Great Stops and Not so Great Campgrounds

 

Pony Express Station

September 7 – We got up at 7 and decided to take bananas with us and stop at the McDonald’s on the way for breakfast biscuits. Vary things up so it doesn’t get boring! I had just a sausage biscuit with grape jelly and Bill had a burrito thing and an egg biscuit.  On our way there we stopped at the park where the Pony Express Station was.  It was not there originally but moved to the park.

 

Archway Monument over I-80

It was a good day and it was a bad day. It was really cold when we left and overcast and not looking like a good day for travelling, but we headed on down the road to our first stop, Archway Monument at Kearny, NE. It’s the only museum built across an Interstate. We arrived shortly after opening and there was hardly anyone there so we had no trouble parking. The museum is two stories and you get headsets that tell you what you are seeing as you pass through each section. It’s all radio signals so if you want you can go back and it will replay that section. The monument tells the history of westward expansion, beginning with the first wagon trains, then the gold rush, the use of stage coaches, then the train, then the building of the Lincoln Highway and car traffic west. You take an escalator up to start and once you cross over you climb to the second level and cross back while seeing the rest of the story. A lot is video displays and real cars, etc. It was much more than we thought it would be and something we would highly recommend.

 

Sapps Water Tower

At our fuel stop we decided to get Arby’s for lunch. It was in the gas station so it was really convenient. Nice change. We split a bag of curly fries, which I haven’t had in years. I love Arby’s classics with horsey sauce. Our next stop was a short one at the Sapp’s Coffee Pot Water Tower which is a truck stop and restaurant and coffee shop. I couldn’t get in a good spot for a good photo but I did get a good cappuccino!

 

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We exited at Avoca, Iowa to see the Volkswagon made into a spider and went where it was supposed to be but we couldn’t find it. Darn! So further down the road we exited in Elk Horn, Iowa to see the Danish windmill. It’s at the visitor center and as our luck runs, it was closed, but we parked across the street and got some nice photos. The windmill was built in Denmark and shipped to Elk Horn to be constructed in the Danish town.

 

It was getting late and we were happy to get to the Adair exit as we had planned to stay at the city park campground. Well, first it was full and if it wasn’t the spaces would not accommodate our RV and the people and place were straight out of “Deliverance”. So I drove back to I-80 and Bill got on my phone and he said the next town, Casey, had a city park with spots, so we stopped there. There were no other campers but we could not figure out how to park and not block someone else and there were no water hook ups and we didn’t put enough water in our tank for showers. So, it was back on the road. Well, after getting dinner out for Xena and Molly. I was getting hungry too, AND really tired, but it was like I told Bill, there just were not many campgrounds in that area. Lots of small towns but no camping. He checked the Next Exit book and found 2. The KOA was closest and would keep us from backtracking in the morning so he called and they had space. It was not worth $41 but it was a full hook up and we were so tired and ready to stop. The site was not level and it was really narrow and the sewer connection was about 8 inches high so the waste water would not go in with out working it down the pipe. What a pain! But you are a captive audience out here.

 

On the way to the KOA we did get to stop at Freedom Rock in Menlo, IA. Photos of the rock have been around on the internet for years and it was such an honor to get to see it in person. It’s just a big rock on a corner in the middle of no where and someone built a shelter by it with photos of the rock from each year it’s been painted since 1999. A flag pole has been erected and it’s a chilling moment to know that a veteran designs and paints it each year. It’s done in scenes of different war eras and the ashes of 30 Vietnam soldiers are used in the paint. It’s really something to see.

 

Once we got settled in at the KOA Bill said to just fix soup, so I did a Karen and we shared a can of Progresso Chicken Noodle soup and I made cheese quesadillas to go with it as it was kinda like grilled cheese. You go with what you’ve got!

 

The campground was pretty full for this time of year. Lots of kids and we think there was a reunion of sorts that was meeting for 2 nights. I took Xena for her walk while Bill emptied the tanks since we were paying for it and then I did my journals, downloaded the pictures from today and posted 2 blogs. I managed to get Jean’s airline tickets booked, so next I need to work on hotels.

 

Time for bed and I’d like to read a little!