. I had not been on this road before, and it was five hours of stunning Appalachian beauty. The freeway had a great view of Pilot Mountain. We ran into about 5 minutes of rain, but that was it. It was all interstate which made it easier for Bill, but I loved the scenery and could easily do the drive again.

We stopped at another rest area about 1:30 for a light lunch of apples, cheese, and nuts. As we drove into Charleston WV we drove along the Kanawah River. It reminded me a lot of Pittsburgh.

We made it to Milton KOA about 4:15 and are parked for the night. Satellite doesn’t seem to be latching on, but they do have WiFi. We aren’t unhooking the Tracker, so we will fix something here tonight and hit the bed.

On the Road Again!

Tomorrow we are heading out on a 60+ day trip in the RV to the west coast and back. Bill's theme for the first part of this trip is to see as much as he can of what is left of the Transcontinental Railroad. I am busy finding other interesting sights to see along the way!