The Mormon Trail and Beyond (07-02-19)

After leaving Fort Robinson, (and Mike and Julie) Paul and I needed to figure out our game plan for getting to Michigan, and more importantly, for the Fourth of July.

We are planning on touring the factory  in Michigan that made our pontoon boat, but of course they would be closed for the holiday.











After much searching, we found a county park near Muskegon MI that had sites available (It always makes you wonder how bad a park is if it has sites available for the holidays). Nevertheless, we booked it, so all we had to do now is get there.





We had plenty of time, so we meandered across Nebraska, and decided to loosely follow the Mormon Trail- backwards.

We mostly stayed off the highways and stopped at any of the historical markers that looked interesting.

I had downloaded an app that has all the Nebraska Historical Markers, which was nice, because it also had the verbiage, in an easier to read format.

With temperatures in the high 90s, we traveled a little differently than usual. We were slow to move in the morning, took our time, didn't hike,  stopped at a Planet Fitness when we found one..
















and re-planned our dinner menus to accommodate the fact that it was too hot to cook.  Aldi is a favorite grocery store of ours, and yeah, they have some weird stuff (I did NOT eat any of those).

Paul's 3rd great grandfather started his walking trek in Iowa City Iowa, and walked with his family, pulling a hand cart, all the way to Salt Lake City Utah.

Unfortunately they were part of a well known handcart company. The Willie Company (led by James Willie) was delayed in their departure from England, which of course meant that they left Iowa City later than they had planned.  A little too late.

They made it as far as Wyoming, but at that point their food rations were exhausted, and they were caught in an early snowstorm. Two people were sent ahead to look for help.

 A rescue party did finally reach them, but by then quite a few of the members had perished. Luckily, all of Paul's family made it to Salt Lake City.

One of towns we passed through along the way was the small town of Gothenburg NE, a town that was one of the stops for the Pony Express.

 We've all heard of it, and realize the importance of it in our history, but what flabbergasted me was that the Pony Express only existed for 18 months.

Formed in 1860, by the end of 1861,the telegraph came in to play, making the system obsolete.   Riders that could ride from Missouri to California in 10 days, were no longer needed.

The museum, although small,  was actually interesting because it told their story...In early days, they would carry some personal belongings, several guns, etc.  but they soon realized that those things slowed them down, so they started traveling lighter, and with only one gun.










Once we arrived in Iowa City, the Mormon starting point, there were two things we were interested in seeing.

The first was a historical Society Museum.  We didn't realize that the building also housed an antique car museum- more bang for our buck!

This particular car was a precursor to the modern RV, with a fold out bed and complete kitchen, what more could you ask for?

The other place we wanted to see was Mormon Handcart Park.  This is where the Mormon groups, including Paul's family, camped while making their preparations for their journey. Although the park is overgrown, at least it doesn't have a skyscraper built on it!

From Iowa City it was just a hop skip and a jump to West Branch, home to the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library.
Paul and I went back and forth on whether we wanted to visit it.  In the end we decided, since we were there, and had the time, it was silly not to do it. Well, karma got us.
We got to the site, which actually sits on 186 acres, and is set up to resemble a small town.








There is a school, meeting house, Hoover's father's blacksmith shop, and the actual cottage, built by Hoover's father and grandfather, that Herbert Hoover was born in, in 1874.

Once we got to the main library, the doors were locked. They had an electrical problem and it blew out everything, including the air conditioning. Oh well, at least there was a visitor center too.











We have visited a few presidential libraries and one of the things I like is that, regardless of how a president was perceived while in office, the libraries showcase the positive things they accomplished.  In Herbert Hoover's case, one of his accomplishments was the establishment of UNICEF.

Of course, we haven't been to Nixon's yet.

Nebraska (06-29-19)

Mike and Julie were in the small town of Bayard, Nebraska,  exploring the Chimney Rock Pioneer Crossing area. I had no idea what that was, so I googled it, and its part of the trail the Mormons used to cross the country back in the 1800s.

It turns out, Paul's third great grandfather and his family were Mormon Pioneers who passed by this very place in 1856, on their way to Salt Lake City.

Travelers were always excited to see Chimney Rock, as it marked the psychological halfway point between the beginning of their journey, and their destination. Most had never seen anything like this "chimney" and were fascinated by it.

With most groups of Mormons using the same trail to head west, it was soon a more established route, and was used by the Pony Express, Forty Niner gold miners, and many emigrants who were headed west to Oregon and California. It was designated "the Mormon Trail".







At the small campground we stayed in, there was one traveler who was in the process of hiking the Mormon Trail, and another who was following the Pony Express Route- by horse. Apparently that's not uncommon.

Nearby Scotts Bluff was also recognizable and visible from a long distance. 

 It is now a national monument, with a visitor center ( which was closed for renovations ) and a few hiking trails. 

The four of us took the opportunity to stretch our legs with a 3 mile walk that included a tunnel,  a big hill, and great views of the surrounding area.

This small town amazingly boasts several museums- we checked one out, but the highlight of the visit was trying to rescue Mike from a very talkative clerk/volunteer.












Before moving on to our next destination, we took a scenic drive around the area. We came upon a replica of an 1820s trading post .....

And lots of cows in the road....  They weren't very happy with us, either.















Having come upon Mike and Julie, we weren't ready to leave them yet, so we followed them to their next destination, which was  Fort Robinson State Park, less than 2 hours north.

Fort Robinson started its life as an army camp, in the 1870s, when it was used during the Indian Wars.  Since that time, it has been used for many things- in the 1930s the U.S. Olympic Equestrian team trained here, and during World War II it was a German Prisoner of War camp.




Julie and I liked that it has an Olympic size swimming pool, although we only used it once.

Several of the buildings, which do exist even though I didn't get a single picture of them (borrowed one from the web) have been made into museums, some are used as lodging, and some have been restored.

The four of us took off exploring in the Jeep, not having any idea what we would find. Well, we found a road/trail with very confusing signage. One sign said "Do Not Enter- authorized vehicles Only" or something to that effect.

The other sign said "Jeep Trail" and since we were in a Jeep, Paul decided it meant that we were authorized to use the trail. Off we went, down a one way trail. Did we get caught? Yep. We almost made it, but the "official Jeep Tour" was coming from the other direction. We had to back up and find room to pull off so they could get by.  The ranger guy wasn't too happy with us, but we had fun.




Our other Jeep outing was a little more fun and didn't involve almost getting arrested...We went to Toadstool Geologic Park, where it was hot enough that we elected to hike the shortest trail-  the interpretive Trail.

Julie was in charge of interpreting what we were seeing.

One of the items was what used to be a riverbed. Parts of it are tipped over, making it easier to see the footprints of ancient animals.

We thought it was supposed to be less than a half mile, but we are pretty sure it felt like almost 2 miles. It was really hot out though, so maybe that affected our thinking.

Also at the park was a reconstructed Sod House. You can actually go inside, and the temperature difference was substantial.

Facebook is awesome! That's how we found out that our friends Deloris and Charley were not that far away.  Fore once, things worked out, and the 4 of us jumped in the Jeep to meet them for dinner.

  Of course I didn't take any pictures, except on the way home, when the setting sun lit up the wildflowers and grass to an amazing degree.

The Homestead Act (09-16-13)

What is the Homestead Act, and why are we learning about it? We are learning about it because we happen to be in the area in Nebraska where it started and a National Monument was placed here so that no one would forget the historical significance that the Homestead Act had on our history as a nation. As to what it was, it was enacted by Abraham Lincoln in 1862, and the general purpose of it was to encourage people to move out west and settle in new areas of the country.  To do that, the Homestead Act allowed anyone over the age of 21 to apply to receive 160 acres of land for free, but that acreage had to be in certain areas of the country.

Of course, there were rules. You had to live on the land for 5 years, build a home on it, and use the land to cultivate crops.  Millions of people took advantage of this program until it was abolished in the 1980s.  The first successful homesteader had his plot at the location of this museum.  His descendants donated the land for the museum.  The last homesteader got his 160 acres up in Alaska in 1986. 

The idea of “taming” the wild west was not a new one in 1862.  As early as the late 1700s our government was trying to find ways of creating settlements out west. Telling “Americans” to go forth and build communities in unpopulated areas pretty much ignored the fact that actually, those lands were not uninhabited.  They had been inhabited by native Americans for thousands of years by that point.   No one asked the Indians what they thought of the idea of thousands of people settling on lands that they already occupied, and as has happened innumerable times over the course of the history of our planet, the Native Americans were shoved aside to make way for new, more powerful people.

Over 270 million acres of land were given away by the Federal government, in 30 states.  Along the wall at the entrance to the museum there were metal representations of all the states that were involved, with a square cut out of it to indicate how much land was given away in that particular state. This picture shows that Iowa had very little land given away, but Minnesota had a lot.

Once the land had been occupied and cultivated for 5 years, the settler could apply for the official patent (deed) for the land.  He or she had to bring two witnesses to the Land Office that would verify the the fact that they had fulfilled  the obligations required of them.

a restored 1800s homestead cabin

The Ingalls Family of “Little House On The Prairie” fame tried, (in Kansas) and ultimately succeeded (in South Dakota),  in receiving their 160 acres of land from the government.

Mutual of Omaha (09-15-13)

{Post Delayed due to Lack of Internet}

Well, just Omaha, really.  Omaha Nebraska. Slowing down the pace a bit, we spent three nights in Omaha.  We were lazy for the first day, and only ventured out to check out the Mormon Trail Center at Historic Winter Quarters.  What a mouthful.

When the Mormons originally started their trek from Illinois to their new home of Salt Lake City, they thought the first wave of settlers would reach their destination within the first year.  They were wrong. Weather conditions forced them to stop for the winter, and they did that in Omaha Nebraska.

Once here, they built a small town of 500 homes.  A smaller “scouting” party was sent ahead to Utah, and along the way they mapped the trail, watering holes, and good camping places. Once the weather was favorable, the Omaha settlers left for Utah,and more pioneers from Illinois took their place.  Over the course of several years, more than 70,000 Mormons migrated through this area.  In fact, it is considered to be the most successful pioneer migration in history.  These people were hard workers, smart,  and willing to sacrifice for the common good- or for God, as they probably saw it.


This is a small museum, adjacent to the cemetery where the pioneers who didn’t survive the winter are buried.  Once we entered the building, we were greeted by a “sister”, a young lady who is on an LDS mission in Omaha.  She was curious about our beliefs and she and I had an interesting conversation about the beliefs of the LDS church.  I enjoy learning about their faith, as long as one tries to convert me!  She didn’t, but she also didn’t let me tour the museum on my own.  She stayed with me, discussing each exhibit.  My only issue with that is that it made me feel rushed as I read the information presented.  Paul took the opportunity to scoot ahead and tour at his own pace.


One of the exhibits showed the handcarts that were used by the pioneers to cart their belongings from Illinois to Utah.  It was actually faster and cheaper to travel that way, since the oxen that had been used previously walked slower than people, and of course needed to be fed and watered.  Paul’s great great grandfather was one of the Mormons who made this trek using a handcart. Although small, this museum had a lot of interesting information.




The following day didn't start out exactly as planned.  The night before we had been having issues with the hot spot and Wi-Fi on Paul’s phone, and after 3 hours of talking with AT&T and Apple, they told us to go to the nearby Apple store and get his phone replaced.  Luckily we had insurance, so it didn't cost us anything. We took care of that before heading to the Henry Doorly Zoo for the day. (Edit: Paul’s new phone doesn't work correctly so we’ll have to replace it again when we get to El Paso.  Meantime I activated my hot spot so we’ll see if I can post with it)

We don’t go to many zoos, and we had just been to the National Zoo in Washington DC, but one of the exhibits sounded particularly interesting to me.  The Desert Dome houses habitats from 3 deserts around the world, and beneath it is Kingdoms of the Night- the world’s largest nocturnal exhibit.  

Here they have switched the day/night cycle, so we can see nocturnal animals at a time when they will be more active.  It was quite an exhibit. I enjoyed it, and most of the rest of the zoo as well. 

  The view of the crocodiles and alligators was interesting because we could see them above the water …

and below.

Some of animals didn't seem to have very much room to move around and definitely appeared bored.  That’s sad.  The National Zoo has large areas for the animals to roam, but then of course there isn't much chance of close up pictures!

The gorillas  have managed to find ways to combat the boredom, however.

They spend a fair amount of time interacting with the people on the other side of the glass. I love watching the gorillas- they are so intelligent!

 

One gorilla has his fun at the expense of the unwary.  He waits until someone is sitting in the round window, and then he runs by and bangs on the glass, startling whoever is sitting there.

We did a lot  of walking, checking out the larger enclosures.















This bird was the weirdest thing I’ve seen in a long time.  Pretty colors though.

Probably my favorite animals of the day were the lion cubs. They are so adorable and very curious about the people staring at them! They are almost a year old.