Lincoln, Nebraska

Our campground in Lincoln (pictured above) was greening up nicely compared to our time there in February.  While all the green stuff loved several days in a row of rain, I’ll admit we got a little tired of it!  We took a drive down south of town to a couple of Nebraska State Parks: Wagon Train and Stagecoach.  The two parks are fairly close to each other, and each of them encloses a small lake.  As you can see below, the lakes were up a couple of feet!

 

 

 

The geese didn’t seem to mind the high water – there were dozens of goslings being guided around the park by watchful adults.

 

This farm is just outside Stagecoach Park.

 

North Platte, Nebraska

We’ve driven the route from Lincoln to Denver more times than I care to count, and most often we stop at the midway point for fuel.  So all North Platte has meant to us was fast food and fuel.  This trip we decided to take it easy and spend the night there.

Our campground was quiet and very close to the Famous (?) Fort Cody.

 

Fort Cody is one of those tourist traps that you always drive by, but where you never stop.  Turns out “Buffalo Bill” Cody drove stagecoaches into North Platte from Kearney in 1865, and opened his “Wild West Show” here in 1893.  This “Fort,” is apparently full of his memorabilia, but I don’t know for sure, since the virus has shut it down.  I’m sure it was open the thousands of times I’ve driven right by, but the one time I have the time to check it out, it’s closed.  Ha!

 

Tourists may not currently be allowed inside, but manikins still guard the walls, apparently from guests of the nearby Hampton Inn.

Muffler Men

Bob Prewitt, in 1962, made a huge fiberglass sculpture of Paul Bunyan for the Paul Bunyan Cafe on Route 66 in Flagstaff, Arizona.  Paul held a huge axe in his hands, right hand palm up, and left hand palm down.  Prewitt’s fiberglass company was bought out the following year by a boatbuilder, who figured they could build more of these 20 foot titans fairly easily.  Many sprung up along Route 66 and other places around the country to lure people off the road and into shops, museums, restaurants and more.  So many were used by muffler shops (the hands held mufflers easily) that they became known as “Muffler Men.”  As the years went by, many morphed into other characters.  I was pleased to find that Fort Cody includes a Muffler Man turned Indian.  As most of the surviving Muffler Men, the pose is the same; looking a bit awkward without an axe or muffler!

 

We decided to walk for a little exercise and exploration on a quest for groceries.  We used our little Burley trailer… and tried to get this chapped and saddled dinosaur to help pull it, but he wasn’t about to join in.  Posing for the picture was all the effort he was willing to expend.

 

Now we’re back in the Denver area – at a nice campground nestled around a big rock outcropping.  The sky is beautiful and things are still very green.  Again, when we were here in February, we saw more snow than green…

 

Last night was beautiful… and I love trying night photography.  This shot (at 10:30pm) is all Colorado… an SUV, with kayaks and bikes, in front of a rocky outcropping and a gorgeous sky.  Love it!

 

That rocky hill beside the camp used to have a walking path up the middle.  It’s been closed for a long time, but at night this locked entrance took on a somewhat spooky look. On that strange note, I’ll close this blog.