Travels of Geo Nova: On The Road Again

On The Road Again

We have started our long slow migration north once again. This time we are detouring through Wyoming, Idaho and Montana where we plan to see Grand Tetons NP and Yellowstone NP. Along this route back to Maine there are multiple stops planned. We will visit family, friends and many places of natural beauty as well as historic sites.

First stop Lake Norman SP where we camp so we can visit with Abe, Alexis and our grand daughter Elliott. They all came out to the campground to meet us and Elliot was wearing a tee shirt that said Big Sister. Our new grandchild is due to make its first appearance just before Thanksgiving. During our 10 day stay we were able to visit with Elliott every day. I was tasked along with John, Ellie's other Grandfather to build a "Picklers Triangle", a climbing apparatus for Elliott. It was great to see how fast she is developing into a little person.

Second Stop, Huntsville Alabama, to visit Airstream friends Russ and PJ. It was great catching up with them. We met them on the Alaska Caravan in 2018. They showed us around the city of Huntsville, of course this tour included stops at several local breweries. Huntsville is a fast growing city with a vibrant feel to it. The aerospace, military and automobile industries seem to be the driving economic forces at play.

Our next objective was the National Quilt Museum in Paducah Kentucky. We were able to park our Airstream in the large parking lot adjacent to the museum under the auspices of an organization called Harvest Host. This organization matches up rv’ers with farms, breweries and museums where we are given a place to park overnight, usually without any services. Our part of the bargain is to spend some money at these places. The Museum was fabulous and the town was a fun place to be. We went out to dinner, it was farm to table, wonderful. Walking there we found a bakery and headed there the next morning.

From Paducah we were headed to Eastern Nebraska to see the Homesteaders National Historic Park in Beatrice Nebraska. Since this jump was over 600 miles we took advantage of Harvest Host and stayed in Mid Missouri where we had cinco de mayo dinner at a local winery/brewery.

Our camping spot in Nebraska was a State historic park called Rock Creek Station, the site of a Pony Express Station. We learned this is where Wild Bill Hickok gained his notoriety. He shot and killed a man under dubious circumstances and was glorified in the press at the time. He was never found guilty of murder but it is far to say he goes down in history as at best an unsavory character. The homestead park did a good job of detailing all the good and bad of the westward expansion of the time. My maternal grandfather’s family were homesteaders in Nebraska at the time.

Next stop in Nebraska is North Platte home of the largest train yard in the world. This is the home of the Union Pacific Railroad. It was interesting to see up close the enormity of the yard. 8 miles by 2 miles. The area is also rich in history. In fact we are camped at Buffalo Bill Cody State Park. His country home is a museum around the corner. At the local history museum we learned about a large group of local ladies that greeted the troops during WWII as they passed through the N Platte train depot. They served meals to1000’s of men on a daily schedule. All food was prepared in their homes and brought to the depot to feed the men.