Blog

Our drive on Friday was relatively easy. The weather was fine and we were looking forward to a few days of rest from driving. We arrived at Paul’s cousin’s home in Beatrice, Nebraska, mid afternoon. The rest of the family wasn’t arriving from Kansas until Saturday morning, so we had a quiet evening together. Saturday morning, the rest of the cousins arrived and we had 2 good days with the 7 of us. We ate well and had a good time catching up with each other. A number of rounds of corn hole were played and the weather cooperated so we could be outside most of the time.

On Sunday afternoon we made a quick trip to a National Historical Park just 5 minutes from where we were staying. It was the site to commemorate the passing of the Homestead Act in 1863. 160 acres of free land was given to people who were willing to help settle the western USA. We were also able to purchase our National Park pass while we were there.

So we said goodbye to the cousins from Kansas tonight and will pack up in the morning to head out for our next stop. It’s been a great time of relaxation and catching up with family but we’re looking forward to the next stage of our trip.

We had a rather lazy morning and shortly after we were on the road, we made a stop at a “historic” site. Known as Iowas 80 – world’s largest truck stop. Everything a trucker could ever want as well as souvenirs and gifts and lots of food options. If you wanted fast food, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Dairy Queen or others or a sit down meal, you could have it here.

We arrived at our stop for tonight before 5. It was in a small town south of I80 just before we got to Nebraska. The staff was still working – this is normally a self checkin park. However, one of their camping areas is being upgraded and the area with paved sites was full. That left the grassy sites and the park staff was concerned the grass might be too soft for us. – they had 5” of rain yesterday! When he heard we didn’t need any hookups, he offered us a spot at the gate for no charge since we just wanted to stay overnight. They also have a compound with buffalo here so we had our first viewing, but behind a fence. Tomorrow we head to spend a few days with cousins.