Home

We took our time packing up.  Thankfully, it wasn't raining.   The day was overcast but no rain.  

When we crossed the Mississippi River, we knew that our trip was nearly over.

Home Sweet Home
We drove 300 miles today only stopping for gas and at a rest area one time. 
We drove the motorhome 5,918 miles and the car 2,809 miles in the six weeks.  It was a great trip.  We saw so much beautiful scenery from the mountains, to the tall redwood trees, to the ocean, to the desert, to the plains.   If I could choose my favorite place that we visited, I would not be able to do it.  We met so many neat people and dogs.  We renewed old friendships.  We visited family.   Every trip we take, we try to buy something for the motorhome as a souvenir of the trip.  This year we brought a small sign that says "Living the Dream."  That, in three words, sums up what this trip was for us.  We were living the dream of traveling Carol and I have had for many years.  Next year we want to take six weeks and travel the southwest.   If good health allows, we will continue to "live the dream."

Another Rainy Day on the Road

The night was filled with thunder, lightening, and rain, but what woke me up was the sound of Carol swatting flies.  It seems that flies, like mice, can find even the smallest opening to get into your house.  Their was a young couple from Elgin, Illinois camped in a tent across the road.  Last night, they were in their car to avoid the flies.  Sometime before we got up (6:30 a.m.) they packed up and left.  I don't know if it was the rain or the flies!

We took our time packing up because we only had 300 miles before our next stop.  It is a good thing we had time because when we put the big slide in, it wouldn't move.  Thankfully, that had happened last year and Carol had been able to fix it.  It requires a new bolt to hold together two tubes that rotate allowing the slide to move in or out.  Finally, we got on the road about 9:15. 

The rains began again.  It rained most of the day, sometimes harder than other times.    We stopped for gas at Gretna, just outside Omaha.  Every time we drive through Omaha, it has changed.  We crossed the Missouri River into Iowa.  I think Iowa is so pretty.  I love to see the rolling hills of corn.

As we were driving east, we could see the darker clouds give way to a lighter sky.  

We have not watched much TV or listened to radio other than XM so we don't know what is happening in this country or the world.  I did see something on the news feed of my phone about the shooter in Las Vegas.  We assume that the flags flying at half mast are about that event.  Sometimes it is good  to be unaware of  what is going on in the world.

We are camped at Newton, Iowa KOA.  It is a nice campground.  We got in about 3:30 so I decided to do laundry.  That is one less thing I will have to do when we get home tomorrow.  We got out the lawn chairs to relax.  It is much warmer here.  We don't need jackets or sweatshirts.  

The only negative to this campground is its location so near to I-80.  I took this picture from our site.  I did use my long lens but it is close. 

It began raining, of course, so we had to turn on the air conditioner because of the humidity.  A reminder that we are back in the Midwest and humidity.  Tomorrow is the last day of our trip.  We are only 300 miles from home so we won't be in a hurry to pack up. 

Rain - Snow - Sun - Rain

Very early in the morning, it began to rain, rain, and rain.  We had planned to get up early to load the car and get on the road but when we got up at 5:30, it was raining and dark so we waited.  Finally at 7:00 it was light enough to see what we were doing.  We donned rain ponchos and forged ahead in packing up.  About the time we  began to load the car, the rain stopped briefly.  Thank you, Lord.  We were on the road by 8:00 a.m. which we were happy with.  It had began to rain again but we were on the road.

The rain turned to snow.  In some places, we could hardly see.  We pulled into a gas station in Cheyenne and I took this picture.   As we drove east on I-80 the snow turned to rain and finally the rain stopped.  I guess we had gotten ahead of the storms and rain.   We were hoping it wouldn't catch us until after we arrived at our campground and were set up.

The Arch on I-80.

Windmill State Park.  This is the third time we have camped here.  The last time we were here, this windmill had been damaged by heavy winds and was missing.  We were glad to see it back in its place.

 The clouds have begun to break up and the sun is beginning to shine through.

This metal sculpture of a sand-hill crane was new since the last time we were here.  This part of Nebraska is home to the feeding grounds of the sand hill crane when they migrate to  Canada in March.

This is the road into the campground.  Carol is actually casting a shadow something that has not been possible for the last week.

There is a small lake in the park.

Another windmill in the park.

Above and below are pictures of the view from our camper.  In August I had reserved our spot but when we arrived today, a car was parked in that spot.  Carol went to the camp host and he told Carol find another spot.  We did just that.  We discovered, after we had set up, that the 50 amp service doesn't work.  We can manage on 30 amp but we have to keep track of our electric usage to make sure we don't go over 30 amps.

The black spots on our motorhome are not mud.  They are flies.  This place must be the gathering place for all the flies in Nebraska.  These guys are trying to get in.  Unfortunately, some of their buddies managed and we have spent the evening trying to end their lives.   The flies are so terrible that it is impossible to sit outside.  The sun was out, the temperatures pleasant, so we got our lawn chairs out to enjoy being outside but the flies were too pesky.  We had to go in and turn on the air conditioner.  We have camped here two other times and we don't remember having problems with flies.

As we were eating supper, we could hear rain on the roof of the motorhome.  It was raining again!   Parts of Nebraska are under a severe thunderstorm warning.  The radio said those on I-80 between mile marker 310 and 320 were a part of the warning.  We are at mile marker 287 so hopefully, we will miss the really bad stuff.  Sandy is hiding under the table.  She is scared because of the thunder and the constant sound of fly swatting.   

We are hoping that by tomorrow morning the rains will have stopped.  We would love to drive in the sun for a change.

Fun with Family: Come Rain or Come Shine

This beautiful morning scene is a picture of the calm after the storm.  About 3:30 this morning, I was awakened by the sound of John, Linda, and the kids coming into the motorhome and the sound of strong winds blowing.  Because of the winds, they were having trouble keeping their tent up so they abandoned it for the stronger walls of a motorhome.  I made a quick trip outside to secure chairs and found that the tablecloth had already blown away.    The four of them got settled and then the rains began.  It was a good thing they got in when they did.  Carol slept through it all!

It was nice to actually see the mountains this morning.  It was like I said, the calm after the storm,

We went to the Cracker Barrel for lunch.  It was very busy so we wandered around the store area.  By the time we left the Cracker Barrel, the weather had changed from sunny to heavy clouds and winds and cooler temperatures.

After lunch we went to Harvest Farm where John works for their annual Fall Festival.  All money made during the four weekends of the festival goes toward the ministry of Harvest Farm.

Pumpkins of every shape, size, and color were available for purchase.

Aidan tries his hand at the corn shooter.

Katie's turn is next.

This man is "loading" the corn shooter.

Grandpa proved to be a dead-eyed shooter. He hit the target.

John had a chance to shoot.

John, Aidan, me, Katie, and Linda.

Katie climbs on her horse to lasso a cow.

Aidan has his chance to rope a cow.

The kids talked grandpa into trying and trying is all he did.

Katie is trying to get out of the "spider's web."

John, Katie and Aidan on the hay mounds.

Aidan and Katie

Katie got "caught at Harvest Farm."

Aidan also got "caught at Harvest Farm."

Katie is such a happy young lady.

Harvest Farm is a working farm so they have lots of animals.  I found these two goats enjoying the shelter of a large crate.   Besides goats there are rabbits, cows, chickens, and pigs.  There is also a farm dog named Abbey.

There was an obstacle course and Aidan is balancing on a teeter-totter.

Katie is on the teeter-totter.

The winds were getting stronger and the temperatures felt like they were dropping.  The skies were getting dark in the west over the mountains.  Then an announcement was made for everyone to seek shelter because severe storm warnings had been issued for the area.  We were in the shelter for about 30 minutes until the storm passed over.  We decided to call it a day.  We didn't get to go through the corn maze, ride the haywagon, or see the pig race.  I really wanted to see the pig race!   It was still a fun time.  The men and staff of Harvest Farm worked hard to get set up and it is sad that this first weekend ended with bad weather.    We met several of the men who participate in the Harvest Farm program and they really seemed to like and respect John.  It made us feel good to know John is making a difference in the lives of men who need direction and support as they work toward changing their lives.

We had to say goodbye to John, Linda, Katie and Aidan.  Despite having to deal with changing weather, rain, cold, and winds, we had a great time with them.

When we got back to the campground,  we left the stormy weather and returned to partly cloudy and milder temperatures.  This is a picture of the mountains in the west.  Below is a picture of the sky in the east.  It looks like they may be getting the stormy weather we experienced at Harvest Farm.

We spent the rest of the afternoon packing up everything we could in preparation for leaving tomorrow.  Even though we have three days of travel to get back to Decatur, Illinois, it feels like the trip is over.  We will be driving every day with no sight-seeing.  It is at this point of any trip/vacation we take, that we are both ready to get on the road and get home.