Oct 22, 2012 - Gering/Scotts Bluff, Nebraska

Gering, Nebraska We arrived in Gering, Nebraska today where the weather was absolutely beautiful. Since we arrived late in the afternoon, we decided to get up early tomorrow and visit the Historical Landmarks of Scotts Bluff and Chimney Rock. When we got up, the fog was so thick it reminded us of home. We had to wait until around 11:00 before the fog lifted. I (Debbie) was not really interested in history growing up so I didn’t really know anything about Scotts Bluff, Chimney Rock or the Oregon Trail. I was so in awe of these historical...

Jul 19, 2012 - Traveling the Oregon Trail

Today was a day for history, we're in the land of the pioneers after all. We began our day by driving up to the summit of Scotts Bluff National Park. The views were amazing, as well as the warning signs for rattlesnakes, Ugh! It did seem like the perfect landscape for them. We traveled down Mitchell Pass, which was where the pioneers crossed through the bluffs in this area. Then we drove down to see some rock formations that were landmarks on the Oregon Trial. Chimney Rock was mentioned in thousands of pioneer journals and diaries....

Jul 18, 2012 - Mountain time, another hour of vacation!

George spent some time this morning trying to get some of the dust off the truck and camper. This part of Nebraska is dry, dusty and has a lot of dirt roads. We'll travel the 230 miles to Scottsbluff, NE, which will take us off I-80 for awhile to explore some of the historical sites along the Oregon trial. Western Nebraska's landscape is very different then it's eastern side. The corn fields are fewer and cows are more abundant. It is flat, dry and prairie looking. We crossed over into Mountain time and gained another hour of our vacation,...

May 30, 2012 - Blown Away!

Scottsbluff, NE. What an interesting day! It went from 48 degrees around 10 am to 82 degrees about 1:30 pm. We had rain and we had sun but mostly we had wind. The wind was gusting up to almost 40 mph in places. It is very dry in western Nebraska and it looks more like August than May. That means the wind was picking up lots of sand and dirt. Visibility was not great as evidenced by the photo of Chimney Rock. We managed to get from Gothenburg to Scottsbluff (supposedly a distance of 209 miles) in just 7 hours. We tend to take "the road less...

Jun 23, 2011 - Wyoming Day-trip

Rented a car in Cheyenne today for 2 days and headed back into Nebraska on I80 and then NE 71 N. 1st stop was the Scottsbluff National Monument. We drove up to the top and then took the short walks to the south and north side for pictures, we then went thru the little museum. We then headed down to Chimney Rock to check it out. It was the landmark the migrants looked for, as it was the end of the first third of their journey and the start of the high-plains and mountains. They also have a little display and short film on the rock and its...

Jun 30, 2010 - Jumping Ahead

Tom and I have enjoyed many places and seen many things from the time we left Georgia in April until now. I have decided to jump head in our story as we have traveled and seen so much in the last few weeks. Back in late May and early June we enjoyed a visit with family in West Tennessee. We spent a week parked in Tom's sister's driveway in McKenize and then week at Reelfoot Lake State Park. Later I will share more about this time. During this time the day time temps were in the mid 90's and extremely hot. We decided it was time to begin...

Jun 3, 2010 - Scottsbluff

Even though I majored in history in college, I don’t think I ever took much interested in the stories of the people who emigrated west on the Oregon Trail. But, there’s nothing like being where things happened to make history come alive. We drove along a highway the follows the route of the Oregon Trail, the Mormon Trail, California Trail and Pony Express trail. They were all along almost the same route next to the North Platte River. It is estimated that 400,000 came through the area on their way to new homes in the west or to look for...

May 14, 2010 - Crossing Nebraska

Who would have known how fascinating Nebraska is? We've sped through it on 2 previous trips, but this time we're going slowly through the central region - along the same route taken by the buffalo (really bison), Indians, pioneers, Mormons, gold seekers, railroad, Pony Express and now Route 80 - all pushing westward. We've stayed off Rte. 80, seeing the country by back roads. The "Sandhills" cover much of the top half of NE and are the largest grass covered sandhills in the Western Hemisphere. Plus there is a large aquifer under 83% of NE -...

Apr 9, 2010 - Scotts Bluff, Nebraska

Yesterday we left Colorado Springs and angled northeast to avoid the interstate and traversed the roads less traveled. We backroaded it right into the prairies and marveled at the unending grasslands. We wound around on several back roads, but had a unique experience when we got stopped for a vehicle like none I have ever seen. All we could surmise was that it was carrying a cargo that must have been extremely heavy because Ralph counted 78 wheels under it. It had a tractor pulling the trailer and also had another pushing from behind. We...

Nov 4, 2009 - St Louis to Scotts Bluff, Nebraska

Nov 2nd: Dick took us on a grand tour of St Louis today. First we went to the Missouri History Museum where there was a really interesting, large display about St Louis’ favourite son, Charles Lindburgh. We then went on to find this really neat, old Irish pub, where we had lunch, then on to the Missouri Botanical Gardens. Wonderful displays there, particularly (for me) in the huge tropical house, which is under a massive glass dome. You stop thinking you’re indoors though with all the foliage, and waterfalls and birds. Nov 3rd: Left...

Oct 10, 2009 - Surprising Nebraska

Thursday was a very gray day for driving. But we managed to put almost 300 miles between us and the white stuff we discovered on the ground around the coach when we woke up in Gering Nebraska. We had planned to leave anyway, especially after checking the weather forecast and noticing the extreme drops in temperatures forecast for the next several days. We also knew that snow was possible but hadn’t expected it to arrive until the next afternoon. What a surprise. We had a route all picked out and I had researched all the possible campgrounds...

Jun 13, 2009 - Scott's Bluff & Chimney Rock

Saturday, June 13th: Scott’s Bluff National Monument and Chimney Rock Historic Site Happy Birthday, Mom and Nathan! Neither of us was feeling well (overdid it yesterday), so took easy in the AM, had an early lunch, and left about noon for the monument. Perfect weather! We could have worn shorts! We first drove up on top, passing through 3 tunnels. This seems to be our trip for tunnels. Both the drive and trail to the top are 1.6 miles, and the trail also had a tunnel. You can even take a free shuttle up and walk down. We’ll be back! We...