I have a friend who is super into exploring Nebraska. He's got a lot of people hooked on participating in the Nebraska Passport program and often puts together trips. He was almost as excited as I was when I got my van, LuAn, because he knew that it meant wonderful Passporting trips.
Memorial Day weekend was her maiden voyage, and it was wonderful. Charlie, Stu, Joanna, Cori, and I went along the northern edge of the state, spent a day in the Panhandle, and came back along I-80. We camped Saturday into Sunday, but when we got to Alliance, we saw that weather was not looking favorable to camping, so we grabbed a couple of rooms and called it a night. It was glorious, although between preferring firm mattresses and starting my period, I actually slept better on Saturday than on Sunday.
True to form, I still need to post the pictures. I did share a few, but I have a new phone now, so you think it would be easier. Nope. The phone is new enough that I'm still getting used to it and haven't ventured into the culminating albums realm of usage.
Saturday started with a couple e-stamps in Ft. Calhoun, then on to the Neihardt museum. Kind of; it was closed. But the grounds were lovely, and I found a bleeding heart bush with a perfectly heart-shaped flower on the end of a branch. Next up was a boutique in Norfolk and Neligh Mill. Apparently, some associates of ours have a grandparent that was a pretty big deal there, so we drove past a memorial to him. We didn't get out, and I didn't take any pictures of that. The last stop that I cared about that day was Smith Falls.
I had been there a couple of years ago with a different Passporting troupe (also including Stu and Charlie) and really liked it. It's a beautiful little waterfall. Well, not little; it's about 65 feet tall. Had I not been driving or had we had more time, I would have waded in the stream a little bit. It's a lovely place, really. We followed it up by visiting a vineyard. Everyone else loved that, and I knew going into it that I wouldn't have as good of a time as everyone else. I was pretty done with the day, though, and felt a little bad that I didn't help put up tents at the campsite. Although, I did hold flashlights for those who needed it.
We woke up and stopped at a Maverik gas station in Kearney that I had glimpsed the night before. Everyone else wanted coffee, we woke up an hour before the Museum of the Fur Trade opened, and had a great time. In retrospect, we spent a little longer at the museum than we probably should have, but it was the first stop that was, dare I say it, remotely interesting to everyone. That had been open, anyway.
The next stop of the day ended up being an e-stamp because we were there an hour before opening. The one following, Fort Robinson, was more rushed than I think we would have liked. Although, as Stu said more than once, you could easily spend a week at Fort Robinson. At some point between Kearney and Fort Rob, Charlie was driving and announced there was a donkey on the side of the road. Just part of the scenery, but it reminded me that I had a cassette tape with Mule Train on it. Based on some of the music that we had enjoyed in the winery the night before, I felt comfortable encroaching my musical taste on the rest of the group. They, of course, loved it. And laughed about it.
Not as funny as when we got to Fort Robinson, and I park right next to a flag pole with a marker that reads, in part, "In 1930, after runaway mules felled the flagpole, the commanding officer ordered it relocated here." While touring the Post Headquarters museum, I discovered a plaque memorializing "Sally, the gun mule." Of course I took a photo and changed my Twitter handle and profile pic (which no one has questioned, by the way, although I haven't posted much). It pretty much cemented our referring to ourselves as Mule Train.
Agate Fossil Beds was next up, and I had no idea there was a National Park on the trip. Had it connected with me that we had to be at Carhenge by a certain time to get a proper stamp, I wouldn't have dawdled as much there. Lunch was supposed to be at some place in Gering, but we got there with about fifteen minutes to spare, and they recommended us to a place in adjacent Scottsbluff. Forget the name of it, but they had famous Pancheros and some delightful artwork and bathrooms.
Then it was off to Lake Minatare, which has a lighthouse. That was a fun climb up, albeit narrow. I could definitely spend a lot of time there. The next stop was Scottsbluff National Monument. We got there in enough time to drive up to the top, take a short hike up one side and drive back down. A handful of e-stamps later, and we were at Carhenge, the highlight of the trip for me. I love that place. It's just so cool. There was an autograph car, which I'm guessing they paint over every couple of years. So, of course, I signed us in as Mule Train and put our names down, including LuAnn's. Took a slight detour to see a sight that I'm a fan of. It's a couple miles down the road from Carhenge. It's basically, no it is, a toilet on hay bales with a sign that says "Free WiFi."
Our plan on Monday was to leave about 7 to get to the coffee shop when it opened at 8. We left closer to 8 and spent a little longer than appropriate at the coffee shop. I didn't take any pictures, but did buy some much needed, much enjoyed, chocolate covered toffee. If it hadn't been $6 for the little bag, I would have gone back inside for more. I saved the wrapper and will check out the website after next payday.
We made a non-Passport stop at Windlass Hill Pioneer Homestead. It would have been more interesting and enjoyable for me had I not been bleeding in my pants. I hope it's somehow on a future Passport. (There's not really anything nearby to host a proper stamp.) And a trip out west is not complete without stopping at Ole's, where I tried Rocky Mountain oysters. They were fantastic, and will likely order them again. I could have spent at least half a day the North Platte railyard. They have the Golden Spike on display, and a watch tower that overlooks the largest humpyard in the U.S. Outside, they have state flags and plaques for each of the states that the UP Railroad has tracks in, so I took pictures of NE and WI.
There were fewer Passport stops on the return trip, but it was all worth it. And much of what we had stopped at on Saturday wouldn't have been open on Monday. We passed through Stu's hometown and stopped at the cemetery where his grandparents are buried. Our last physical stamp of the trip was Stagecoach Gifts in Kearney, where I got HMJ his birthday gift. Got a couple of e-stamps in Grand Island and York.
I have pretty definite plans to go to Seward over the Fourth and will get a physical stamp at whatever stop is there, and may visit the places in York we only got e-stamps at. We dropped Cori off (she had rode with Stu to Charlie's, where everyone else was parked) and I was home by 11:00.
It was a pleasant experience because we were all flexible and decisive. Great travel companions overall. Wish HMA would have been able to join us, as that would have filled the van and added a different life perspective. Although, that would have made the tent situation interesting, as one billed a "two-man" was barely a one-man. We would have made it work, and I probably would have slept in the van. Which would have bothered me nil.
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