Famous Rocks

October 9, 2026

Day 10 of our trip, a Sunday, started out at a chilly 41 but heated up to 84. We headed north out of Ogallala taking a more scenic route to some amazing rock formations.

In Oshkosh, Nebraska, we stopped at Reyman’s Roadhouse for lunch where I got the Teriyaki Chicken Bowl and Terry enjoyed a fish sandwich with fries. My portion was so large I had leftovers to stash in the fridge.

Our first stop was at Chimney Rock where we enjoyed the Walk to the Rock, a scenic set of trails which opened in 2023, that brings you up close to the iconic landmark used by pioneers on the Oregon, California, and Mormon Trails west. This property is privately owned by the Nebraska State Historical Society. It was a really impressive piece of rock!

We then drove about 30 more minutes down the road to Scotts Bluff National Monument which also served as an important landmark for pioneers as well as Native Americans. There was a museum and more hiking trails at this location. The huge bluffs were amazing!

After all that walking, we were happy to settle in at our Harvest Host site near Minatare where we caught the last half inning of the Brewers game and the last 2 minutes of the Chiefs game.

It was a quiet night and. . . we slept like a rock!

Psalm 18:2, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

Ice Cream!

October 9, 2026

First, I would like to apologize for not posting every day. Even though I write about each day’s events, some days we are just too busy driving or experiencing things, or we don’t have adequate internet to post online. And I’ve been feeling a little under the weather.

And some days we just don’t do much at all. Day 9 was like that.

We spent the day reading, writing, and watching baseball. And Terry cooked a delicious dinner of beef stroganoff.

We then went for a walk around the campground and enjoyed sharing a Ben & Jerry’s Brownie Batter ice cream! And what a beautiful sunset!

Before we began this trip, Terry purchased a couple of new pillows as his old ones had lost their fluff. As we were getting settled in to watch baseball, he complained there was something hard and uncomfortable in his pillowcase.

That’s when we found the tag. He was much happier after I removed it.

Stay tuned because the next day we saw some sights!

 

 

A Chilly Start

October 6, 2026

Even though the temperature dropped to 40 degrees overnight, we didn’t reach for the extra blanket or the space heater. I was pleasantly surprised at that as I usually chill easily. Although the sun was shining brightly the wind was blustery all day.

On Day 8 we drove into North Platte and chose to eat breakfast at The Daily Dish, a newly converted dry cleaners. The place was nothing fancy, but the biscuits were fresh from the oven and covered with sausage gravy. . . delicious!!

We then drove down the road a bit and entered Mountain Time, a first for me. And since that just added an hour to our day, we had some time to kill before checking into our next site.

Grocery shopping at Wally World usually takes up quite a bit of time but I believe the one in Ogallala, Nebraska, might be the smallest one we’ve encountered so far. We were in and out easy peasy.

So, we then got Terry a coffee and sat down at McDonald’s and did some planning of where we wanted to head next. I of course checked the weather and saw that there was a cold front coming in next weekend that was going to produce some white fluffy precipitation. Not having a real heater in the van nor having all wheel drive, we needed to make sure we avoided that for sure.

After checking for places of interest, travel times, reviews of locations to stay overnight, I was able to come up with a game plan for the next few days.

We then checked into Tri Trails KOA, thankfully I had chosen this location over the other KOA in town that was situated right next to the Interstate and a truck stop.

Terry heated up some soup for our dinner and did the dishes (thank you, dear!) while I wrote.

The wind finally died down, and we had a very quiet night.

Tasty Travel Day

October 3, 2026

Day 7 dawned cloudy and quite breezy. By the time we emerged from our cozy van that morning, the landscape was already drying out. Which was good news because it was time to head on down the road.

We stopped for lunch in Kearny, Nebraska. One of my “jobs” as we travel is to pick interesting places to eat. Terry was excited to try The Toasted Goat when I read to him the sandwich choices as they appeared on their online menu. Apparently, they were all musically themed!

I enjoyed a roast beef sandwich called Ironman, while Terry munched down a turkey delight called Good Vibrations. The photo above is from the ladies’ restroom. Terry said the wall in the men’s room was covered in old 45s. What a hoot!

The drive that day was a windy one and even though we were headed straight down Interstate 80, Terry said his wrists were feeling it when we pulled off for the night at North Platte.

Our Harvest Host was Pals Brewing Company, which turned out to be a hopping place. . . it was Music Trivia Night! This should be a breeze, I thought to myself, as Terry knows music.

We sat down and ordered an IPA and water along with pretzel rods with beer dipping sauces, and we settled in to win. Except we didn’t. The table next to us won 2 rounds. So, then we ordered chips and queso and another beer. And we didn’t win a single round. But we still enjoyed hearing snippets of songs we hadn’t heard in years.

We walked hand in hand back to the van under a faint canopy of stars and tucked in good as it was going to get down to 40 degrees that night. But at least the wind had finally settled down.

 

 

A Very Rainy Day

October 2, 2026

Some days you just want to stay in bed. The last day of September, Day 6 of our current trip, was one of those days.

Terry brewed his pot of coffee and tried to sit outside in the fresh air to drink it. But the rain started. And didn’t want to stop.

That morning while Terry read, I studied the weather forecast. There was a warmup on the horizon! After a brief discussion about where we wanted to head next, I booked our stops for the next few days. And the rain continued.

For lunch we decided to take advantage of our campground being close enough to a town and ordered Domino’s Pizza delivery. I was so excited! Until it was time for me to walk to the office and meet the delivery driver. . . it was still raining.

That afternoon I did some writing while Terry watched baseball and napped. And it continued to rain.

We only had 3 more episodes of our Netflix series to watch so we decided to knock them out before bedtime. And then the wind began to blow and the van started rocking. And the rain came down so loud we had to turn the volume all the way up to hear our show!

We found out the next morning just up the road Lincoln broke a record that day for daily rainfall, recording just over 6” in a 24-hour period. We were so thankful we were not traveling and that we didn’t experience any leaks.

Psalm 46:1-3, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.”

Matthew 7:24-25, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.”

Thank you, Jesus, for being my solid foundation. Amen!

 

Taking Care of Business

October 2, 2026

Back in the day, laundry was done on Mondays. For us this week, it was done on Day 5 of our journey. Because we were at a campground with machines. And because the following day we were going to be hit by remnants of Hurricane Polo.

We also reported our lack of electricity which they couldn’t fix so we moved to site next door. Thank goodness we got that taken care of before the weather turned!

With the MLB playoffs starting that afternoon, we quickly filled out our brackets separately and then compared notes. Our first year together I actually won when the Diamondbacks surprised everyone. Terry was impressed because at that time, I didn’t follow baseball at all.

This year we both have Milwaukee winning the World Series. . . Go Brewers!!!

We enjoyed a late lunch of mac and cheese with chicken. Terry cooked and I cleaned up afterwards, our usual routine. Terry then tuned in to baseball while I finished reading my first book of this trip. We watched a few episodes of a Netflix series we’re almost done with and tucked in for the night.

The photo above is AI generated by Terry as we took no photos at all that day. Hope you enjoy it anyway!

Slow Start

September 30, 2026

One of the best parts of retirement is being able to sleep in on Mondays. And on Day 4 of our current trip, we definitely took advantage of that!

The winery we were staying at was closed. There were no other businesses around as it was out in the country. So, we took our time getting back on the road.

Terry made his pot of coffee and read while I wrote and relaxed.

We finally decided we would head into Lincoln for a late lunch at Don & Millies. I enjoyed a grilled chicken club with onion rings while Terry wolfed down a footlong chili cheese dog with fries.

As we drove through downtown, we caught sight of the capital building which didn’t look like any other state capital we’d ever seen. So I googled it, of course.

The unique Nebraska State Capitol building is 400 ft tall and is topped with a 19 ft bronze statue of “The Sower” which sits upon a 12.5 ft pedestal that is decorated with shocks of wheat and corn. The statue is of a barefoot man with rolled up pantlegs and shirt sleeves, scattering grain with his hand in honor of Nebraska’s agricultural heritage and the hopeful spirit of its people. How beautiful is that!

Not far west of the city we arrived at our home for the next few days, the KOA near Seward. The remnants of Hurricane Polo were headed our way, and we decided to stay put while the heavy rain came through.

We took a walk and enjoyed a stunning sunset. And then realized our electric hookup had stopped working. And the Wi-Fi wasn’t working. But it was after office hours, so we let it go until the next day.

We were thankful we had a safe place to get off the road and rest.

Psalm 136:1, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.”

Philippians 4:19, “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”

What are you thankful for today? Have you told Him about it?