Nebraska. Honestly, it's not for everyone.
Oh Nebraska, you are… well, you are full of corn and flatness is what you are. We hit the road into Nebraska Wednesday morning and drove. And drove. And drove some more. We saw corn. And more corn. And even more corn. Apparently their new state slogan is “Honestly, it’s not for everyone”. We took a slice through the middle of the state and made the best of it. At our half way point we made a stop at Homestead National Monument of America so the kids could earn their first Junior Ranger Badges of the trip. We learned about each state that was homesteaded starting in 1863 and how it continued until the 1970s when Alaska was homesteaded. We walked the land there in the insane heat (we got to Nebraska just in time to enjoy their 100+ degree heat wave) and saw how hard the families had to work to earn their land. We looked inside a cabin where 12 people lived during that time. It was smaller than our camper. Talk about perspective.
After we talked about just how “soft” we are in todays society (as we whined about the heat as we walked back towards our air-conditioned car and chilled soft drinks) we continued on through Nebraska. Wednesday night we rolled into North Platte where our campsite awaited us by the river. Ahhh, to be less redneck and park at an actual campground (the non redneck-ness was broken the next day when we gave the kids baths via water hose). We slept like champs in the #airstreamstarship and woke up Thursday morning unmotivated to do much of anything. The kids played on the playground and then we set out to take care of some chores (because real life doesn’t stop on the road). We’ve been spoiled by Walmart pickup for so long that I almost didn’t know how to shop for groceries (see, told you we were soft). Once we headed back to the camper we realized that a large aluminum can + 105 degree temps + absolutely no shade in Nebraska = so hot its stupid even with the air and fans running full speed so our plans to cook supper changed to a dinner out for Mexican because their AC could keep up! The heat also gave us an excuse to take Phoenix to his first movie. We sang and danced along to The Lion King at its opening show and called it a fun treat. We were back home by 8pm and it still looked like the middle of the day outside… these sunlight hours are messing with out heads for real. Instead of putting the kids to bed like we probably should have, we threw them in the river for a swim instead. By the time the sun went down (around 9:45) the camper was nice and cool and everyone was ready for a good nights sleep.
The next morning it was time to get up and hit the road towards the Oregon Trail. Yes, the actual Oregon Trail. We drove a few more hours through Nebraska (the state that seemed like it would never end at that point) and stopped at Scotts Bluff National Monument. It was such a fun National Park for a stop off. After flat and corn for as far as the eyes can see, hills start to arrive as you approach Scotts Bluff and it’s truly surprising. We had a picnic and then went to the top of the bluff and into valley. We walked the Oregon trail and saw hands-on how folks traveled in the not-so-good ‘ol days. No-one in our party died of dysentery like I always did on the game in elementary school. Go us.
The kids worked hard and earned another Junior Ranger Badge and cheered with excitement when they saw that it was the 100th anniversary of the park and their badges are one of a kind.
Pause: Have we mentioned how much we love the Junior Ranger Program? The fact that it is FREE and the kids (and us too honestly) learn so much and then get to leave with a souvenir is simply genius.
Resume: After Scotts Bluff we continued down the road after a short adventure of my driving the camper while Evan flew his drone overhead (because nothing about that scenario could go wrong, right?) and finally left the flat state of corn and entered into Wyoming where the mountains await us. Casper is our short stop for the night and then it will be our first big picturesque destination: Grand Teton National Park. We are excited and so so thankful that the Lord allows us to explore His creation. Bring on the mountains!