White Shepherd Stories

Gothenburg, Pony Express Capital of Nebraska

I have not done much touring.  We have mostly just stopped for essentials.  Now that I am getting closer to our destination I figured I could spare some time to do a little exploring.  The campground is so nice, it is hard to leave.   We found a spot in the shade.  It is very hot.  

 

We visited one of the two Pony Express stations.

 Pony Express Station in Ehmen Park

The neighborhood around the park is beautiful. There are huge old trees and lovely houses. One home was built in 1905.  I enjoyed seeing tractors driving down the streets and we stopped at a small museum.  It felt good to cool off in their air conditioning and I loved browsing the interesting displays.  The dogs were comfortable in the RV, as I had fired up the generator and the air conditioner..   

Our next stop was the Sod House Museum.  It is dedicated to sod house settlers.  It features a barn (memorabilia and photographs from that era together with a gift shop), the sod house, a giant sod-breaking plow and a windmill.  Most impressive to me were the Indian on the horse and the buffalo sculptures made from barbed wire. The wire that is used to construct the buffalo is 4-1/2 miles long.  I would hate to have seen the sculptor's hands when he finished.

 

 

Everyone was cautioned to stay on the path.  They said it was a very heavy snake season. There was a lot of grass because they had experienced a lot of rain.

 

Inside the Sod House

 Farewell, pretty campground!

We stopped for groceries and my new favorite Subway sandwich: a blt and chicken on flatbread with chipotle dressing.  :o)  

By the time we left Gothenburg it was about 3:00 PM and very hot.  Since I forgot it was Friday, I was intent on getting through Omaha (big city) so as not to hit the morning traffic.  Ha, when do I ever get going before the rush hour is over.  Well my intentions are good.  I crossed the border into Iowa, and soon found an inviting rest stop.  I ran the generator and cooled off the interior of the RV while playing on the computer for a while.  I called and talked with my daughter and her husband, Kevin.  They were camping on the Oregon Coast and I envied their comfortable climate.  

Pirate and I were peacefully sleeping in my bed when all hell broke loose - really!  At about 2:15 AM the skies above Iowa decided to celebrate the 4th of July.  Now I have seen some pretty fantastic storms on this trip: one in Idaho and another in Wyoming, but this one dimmed those. The storm just stayed right above us and cracked bolt after bolt of white lightening.  It lit up the entire area.  It was just a white out - I could not actually see the lightening streaks because it just was blinding light everywhere - so close together it was hard to tell when one ended (if it did) and another began.  Same with the thunder, it was a steady rolling roar.  Then came the rain and it was literally in sheets.  It beat anything I have ever seen, even in New Orleans. 

Well, I got up, closed the windows and dried where the rain had come in.  I assured the dogs that it would be OK and I went back to bed.  It got worse and worse and I needed assurance! The rest  stop began filling up with trucks and cars.  That was reassuring... at least they were not leaving.  I began to wonder if we could get washed away.  I was not under any trees.  However it was dark when we parked and I didn't know about any waterways that might be near.  It continued like that steady until after 3:00 AM or maybe longer.  I fell asleep and then about 4:30 AM it resumed and Pirate and I just cuddled up and listened to it.  Spirit was sleeping soundly under the dinette table and my brave Quesy was in the passenger seat watching it all.   

June 6, 2009 - Saturday morning  

What a night.  Everyone got a walk together this morning, then I came in and fixed coffee.  I was not sure I had the energy to do individual walks this morning.  It is 6:27 AM - West Coast time, 8:27 AM here.  Oh my gosh, I guess I lost another hour.  I just noticed that on my cell phone.  I was one hour ahead, now it is two if I can believe my cell phone.  My computer is in the dark about the time changes, which seems strange.  To me, computers are often strange, but my daughter would probably be able to get to the bottom of it.   I just have to remember which clock is on what time.  

I am going to take a shower and then we will hit the road.  I will probably need to stop for a nap somewhere today, so I don't know how far we will get.  I cannot believe how far we have traveled.  It looks like crossing Iowa is roughly 350 miles to get to Illinois - so we may make that today.  I see some blue sky - who knows what the weather will do next.  

On to Illinois....

"The Man From Laramie"

Wednesday - June 3

We are on Highway 80 now.  It changed from 84 to 80, near the town of Morgan, Utah.  We entered Wyoming at the town of Evanston.   We stopped at a rest stop where we all sat fascinated with what I thought was a display of Prairie Dogs, but turned out to be ground squirrels.  What do I know, I have not spent much time on the prairie.  They were cute anyway, and their antics prompted Quest to talk to them as they went about their busy activities, in and out of holes in the ground.  

Because my dad loved Western History and cowboys, I was drawn to the town of Laramie.  I recalled an old movie starring Jimmy Stewart as The Man From Laramie..  I hoped to find a nice campground in Laramie.

 The trails are calling to us.  What pretty country!

Pirate posing on a rock.  

Our days drive took us past some strange looking mountains and plateau formations with interesting colors.  I believe the colors are from mines, as I saw what looked like a lot of mining equipment strewn around.  There were slanting wooden fences all over, at odd angles to the road.  I suspect they are to deflect blowing snow from covering the highway in the winter.  Every so often there were big gates to close the highway.  

As we crossed the state the country became dryer with no trees.  Occasionally we saw sheep.  One that had lost it's mom and was crying, made Quest very sad.  He cried with it for a while and that worried Pirate. We cut that rest stop a little short as it was making all of us sad.   My big macho dog Questy is such a softy when it comes to little critters.  

In what seemed to be a very short period of time, big black clouds moved over us and we started going through areas of heavy downpour.  I missed some of the real great storm photos because I needed both hands on the wheel to steady the RV in the wind.  It was wild and awesome to watch. We arrived at our chosen campground at about 7:30 PM, in the middle of a rainstorm with lightening, etc.  I am becoming fairly familiar with big storms after several days of them.  Unfortunately they had been doing a lot of excavation work in the campground.  The campground road was a sorry mess of huge pot holes that were overflowing with muddy water.  The Man from Laramie would have needed his slicker and a sure-footed horse.  

We parked for the night and after a muddy walk, we finally got dried off and secured inside for the night. One of my most important rules is to always have a nice stack of old towels for the dogs in case we have a situation like this.  Well, we did have the picnic table I was wishing for, but it only served as a place to stand the dogs as I toweled them off before they got back in the RV.  Except for the storm, it was quiet - no trucks hissing and chugging all night.  We all slept well.  

Thursday, June 4  I did not take any pictures at this campground because I did not want my camera out in the mud.  It was awful.  Our walk was like navigating a maze.  Occasionally I would find a patch of gravel where we could sort of wash and scrape the mud off, as we walked along on our morning walk.  It was truly awful and the only thing that really kept up my spirits was the thought of the nice long shower I was going to have as soon as the dogs were walked, fed, dried and safely inside the RV.  Sadly it was not to be.  There were some men working near the shower rooms. When the water did not go on in the shower, I went back outside and asked when it might be turned back on.  No such luck!  I don't know why it was off, but they did not expect to have it back on for hours.  

I had water in the RV, so I did take a shower, but I could have done that in a rest stop, without paying for a campground.  Oh well, a new day and maybe this evening I will find that wonderful campground that I had in mind.  

 
Quest & Spirit sharing the passenger seat.

 Nebraska Pony Express stop. .  

Sunny and hot, but beautifully green everywhere, and so many deer!    We are headed for Gothenburg, Nebraska.  My campground book shows what looks like a wonderful campground located on the Platt River.  They tell me  the Platt River is a mile wide and a foot deep.   

Sometimes it feels as if we are the only travelers in Nebraska.

On this trip I have been stopping at rest stops often. For one thing, it has been very hot, which makes me sleepy.  Occasionally I stop for a nap.  Then as it gets a little cooler, I keep driving instead of looking for a campground.  By the time I am ready to stop it is often 9:00 or 9:30 PM and it seems a waste of money to pay for a campground when we are just going to sleep and get right back on the highway.  Since I am driving every day, the batteries stay charged and we don't really need electricity or any hookups.  You can usually stay at least 8 to 12 hours in a rest stop and it is free.  So I save the money for RV parks when we have the time to enjoy them.  

 Here we are and we have our choice of spots.  We will take this shady one.  

 Spirit is taking a nice nap in front of the screen door.    

 The kids, Pirate and Quest are outside on the lawn.  Smile kids!

This is a nice place, guess I will read for a while - then maybe a walk by the Platt River, before dinner. I like it here.  I just wish we could turn down the heat a bit.   Tomorrow we will explore a little more and then will be off, heading for Iowa.  

Ready, Set, 2300 Miles to Go

We left home on Interstate 5.  As we crossed the Columbia River and entered Oregon, we turned east, onto I-84.  This was to be our route for the next 764 miles, until I-84 merges into I-80, in Utah.

Highway 84 takes us along the Columbia River.  It is a beautiful drive .  We passed the Cascade Locks, Hood River and The Dalles.  We stopped for the night in Boardman, Oregon.  It was dark and we just pulled off the road, into a field full of burrs, fox tails and jack rabbits.  The dogs had a quick walk and we tried to stay out of the stickers.  We got an early start the next morning.  From Boardman on, the highway veers southeast.  

June 1, Monday, at a stop in Baker City, OR. we went for a walk, and sat in the shade on the grass .  

 Very hot here!   Maybe that's how it got it's name.

 

Spirit, Pirate & Quest

We made it to Boise, Idaho today.   I found a nice RV park and my niece, Jill came over to visit.  We had fun catching up and celebrated with a bottle of wine and snacks.  I had not seen her for years.   She helped me walk the dogs.  We stayed up late and talked and laughed and talked some more.  It was a fun evening.

It is Tuesday morning, the 2nd of June.      

Our mornings normally begin with putting the water on to boil, for coffee.  I use a French Press to make the coffee.  It is just the right size for 2 or 3 cups.  It is good coffee, and fast.  If it is cold I turn up the furnace and go back to bed while I wait a couple minutes for everything to warm up.  That doesn't take long in a motor home.  This morning Pirate needed to go out.  It seemed urgent. Three walks later I decided we should stop at a vet's office to get something for his upset tummy.  After a visit to a nice vet, we left Boise some time after noon.  I cannot imagine what upset their stomachs.  I only let them drink bottled water when we travel.  It is just not worth the gamble.  I keep planning to have a water filter installed on the RV, but have not got around to it yet. 

Tuesday evening  and we are at a rest stop near Ogden, Utah.  We have traveled 800 miles.  I love road trips.  We are meeting nice people all along the way.  The White dogs are such good ambassadors and they make it easy to meet people.  We travel with some toys and exercise equipment.  I have an extending jump stick that they use as a hurdle for some exercise.  We also have a fuzzy toy that is attached to a cord that is at the end of a pole.  (Kind of like a fishing pole.)   The dogs love to chase it and can really get going, even in a small area.  

It was kind of a rough day.  Pirate had a very upset tummy and Quest was a little upset too, but not as bad as Pirate.  Their dinner tonight was rice and boiled hamburger with a little cottage cheese.  They loved it and they are all sound asleep.  Spirit loved the meal too.  He didn't get the bug - he is too tough!

 

Some of the pictures are taken through the windshield - so please excuse the squished bugs and the nose prints.  I did not actually catch any shots of the lightening although it seemed hard to miss, there was so much of it.  

 And then it began to rain!

Today I drove through an amazing thunder and lightening storm between Idaho and Utah.  Big signs said it was a "Severe Storm Area".  I didn't even know there was such a thing as a severe storm area.  I do now!   It was wonderful - if a little scary.  I kept wondering if I should stop and wait a while, but the way the lightening was coming down made me think I would rather keep moving.  It was so beautiful.  Strike after strike of bright white lightening splitting the navy blue sky.  Once a fork came down and hit on both sides of the road.  It was a ways ahead of us.  I just followed the big rigs.  Nothing seems to stop them.  I had to drive a little slower, so it was a long day to do just a little over 300 miles.  The first two days were terribly hot, but today was just right.  The rain was a relief, and it was about 63 degrees.  

June 3, Wednesday morning.  Pirate seems much better.  Being sick when you are traveling is no fun.  He is a little new to this and he was restless last night.  It was quite windy and he was pacing a little during the night.  The wind was causing the RV to make a lot of noises that Pirate thought were all wrong.  He has decided that while we are traveling, his place to sleep is with me.  He is very warm and the first two nights I did not appreciate his added warmth.  Last night was good though, as the wind was coming off of the snowy mountains and it was much cooler.   We parked overnight in the rest stop and they have a lot of truck traffic going in and out.  I was hoping to stay at a nice campground, but we got off to such a late start after finding a vet.... and then driving through the storm was tiring.  I was just anxious to get some sleep. 

This morning. the storm has passed and the day is gorgeous.  I can see the mountains and they still have snow on them.  From the map, it appears that the mountains are The Bear River Range.  We are going for a walk and then we will head for Wyoming.    

Utah 

Let's go!  Hurry up mom.... we need to go see cows and cowboys in Wyoming!

It is so pretty here and we are having so much fun.  Utah is beautiful  Both of my parents were born here and I recall so many stories they told me about it.  Wish we had time to meander. 

On our walk we got to watch some horses run to greet a man in a pickup who pulled up to the fence with treats for them.  They whinnied to him and went bucking and kicking across the meadow as they ran to greet him.   The dogs were fascinated.  

Guess we will get on our way.  It is a long road!   Next stop: Wyoming.  I am kind of aiming for Laramie. Tonight I want a real campground with a picnic table and a big shower without White Shepherd noses poking through the curtain.   We need time to go for a long walk.  We did not stop until 10:30 PM last night.  Of course we are losing time as we travel east - because of the time change.  We need some extra relaxation time.