Words for Beauty, Memories, and State Lines

     From Chimney Rock National Historic, a prominent marker on the Emigrant Trail near Bayard, Nebraska, we drove about 90 minutes to a private campground on Lake McConaughy, a Nebraska state recreation site that the Allstays App helped us locate. 

The beautiful rolling landscape of Great Plains farming and grazing country.

Early May is early or pre-season in many parts of the country, and here, as with most campgrounds we've stayed in on this trip, there were few sites occupied. We had our pick of dry camp spots right on the water. With our solar panel to run the refrigerator, 8-gallon water tank, and propane stove, we are self-sufficient. 

Our main criteria for that night's campsite was laundry and showers. Since Doug does 99.9% of the driving, while he relaxed by the lake with a book, Marilyn hit the laundry room. This also meant charging her computer, which in this case required practically vaulting over a washing machine to get to an outlet. Otherwise, we charge the computer only when actually driving, as it would drain the house battery too much--and that requires that at least one of two people who seem to have become somewhat memory challenged remembers to plug in the computer AND turn on the inverter.

     The following morning, we drove through Ogallala, Nebraska, whose name Marilyn recalls from her family's 1958 road trip from California to Pennsylvania. (It was the end of the first time she lived in California--her dad's company transferred him to the West Coast and after 5 years, back to Pittsburgh.) Her dad's brain was sort of like Atlas Obscura, so the name Ogallala would have tickled him, but she doesn't recall if they just passed through or spent the night. The town's name derives from the Ogala Sioux. We had previously on this trip been in the Oglala National Grasslands. Clearly, the name has many spellings. Should you pass through this one-time stop on the Union Pacific Railroad, end of the Texas Trail for cattle headed to market, and disputes between farmers and ranchers (remember "The Farmer and the Cowman" in "Oklahoma"?), here are some things to do.

Marilyn is fond of photographing signs as souvenirs and writing guides...

...and since this was the first time we'd spotted a Nebraska sign, 

Doug kindly drove her back and forth across the Nebraska-Kansas border...

 ...to obtain the requisite pictures...

...which meant we changed time zones three times in about three minutes.

     Our destination that day was Bird City, Kansas, where Doug's grandfather had resided. In addition to locating and photographing family headstones at the cemetery, he photographed all that remains--the garage--of the family's homes. On a trip with his father and brother and also solo, Doug had spent time with the Bird City branch of the Snider family.

We overnighted in nearby St. Francis's free city park campground and had breakfast the next morning in St. Francis at Fresh Seven Coffee, a wonderful find. The avocado toast--light on toast, big on avocado and shredded veges--was to die for. 

And the women's room had this rather cool toilet paper holder...not exactly conducive to conservation, even for adults....

Then we were headed to visit family and friends in Colorado.