5674 miles later

There's no place like home. But you need to get out there to realize it.

On a long trip, you need breaks with people who love you and will restore you. Or send you gifts along the way.

You need to travel with someone you like. It helps to have a plan or destination, but also to be flexible in those plans. You might end up some place you'd never dreamed of!

When you push your boundaries, you encounter people, weather, geography, history, plants or animals that you've only read about or seen on TV.

Two people and a dog can coexist for five weeks in 300 sq. ft. Great trip; until next time.

DuBois, WY to Idaho Falls, ID

Friday – Mar 17 Happy St. Patrick’s Day – Early rising and found six deer out the back window. 

Headed down to the Cowboy Café for breakfast.  Our last day on the road (for a while). We drove up into the mountains and into snowmobile country. There is still plenty of snow and plenty of snowmobilers.  At the pass, I got some pretty pictures of Grand Teton National Park.

North of Jackson Hole, WY is the National Refuse so we stopped to look. They say they usually have around 7000 elk winter here.

Then a quick trip over the mountains via Alpine (cause the Jackson pass was closed to trailers).

We are home. The snow is melted and a few flowers have poked up through the dirt.  

So tomorrow, will be the moral of the story.

Fort Robinson State park, NE to DuBois, WY

Thursday – Mar 16  Up at daylight.  No other campers showed up last night. Two nights with no water hookup due to cold temps.

We need a campground with water tonight. It is shower day. We drove to the Nebraska/Wyoming border and no interesting welcome sign.  Hmmm.  We drove to Lusk, WY for coffee.  While waiting for coffee, I overheard a 20 something year old man talking about his long hard day yesterday. He spent the day trying to break in a horse. He said he was exhausted at the end of the day. He was breaking the horse and driving cattle.  Yep, back in cowboy country.

Stopped in Douglas, WY for a picture with an 8 foot jackalope.

Terrain changed to more of a scrub brush vs. the grasslands of Nebraska.  And we started seeing antelope. Lots of antelope. And train cars full of coal heading east. One had eight engines pulling about a hundred cars. (no, I didn’t count them).

Glenrock is the home of one of the largest coal fire plants in the country.  Not sure how big it is compared to the one in Texas. But this one was right on the Platt River and was big alright. Just didn’t seem as big cause the other one was bunched up in that tight little lake area. 

Jim graduated from high school in Casper, WY.  We slowed down for pictures of the Casper Refinery.  His dad worked for the oil business and he wasn’t sure what he did in Casper. Thinks he had a desk job. His dad specialized in the natural gas compression end of things.

We drove past Natrona County High School where he graduated. He didn’t want to stop but the school was 2.5 times as big as when he went there. Lots of additions and a big football stadium that wasn’t there before. I asked if he wanted to drive by his old house. He said, Nah.  Then we stopped at the historic Fort Casper on the Platt River for lunch.  I forgot to take any pictures. Oh, well.  It was that wind. It had found us at the Wyoming line and had been with us all day.  The DOT digital sign warned us shortly after entering Wyoming to be aware of 40+ mile per hour winds.

From Casper to DuBois, we had wind, antelope, more wind, more antelope.  Saw one prairie dog. They might be waking up to spring.  Near Crowheart, we saw two herds of deer of 20 or so.

We planned to stay at the DuBois KOA, but they aren’t yet open for the season. In fact, no campgrounds were open in DuBois.  So here we are at the Branding Iron Inn in a little cabin.  We had nice warm showers, restaurant food and are settled in for the night.  Looked out the window as two deer wandered across the end of the parking area. Nice.

Atkinson Lake State Park to Fort Robinson State Park, NE

Wednesday – Mar 15  Burr….cold….27 degrees and still snow on the ground.  Luckily, we haven’t had snowy roads in Nebraska.   On this day, in 1912, my grandma Margaret Boyack was born. Thinking about her today.  It was her ancestors we visited near Table Rock yesterday.

When we were completing our registration form for the campground at the honor system box, I noticed that there were directions to a Tornado Storm shelter.  It was right behind where we parked. I walked over to take a picture and looked inside and you could probably get ten really close friends inside.  I guess in an emergency, it would be fine.  The door latched and seals so it was pretty clean.  The air vents are on top.

We drove out of Atkinson and headed to Bassett.  From studying our maps, we weren’t sure that we would be able to drive to the last cemetery. The roads were muddy and the last stretch was going to be a cow trail.  We drove 13 miles south on the highway and had nine to go at the turn off.  We just couldn’t chance it in the RV.  Poor old Ellen Dickerson.  Her husband was back in North Bend and her children moved on.

We continued west through the Sand Hills of Nebraska.  The Dickerson’s were out here trying to homestead.  No wonder they moved on.  It’s pretty bleak out here.  It’s cattle country now, but in order to keep a homestead, you had to harvest a crop. That was a real slim chance.  Next was Ainsworth, where we stopped for coffee. We had noticed hundreds of geese flying north all across Nebraska. 

We stopped at Fort Robinson State Park. We decided to spend the night.  The weather was up to 74 degrees.  We unloaded our bikes and road around this old army base.  It is a beautiful spot but was erected to help with the Indian Wars of 1876 – 1891. 

On the site, is a replica of the jail where Crazy Horse was held and then killed while allegedly trying to escape. Also the site of the Cheyenne Outbreak of 1879.  

The literature states that Crazy Horse surrendered 889 members of his tribe at Camp Robinson. Then he tried to escape only a few months later on Sept 5, 1877.  A sad part of our American history.

This fort is one of the best maintained forts we have visited over the years. It has also been used as largest training center for Army horses and mules in 1919; US Olympic Equestrian Team trained here from 1935-1939; German POW camp established 1943; USDA Beef cattle research station operated 1949 – 1971; and then taken over by Nebraska State Parks in 1955.

We spent the night at the Fort Robinson campground and were the only campers that night.

Nebraska City, NE to Atkinson Lake State park, NE

Tuesday – Mar 14  There was a light snow coming down when we got up this morning.  Not too many people out camping in Nebraska this time of year. 

We drove up towards Omaha and took the Loop away from downtown, but went past Boys Town. It has a pretty big footprint and old but well maintained buildings. At least from the freeway view. We drove through Fremont and on to North Bend and started looking for cemeteries.  The first cemetery was on a dirt road and called the Summit Grove Cemetery.  It overlooked a valley and the Platt River. Here I found one of my Brown ancestors.

Then we went several miles south and west to the Purple Cane Cemetery.  This cemetery was affiliated with the Purple Cane Methodist Episcopal Church which had a marker just across the street. The church was no longer standing.  I found a Stubbert ancestor and three Dickerson ancestors.  I was looking for a Dickerson who died at age 47 and found he was buried near his parents. So that was an unexpected find. (for a genealogist)!

We left the North Bend area and headed towards Bassett, NE.  On our way we saw some unusual NE sites.  Why were these electrical posts at an angle?

And all about them cornhuskers?

We drove to the Atkinson Lake State Park and spent the night there.  It was completely empty so we were the only one’s camping.  It’s still cold here.

Independence, MO to Nebraska City, NE

Monday – March 13  Got up intact at the KOA at Oak Grove, MO.  On March 6 of this very year or seven days ago to be exact; a F-3 Tornado hit Oak Grove, MO.  The KOA lady said that they weren’t worried because it was over a mile away.   Last night, Annette told us, that it was nothing to worry about because the tornado hits a very narrow area.  There are sirens and shelters, so no worries. We didn’t worry and slept pretty good. After breakfast, we drove over to Steve’s house and he navigated us over to the Mount Washington cemetery in Independence.  We found his grandma’s grave marker (Marge’s mother) and Marge is buried next to her.  Marge's marker is not yet there.  Steve is going to check on it and send me a photo as soon as it is set.

Then we went over to Martha’s for a cup of coffee and a goodbye.  I made Steve take another photo with me because he was hiding behind his wife in the one from last night.  Steve is the one who took Marge to all her doctor appointments over the last year.  She told me how helpful he was.

We went back and hooked up and headed north.

We left Independence and crossed the Missouri River.  

We found a Five Guys in Liberty, MO, so stopped for lunch.  It is cold, cold, cold. We crossed the Missouri River again at St. Joseph, MO and into Kansas. 

Our drive into Kansas wasn’t long and all we really saw was evidence of last year’s corn crop and some silos.

Talked to Braxton today because it's his Happy Birthday!!  He was trying to help us out with mail pickup since we've been gone so long.

We drove on into Nebraska to Table Rock for the first of several cemeteries I am searching for in Nebraska. 

The Clear Creek Cemetery was about four miles down some dirt roads.  Glad it hadn’t rained there lately.  Anyway, found four ancestors…Wilcox, Parrish, Parrish, Parrish.  The Wilcox ancestor was a civil war veteran.

The sky actually revealed some blue. Yippee.  And big fluffy (not rain) clouds.  We traveled north and found an RV park near the Nebraska/Iowa border. Which is also the Missouri River!

Branson, MO to Oak Grove (Independence), MO

Sunday – March 12  We didn’t do anything last night in Branson, due to the snow.  And we got up to the snow still on the ground and froze to the trees. 

We decide to take a drive around the town.  This town is larger than it seems and the attractions are shopping, shows and restaurants.  Mostly.  We were looking for coffee and found a Krispy Kreme donut place.  Just coffee, we said. That’s all we are ordering, we said.  As we were standing in line, a worker came up and asked us and another two people if we had our free donut yet.  So we each took one. It was free!  Right out of the cooker. It was hot and moist and so good.  So we ordered our coffee and I ordered another chocolate covered donut and Jim had a fritter. 

Not really our kind of town.  I realize we don’t really do too many concerts and those we do are people we really want to see.  The shows must be good because people love them. There are a lot of imitators. One show had imitators of Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.  Then Dolly has a big place with a show with horses and such.  We just didn’t see the need to spend an extra night here.  I can see where it might be pretty crowded in the summer. Lots to do.

We left Branson and headed north. We drove through the rest of the pine forest. I guess the Ozark Mountains are spread through northern Arkansas and Southern Missouri.  Later we started getting more oak trees and less pines, but still very woody. 

We crossed a lot of water at the Lake of the Ozarks, Truman Recreation Area.

We left the woods behind in about Clinton, MO and started into farm land.  We found our KOA campground at Oak Grove, MO.

I had contacted shirt tail relatives in Independence when we started this trip. We had arranged to meet for dinner when we got to town.  I wanted to see Martha who is the sister of Marge.  Marge was the step-grandmother to Sonya and Sam.  I had seen Martha several times over the years, when she and her husband would come to Idaho or when I would travel to Missouri with either Jim or Sonya and Sam. Martha is now 88 years old and sharp as a tack.  She brought three of her five children.  Steve brought his wife, Denise. All total we had Jim and I, Martha, Steve & Denise, Neal, and Annette.

Denise, Steve, Neal, Annette, Martha, Cindy

They assured us that Branson is a fun town and that it rarely snows. We also talked about the Lake of the Ozarks where they do some fishing.  It is 100 miles long and is created by two dams.

Steve is going to come pick us up tomorrow and take us out to see Marge’s grave.

Hot Springs, AR to Branson, MO

Saturday – Mar 11  Up at dawn in Hot Springs National Park. We had our breakfast at McDonalds!  We drove up the Hot Springs Mountain Tower Road to the observatory.  We arrived at 8:20 am and it didn’t open until 9 am. 

But the view was spectacular anyway.  Because the trees don’t yet have their spring leaves, we could see everything anyway.   Lots of oaks and pines. So we headed back down the mountain. 

Near the Fordyce Visitor Center is the formal entrance to the “Federal Reserve”. The walk way is marked by two columns with two eagles. 

We walked through the gateway and up the steps to a brick promenade that follows up and behind the eight bathhouses. This was created so the tourists could walk between the bathhouses and the Arlington Hotel. So we walked the promenade and walked through the lobby of the hotel.

We walked through the Fordyce Bathhouse. This building has been preserved to reflect the popularity of the healing bath waters.  People came from about the 1880’s through the 1950’s to seek cures of all their ailments. These were modeled after the bathhouses of Europe.  It’s now popular again, with bath’s, steam cabinets, hot and cold packs, whirlpools and massages.  Lots of other spa options available in town too.  The Fordyce Bathhouse was divided into the men's areas and the women's areas.  There were private stalls with tubs. This shows the stout faucet to bring in the water.

We didn’t soak, but I got a bottle of the healing water at one of the public water stations. (Tested and approved by the park service).

Drove back to the Hot Springs KOA and loaded up.

We left Hot Springs and drove to Little Rock where we crossed the Arkansas River.

We drove north and stopped at Buffalo River National River.  This river was declared the first protected river in the USA in 1972.  Since it was a rainy spring day, no one was out floating the river. But vendors had hundreds of canoes ready for rent in the nearby towns.

We reached Harrison, AR and the snow came down. 

We drove the last 30 miles to Branson, MO and parked at the KOA for the night.

Tatum, TX to Louisiana to Hot Springs National Park, AR

Friday – March 10   Woke up at the state park still a little miffed that this is considered a state park. I mean, the coal plant runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.  The train cars bringing coal into the plant are continuous. And what the heck is this thingamajig? Are they catching mutated bass that they hang from these hooks? Just saying….

Left the park, and calmed down when I saw a pretty red bird, a turtle at the end of a driveway and a flock of 20 or so vultures.  And some beautiful purple flowers that were climbing trees like ivy.

We were soon into the NE corner of Louisiana. We stopped at the visitor’s center just over the state line and I asked about any kind of history to do with Shreveport and the Louisiana Hayride show.  The lady said that an old theater was downtown and there was a statute of Elvis out front.  The theater was usually closed except for special events but had lots of pictures of the old stars inside.  We bypassed Shreveport and headed north.  We saw some fields that looked like cotton had been harvested.  We found a sign stating that Cotton was King in NE Louisiana.  But there were also fields of cattle and fields of oil wells.

I began to see trees that looked like cypress trees.  We stopped to take some pictures and found that there was an oil leak in the water where the trees were.  Well that never happens. Hmmm. I’m sure someone will be right on it.  I’m sure this hasn’t been leaking long.  I’m sure somebody cares.

We decided to cross the Red River while still in Louisiana. “Come and sit by my side if you love me….”

Drove into Arkansas and soon was into some forest.  But the forest looked planted as the trees were in rows, for miles and miles.  And we discovered game farms again.  High deer fences to keep the deer in and hunting stands to help you wait for your deer to walk by.  This was also popular in Texas.

I said to Jim, “are we going to Hope, Arkansas?”  He said, yes, it’s on the way to Hot Springs.  So we stopped for a look around Bill Clinton’s boyhood town and home.  We had lunch at Tailgates.  This restaurant had three pickup tailgates attached to the wall and we used them instead of chairs. That was kinda cool.

Then we drove to the National Historical Park of the boyhood home of William Jefferson Clinton.  The home was on a main street and was owned by his mother’s parents.  His mother and he moved in with his grandparents when his father was killed in a car accident three months before he was born. 

We drove on to Hot Springs, AR and went to the KOA campground.  After getting settled, we had dinner downtown at the Brick House Grill.  Nice spot for dinner in the old historic downtown.

We walked down Bathhouse Row in the National Park and marveled at the beautiful bathhouses preserved by the National Parks.  We learned that the hot springs had been used by the natives and then were discovered by settlers when Andrew Jackson was president. He set the area aside as a National Preserve.  This was to keep the healing springs open to all Americans at a time when only a few people wanted to lay claim to them.

The park had closed by the time we finished dinner, so we will come back to look around tomorrow.