Thursday, October, 8, 2020 - Day 5 - Lake Ogallala, Nebraska to Evansville, Wyoming

Happy 10th birthday Brayden. Hope it's an awesome day.

 On the road before 8:00 and it's on to another state today- Wyoming. Before we got there though we made a short stop to see Chimney Rock and its Museum. Chimney Rock was a landmark for the settlers on their trek west. The museum highlighted the struggles of the pioneers as they made their long journeys west along either the Oregon, California or Mormon Trails. On Rt. 62 we saw very little traffic, miles and miles of vast open lands and lots of hazy air. We think it must be from all the fires 🔥. We've gone through countless small towns whose better days seem to be behind them. Can't say how many times we've crossed the Platte River. In some cases it's nothing more than a rocky creek bed but the North Platte that we just passed actually had some water in it. It's gotten windy this afternoon. I can tell that Ron is really having to hold on when the big rigs pass. The speed limit is 80 no less but we aren't going that fast. Ron's doing an excellent job of driving. I've offered but I don't think he trusts me with his "baby". I'll stick to my role as navigator. Before going to our campground Rivers Edge RV Park we went to the National Historic Trails Interpretive Museum. It was a very new facility with lots of vignettes and information on the trails which started in Caspar, Wyoming. From there it was on to our campsite. It wasn't the prettiest site but had clean bathrooms and showers, full hookups, and a pretty view of the North Platte River. On the way to the campground we picked up some Moe's takeout and enjoyed that for dinner. Showered, watched the TB, Chi game, had a Manhattan and then its was lights out.

State: Wyoming

Views while traveling

Chimney Rock at a Distance

Chimney Rock

At Chimney Rock Vistors Center

Wagon train and the choice of products to bring with you on your trek

Not an easy trip

Wyoming landscape

River's Edge RV Park along the North Platte River

Our campsite

Wednesday, October 7, 2020 - Day 4 - Nebraska City, Nebraska to Lake Ogallala State Recreation Area, Nebraska

Beautiful morning and we are on the road just after 7:30. There isn't much to do to get on the road - unhook electric and water- and off we go. It's warming up nicely and I didn't even need a sweatshirt this morning, just short sleeves. Today we'll be heading across Nebraska so we won't add any states but we will be in the extreme western part of the state which is the Mountain Time Zone. Along the way we took an impromptu stop at Pioneer Village. Ron saw a sign as we were traveling on Rt. 80 and was intrigued so we drove 13 miles out of the way but discovered a little gem. Pioneer Village was started in 1953 by Harold Warp who made his fortune in the invention of Flex- Glass which was a start of the plastics industry. It is to show man's progress from 1830 to 1960. The site is on 20 acres with 28 buildings including a sod house, one room school house, church and much more. The main building contains part of a collection of buggies, cars, planes etc. There also is a display of living rooms, bedrooms and kitchens through the decades, along with all kinds of appliances. It was an interesting stop. We passed the Nebraska Firefighters Museum also but didn't stop - sorry Dad. We drove another 2 hours and arrived at Ogallala State Recreation Area about 3:00 Mountain Time. We had a reservation but when we went to our site someone else was already there. We found the campground host and he gave us another lakeside site - so all was well. Walked the campground and then enjoyed happy hour. Checked our plans for the next couple of days and then had a Seltzer Bologna sandwich for dinner - thanks Patty and Rolf. Early to bed again so we can get an early start. Shorter drive tomorrow though.

Views from Pioneer Village

Typical House

General Store

School House

Sod House

Our Campsite

Our Campsite

Lake Ogallala

Lake Ogallala

Lake Ogallala

 

Tuesday, October 6, 2020 - Day 3 - Chatham, Il. to Nebraska City, Nebraska

Up even earlier today so we could go to the Abraham Lincoln Museum this morning before heading out of town. We got to the RV parking area early (we had a 9:00 reservation, as reservations were required) and walked around the area a bit. The museum was very informative. We saw two 15 minute movies and reconstructions of his early life and his White House years. Although considered a great president he had detractors in his day. Definitely not making any comparisons with today's situation though! Then it was back on the road to Nebraska City for the night. Along the way we crossed the Mississippi River, went through Hannibal, MO and saw a sign for Mark Twain's birthplace - we didn't stop. We also saw lots of farmland and large farm equipment. The weather has been good. It gets cool at night but has been sunny and warmer during the day. Tomorrow it's supposed to be in the 80's. We arrived at Victorian Acres RV Park at about 6:00. Walked around the park and then had some leftover mac n cheese with mussels and wine. Went to bed early so we can get an early start tomorrow.

States: MO, IA, NE

Views from Springfield, Illinois

Statue of Lincoln in the adjacent square

In front of the Lincoln Museum

Abraham reading by the fireplace as a young man

The Heads of State in a Debate

At Ford's Theater

The Lincoln Family in front of the White House

Victorian Acres RV Park

Our campsite

Monday, October 5, 2020 - Day Two - Berlin, Ohio to Chatham, Illinois

Up and out by 8:00 as planned. Drove the beautiful back roads of RT. 62 in Ohio. Never realized that Ohio was this hilly. As I said yesterday, this is probably our longest leg of the trip but we will change time zones so we'll gain an hour that way. Crossed into Indiana and eventually Illinois. We made three stops for a bath room break, gas stop and lunch. It was about a 9 hour drive as Ron doesn't push it. There were lots of corn fields that we passed by. Got to the Double J Campground - their bathrooms are closed due to Covid so luckily we are self contained. They weren't closed when I made our reservation but it is a nice park in a very convenient location so I don't even mind. We walked around the park to stretch our legs and then enjoyed some wine, cheese and crackers. Had some sausage and Mac n cheese for dinner and got ready for our next day. Tomorrow it's on to Nebraska but first a stop at the Lincoln museum which is very close by.

States: Indiana, Illinois

Cross Country Journey - Chaumont to Sacramento

Sunday, October 4, 2020 - Day One - Oakfield, NY to Berlin, Ohio

 

Today we were supposed to be heading to Ireland but Plan B is California Dreaming or California Here We Come. Today was a relatively short drive - of course, easy for me to say as a passenger. We left Ron's folks about 7:30 and arrived at our campground (Berlin RV Campground ) around 1:30. Berlin is in the heart of Amish country but we knew things would be closed on Sun. We still were anxious to start our trip west. After we got on the back roads we enjoyed the beautiful homes and vistas along the way. We saw many Amish in buggies, on bikes, walking and even riding a golf cart. We found our campsite and got set up in no time. We'll make it a restful afternoon and evening. Would love to be able to watch the Bill's but this way may keep my stress level down. Correction, I did find a way to livestream it and I even remembered my HDMI cord so we could watch it on the big screen. Glad we were able to see the game. It started raining about 5:30. We ate dinner during halftime - soup and crackers. It will be simple fare for our trip. Early to bed - about 9:30. Tomorrow is probable our longest travel day.

States: PA, OH

Good-byes

Ready for new adventures

Sunday in Berlin Ohio

Beautiful colors

     Views along the way        

                                                                    Our Campground

View from the campground

Go Bills!