September 7, 2020

Sandhills

Red Willow Recreation Area Campground McCook, Nebraska

My morning walk in corn country.

Today we drove through the sandhills of Nebraska.  They are lumpy,

bumpy,

and humpy.

The undulating ride made me feel tired!

We camped at Red Willow State Recreation Area.  We have a wonderful site overlooking the water.  Now that most people are going back to work and home, we expect that we might have an easier time finding camping spots.

We spent some time this afternoon exploring the park.

This is from the bison viewing area.  The bison are in a fence and being fed, not roaming wild.

We saw the dam.

And stopped at overlooks.

We took an easy hike this evening.

The smooth sumac is turning red. Indigenous people used the leaves for salad and used the berries to make a lemonade like drink. It is an invasive plant and deer like it.

This is a tiger or common desert centipede. This guy was four inches long and looked like it could hurt you. They eat rodents and frogs. They pinch their prey with their mandibles and inject poison…glad we didn’t step on this one!

Not sure what kind of snake this is…maybe a North American Racer…but he’s pretty!

We are grateful to have electric service tonight.  It was 84 degrees today but tonight it is supposed to be 40 and rainy.  At least here, there is no snow in the forecast! We plan to continue moving south and get further south to warmer temperatures.

We wanted to have a campfire but it is too windy and very dry here, so we skipped the fire but still enjoyed the hot chocolate with amaretto!

September 6, 2020

Lake McConaughy

Country View Campground Ogallala, Nebraska Day 2

This morning I walked to the Tri-Trails Park.  This small park honors the confluence of the Oregon Trail, The Pony Express Trail, and the Great Western Cattle Trail, also known as the Texas Trail.  From 1875-1885 ranchers from southern Texas drove their herds of longhorn cattle to Ogallala.  The journey took about 5 months.    The cattle were allowed to roam, free range until it was time for auction.  The cowboys would gather the cattle, sort them, and sell them. 

We went to lake McConaughy this afternoon.  Our first stop was the hydroelectric dam.

OOPS!!

We had originally hoped to camp in the state recreation area, but all the sites were full.  As we drove through the park and then out onto the sandy beach, we could see thousands of people, tents, and campers along the water’s edge…for five solid miles!  Apparently, it was even more crowded yesterday!  It was a good thing we were able to get the camping spot we had in town.

We found a way to take the Jeep in the softer sand, away from the throngs and under a couple of shade trees.  We enjoyed our lunch here as we watched the show/circus.  There were big tractors to assist with launching boats and we also saw them towing out some stuck vehicles.  There were lots of jet skis and motor boats and a sailboat as well as a few kayakers.

The NASCAR race was on this evening and we had cable television so that Tim was able to watch. 

Evening walk. The town of Ogallala has painted the water tower to look like a UFO. It flashes yellow and red and white.

I couldn’t resist adding this picture…smiles for all of you!

September 5, 2020

Nebraska Countryside

Country View Campground Ogallala, Nebraska

An early morning walk on a country road.

We pulled into the Bridgeport Community Center for our breakfast.

I love creative names for businesses…Cramalot Inn Storage…

We traveled on Route 26E which runs parallel to the railroad tracks which runs parallel to the North Platte River which runs along the Oregon Trail.  As I have said before, every place has its beauty.  Nebraska’s beauty is in the vast openness, its plainness and simplicity, its small towns and farming communities.

We stopped at a Farmers Market in Oshkosh.  Tim chose some chokecherry jam to try.

We settled at our campsite and honestly, we were hot, tired, and a little lazy.  It was 100 degrees today and it kept us inside.   

I did go shopping for supplies at the Walmart and found the local post office to mail my postcards. 

We ordered burgers and salads from Open Range Grill. We are in cattle country and our burgers were delicious!

Sunset walk.

September 4, 2020

Chimney Rock

Chimney Rock Pioneer Crossing Campground Bayard, Nebraska

Last night we were still in a quandary about where we were headed.  We thought about staying out west and even thought about going to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.  As we have discovered, the national parks are not fully functional.  Rocky Mountain is no exception.  Their solution to the Coronavirus regulations is a timed entry system where advanced tickets are required.  We have decided to come back when things are less complicated.  So, we have decided to slowly head east.  We crossed back into Nebraska and found a campground at Chimney Rock.  We had full hookups here so I was able to do laundry.

Chimney Rock was another landmark on the Oregon Trail. The peak used to be taller according to sketches done by early settlers. It has been diminished by both erosion and lightning strikes.

Here is another resting place for both pioneers and more recent local residents.

The owner of the campground, Joe, recommended a dirt road into the valley. 

We had to pull over for the hay truck.

We had passed a sugar beet processing plant on our way here. We stopped to watch the sugar beets being harvested. Sugar beets grow well here in this temperate climate. They thrive in the dusty sandy soil. The warm days and cooler nights make for sweeter beets with a higher sugar content.

Sunset walk.

The rock illuminated this evening.

September 3, 2020

Register Cliff

Black Canyon Point Campground Guernsey, Wyoming Day 2

My early walk.

Later in the morning we drove to the end of the park and took a hike on a fire road.  There was a steep incline up to the plateau and then lots of prairie.  We found a footpath the took us to the rim where we could see the lake below and the rocky cliffs on the other side of the water.

A memorial on the high point.

This afternoon we went to Register Cliff.  The first people to mark this rock were Native Americans.  Eons ago, pictographs and petroglyphs were painted and etched here. They have long since faded and been erased by the people who traveled in the many years since.  Fur traders carved their names in this stone face in the 1830’s. This was a stopping place on the Oregon Trail and it became a rite of passage to write your name in the sandstone.  It became a register of the emigrants on their trip along the North Platte River.  In more recent time, travelers and tourists of all sorts have added their names, writing over the records and words of those before them.

The oldest etchings are protected by the chain-link fence.

The cemetery here holds the graves of those whose journeys were cut short.  The river crossings were particularly dangerous.

Cliff swallow nests.

The Pony Express also used this route.

This was a place, alive with history.  Perhaps, there are families in Utah and Oregon whose ancestors’ names are here in this cliff.  These names represent real people in their quest for a brighter future.  I remember as a young child being enchanted with the stories of the pioneers of the west…I am enchanted still.  The challenges they faced, the courage that it took, the harsh living conditions…all for a better life for their children.  To take that journey and know wholeheartedly that you are never going back to your old life or your family.  It is inspiring.  The very sad part of this story is what happened to the Native Americans as white men made their way west.  This part of the story cannot be changed but it can be remembered and honored.  We chose tonight’s quote from Sitting Bull.

The weather forecast here for the next several days…crazy fluctuations in temperature…and snowflakes!!

The sun went to bed in a beautiful but less dramatic fashion this evening.

September 2, 2020

The Town of Guernsey

Black Canyon Point Campground Guernsey, Wyoming

A morning walk with wild turkeys as companions.

We moved to another site with grandiose views of the lake and the cliffs.  We sat outside, enjoying the peace and stillness.

We drove into the town of Guernsey and followed signs to the Oregon Trail Ruts Historic Site.  The journey westward for most people started in the Missouri plains and as the Conestoga wagons crossed into Wyoming, the terrain became rougher and more difficult to navigate.  The journey west took four to six months.  These wagon ruts are permanently etched into the earth.  The 2,000 mile trail is one of the longest emigration routes in the world.

We wanted to get a carryout lunch but the Mexican restaurant we had seen on our way through town was closed.  There were not other places to choose from.  We went to the grocery and got summer sausage, cheddar, snap peas, guacamole, and grapes and took our impromptu picnic to the community park.  I worked on the blog here as well.

We stopped to see the CCC museum in Guernsey Park.  The building is a work of art with stone arches and timbers.  The displays are well done and worthwhile and tell the history of the area including, Native American culture, pioneers, mining, the Oregon Trail, and the building of the dam.  We napped and read in the late afternoon and then enjoyed a simple dinner of eggs and toast.

Our new campsite was a wonderful place to watch the sunset.

We watched as the colors faded and the stars began to pop out. We were consumed by darkness. We went back outside later to see the full moon, the corn moon. The moonlight was so bright it lit the cliffs and the lake water and it cast long shadows on the ground. It was pretty special.

September 1, 2020

Guernsey State Park

Sandy Beach Campground Guernsey, Wyoming Day 2

A peaceful morning walk.

Later in the morning, we took a hike on the Lakeview Trail with great views of the lake.  The air was a little chilly and the sunshine was warm…perfect hiking weather!

This is our campsite for tomorrow night from across the water.

We stopped at the railroad bridge to watch the coal train come through.  There are several mines north of here.  This coal is bound for power plants in the Midwest and along the east coast.  Loaded coal cars as far as the eye can see. Each car holds 100 tons of coal.

We packed our lunch and drove to the dam.  The water in the spillway was so powerful that it made my heart pound.

We spent the afternoon resting and doing chores. 

For dinner this evening, we went to the Castle.  This picnic shelter was built in the 1930’s by the Civilian Conservation Corps.  This was a program that Franklin Delano Roosevelt instituted to help people go back to work during the Depression.  This was by far the neatest picnic shelter I have ever seen.  I knew when I saw it yesterday, that I wanted to make dinner here.  We took mushrooms and asparagus and filets and watermelon and enjoyed our date night, a feast, and the scenery from the arches and the vantage point on top of the castle.

We watched a coal train pass through the tunnel…130 empty cars ready to be refilled.  The volume of the operation is seriously impressive. 

August 31, 2020

Guernsey State Park

Sandy Beach Campground Guernsey, Wyoming

A morning walk in the campground.

A historic site and our breakfast spot.  Over 8,000 Native Americans gathered at this place to sign a treaty allowing pioneers to pass peacefully along the Oregon Trail on their way across the country. 

One of the best things about traveling without a plan and without reservations, is that you can go anywhere you want to go.  Looking at the map, Tim noticed that just over the Nebraska border, in Wyoming, there was a state park on a reservoir and the North Platte River.  They had plenty of open camping spots so we crossed back into Wyoming.  I am ‘so glad we did. 

Our campsite.

We spent the afternoon exploring.  We took all the gravel roads on the south side of the water.  We found some great overlooks.

This was a wooden pedestrian bridge built by the CCC in the 1930’s. It was destroyed by fire. Now there are stone steps that take you down into the canyon and back out.

This is Brimmer Point.

We watched this military plane practicing maneuvers.

We grilled burgers and corn for our dinner and then for my evening entertainment, I watched a wake of buzzards catching wind.  There had to be about a hundred.  They sailed with their wings outstretched and hung suspended like kites.  I was fascinated.  I know that buzzards are supposed to be ugly birds…but this dance in the clouds was graceful and beautiful to watch.  I am so easy to amuse!

We are going to stay here in this campsite for two nights and then we found another great site on the north side where we will stay for another two nights.  I am grateful to have a short break.  We have been moving and exploring at a steady pace so it is nice to slow it down a little!

I went out at sunset to try and post the blog…not much success there but a beautiful sunset and a herd of mule deer as well.