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HYPERLINK \l "Upsidedown" Bottom of Page1. Branched Oaks State Recreation Area Raymond, Nebraska May 22, 2020We decided to go to Branched Oaks today. I wanted to go to Bakers Candy in Greenwood. Kay says I have been there before. That’s not the case. Today was my first time there. This is a candy store unlike any candy store I have ever seen. I could have gotten sick from eating everything that look good. Moving on to Branched Oaks part of the day. I remember Ward Carhart going there to fish. Kay and I have never been to Branched Oaks do we thought we should check it out. After reading the website I assumed we could take a nice hike. After arriving we were unhappy to fine no trails were posted. As a matter of fact the things to do at Branched Oaks revolved around boating and fishing. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, but that wasn’t what we were looking to do. Branched Oaks is a beautiful place. The lake is the largest lake in eastern Nebraska. We did manage to walk a little around the marine area. We both like taking the secondary highways to and from places, subsequently that what we did. Nebraska has some beautiful country side to see.2. Farmall Museum Avoca, Iowa May 29, 2020Okay Okay who would go to a tractor museum? Well that just what we did. We partook of Dashboard Dinning from McDonalds as usual. Arriving at the Farmall Museum proved it was not on many people lists of things to do. We were the only car in the parking lot. Iowa travel guide highlighted this museum so our expectations were running high. I saw a post on Facebook from Rich Arnold (former student) stating if you really wanted to see the museum you better go soon because it is going out of business in October. Well we spent a long time there because it was so interesting to see over 250 different models of tractors. Jerry the owner, who is failing in health was there. The employee did most of the talking explained the layout of the museum and some tractors to look at. Jerry had been the owner of the local Farmall dealership. The collection had taken many years to put it together. They knew each tractor, and in some cases the families that owned them. Come October and November they are going to hold an auction and sell off the entire inventory. There has to be Millions of dollars worth of tractors and merchandise inside. We likes Avoca, it looked like a nice prosperous little town. We drove up and down the country roads on the way home. We drove through Oakland, Iowa. It was nothing like Avoca. It looked like the whole town was out of business. It was a sad looking place.3. Walk of Fame Shenandoah, Iowa June 2, 2020Today started out as planned. Kay and I were on the road at 9:15 for our drive to Shenandoah. We went a cross the river into the chaos of interstate construction. We stopped at the McDonalds for our Dashboard breakfast of coffee and egg McMuffin. The drive south on I-29 and Hwy 34 were uneventful. The drive on south 59 was also uneventful but the highway was a little rough and a little narrow. Arriving Shenandoah was a bit of surprise to us. I had researched the population of Shenandoah and determined it to be 4890. The town looked much larger then that. The first interesting stop was the childhood home of the Everly Brothers. Kay and I found the Chamber of Commerce, as suggested by we retrieved the nineteen-year-old Walk of Fame booklet. We were told that several markers have been added since the last publication. We were also told a website was planned to provide all the information. That news was disappointing but it all turn out fine. Kay and I walked a loop on the main street. We discovered Ronald Regan was born in Davenport and a Vaudeville star named Harry Langdon was born in Council Bluffs. We have a booklet (ageing by the day) with some or most of the people on the walk. We had a nice lunch at the Sanctuary Restaurant. Other items on our driving tour included the Earl May Distribution Center, and the Earl May Store. We drove by and later discovered the Lloyd Corporation and the Eaton Corporation. Both of these companies appeared to employ several people and produce very interesting items. We the drove Scenic Hwy 2 to I-29 and headed home. Coming into Council Bluffs on I-29 we experience on the scariest driving situation ever. Because of road construction and the wind were drove through a brown out for a few seconds. Going 70 miles and hour I could not see in front, beside or behind us. We simply kept moving and drove in to the clear. That was very very scaryFYIShenandoah is home toWabash Trace Nature TrailPella window factoryTriple K ManufacturingGreen Plains ethanolSouthwest Iowa Fiber TechnologyBlackwood BrotherCharlie Haden Jazz legendWillie Leacox drummer for AmericaShopping center for SW Iowa (I am not so sure about that)4. Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art David City Nebraska June 12, 2020On a very hot day we set out for David City. Have you ever been to David City? We have not been there until today. West on Center Street or Highway 92 we drove for a little more then one hour. People call this area the Nebraska Alps. After driving that stretch of rolling hills I know why it is named that. The Bone Creek Museum is housed in two rooms. It is located in a storefront. The facilities were well maintained and presented the artwork in a professional manner. Karl J. Kuerner exhibition was very rural and most appealing. Watch a video and enjoy some of his works. James Brewer painted beautiful flowers called Garden Symphonies. We had a nice time visiting with the curator. She was very nice and represented Bone Creek very well. Before we had lunch we shopped at the antique store. She had nice things and reasonably price merchandise. We ate lunch at El Centenario Mexican Restaurant. The food was good and the place was clean. That was pretty much the day. We got into the car and drove home. Research Garden, Mormon visitor Center, and Fort Atkinson Lincoln, Omaha Fort Calhoun June19, 2020 JuneteenthLets just call this Plan B day. Until about 8:30 this morning our plan was to drive north to Preparation Canyon in the Loess Hills. I called and was told the park received two and a quarter inches of rain last night and we should wait until this afternoon to come. Kay and I decided to change our plans and visit some other places. So not to miss out on our McDonald’s egg McMuffins we stopped at the Gretna exit and got them. We moved on down the road to Mahoney Park and had breakfast. After getting to Lincoln we asked Siri how to get to the Nebraska’s East Campus and the Backyard Farmers test gardens. Once we were on the east campus siri could only tell us to “turn left turn left”. We found the garden grounds in spite of Siri. They were in terrible shape. Vegetables planted in with flowers and flowers planted with vegetables. Weeds were growing strong and everywhere. We will not be returning there any time soon. We stopped at a Jimmy Johns and headed back to Mahoney and ate lunch. We took a little walk before returning to Omaha. Our next stop was also an interesting bit of travel debacle. We asked Siri to give directions to the Mormon Cemetery. Again all she could do was tell us to “turn left turn left” This was located in a part of Omaha I hope to never return to. We managed to find the Visitor’s Center and the Cemetery located across the street. The Visitors Center was closed because of Covid-19. We will try to return to get into the Center. The complex was very beautiful. Our last leg of today took us to Fort Calhoun to visit Fort Atkinson. We did not even get out of the car. We saw enough from the car. I wanted some ice cream so we found a location on main-street and had ourselves an ice cream cone. Both of us were glad we had a Plan B for today. It was an enjoyable even with some of the pitfalls of the day. 5. Preparation Canyon June 26, 2020Up and at them. Water the garden. Water the flowers. Water the yard. Breakfast of McDonald’s egg McMuffins and on the road by 9:30. Up I-29 to Missouri Valley, what an old dumpy looking town. Drove Hwy 30, it is falling apart. Only our street is worse. Things got better as we turned on to Hwy 127. This was a pretty drive. Highway 127 is designated as an Iowa Scenic Highway. We made our first time appearance in Logon. Logon appeared to be a nicer town then Missouri Valley. It is smaller, but cleaner and the businesses looked good. Highway 183 was our last stretch of road before we arrived at Pisgah. The visitor center is located in Pisgah. I was told a couple of weeks ago the visitor center was closed, but envelopes of information were taped to the door. True enough the envelopes were there but a lady came out to greet us. She was very nice and informative. With her good directions we were able to drive straight to the overlook deck. I cannot say enough about the views. It was easy to understand why someone named this place a canyon. We drove up to the top of the loess hills looking down into a canyon. It made us feel as if we were in the mountains. This is unlike any other place that we have seen in the state of Iowa. We hiked the ridge of Preparation Canyon located in the area of the overlook. There was a nice narrow path that was easy to hike. There were a few steep hills where our walking sticks would have come in handy. Kay had packed a nice picnic lunch and we found a pretty spot to eat. We plan to come back to the canyon. If not this summer, certainly in the fall. We returned home on the reverse route. We stopped at the Small’s Fruit Farm but there is no need to ever stop again. 6. Ax Murder House Villisca July 3, 2020What a wonderful day. The traffic was lite and the corn along Iowa Highway 34 was more then four times knee high. The sun was bright, the music played and we were off on another day trip. This time we went to Clarinda and Villisca. We passed through Red Oak on the way. It looked like a very nice town. The traffic was plentiful and the businesses were busy. After turning south on Iowa Highway 71 we turned in to Stanton to see the Mamrelund Lutheran Church where Margret Peterson was married. This Lutheran church is by far the prettiest church in any small town we have seen. Moving on we passed by Villisca because the lady sternly told me on the phone “The Ax Murder House does not open until 1:00pm and you must wear a mask.” That wasn’t a problem because I blinked and we had passed the town. In the town of Clarinda we saw the two main attractions. The two attractions include the Glenn Miller birthplace and Museum and the Dale Carnegie Library/Museum. Both of these were closed. They are only opened two days a week, and Friday is not one of those days. You just got to love small towns. We had our picnic lunch in one of the city parks. It was breezy but cool and we plan to continue to pack a picnic lunch. We just wish Covid-19 would go away so we could feel free to eat in local restaurants. Well on to the main destination. We head back north to Villisca shortly after opening time. We went into the barn where the sign read, “The tour starts here.” The guy selling tickets told us a little about the house and murders. Very briefly the story goes something like this. The night of June 12, 1912 around 10:30pm the church ended its program for the evening. The Moore family lived next to the church. The family consisted of TJ Moore his wife and four children. That night the children invited two girls to spend the night. So there were eight people murdered in the house that night. To this day the murders have never been solved. For more details click here. We only spent a half hour to forty-five minutes at the house. The return trip home was the reverse route we had taken to get to Villisca. There was one little difference. We took the Bellevue exit and cross the river at the old toll bridge that leads into downtown Bellevue. The surprise of the night was watching Hamilton on TV thanks to Emily and Kurt. 7. Hitchcock Nature Center July 10, 2020Because of the short travel distance today we had a slow start. We got on the road around ten and arrived at Hitchcock around 10:30 am. We found the Fox Run Trailhead and started our hike. We hiked through some beautiful woods along the ridgeline of the Bluffs. The scenery was very impressive. We hiked for about a half hour on a trail that was rated easy. The trail took us to the edge of the bluff over looking a spectacular view. We could see into Nebraska and downtown Omaha.We just missed the train heading north out of Council Bluffs. Oh well maybe next time. I think there will be a next time. The countryside should be pretty in the fall. I think I like this place better then Preparation Canyon. On the way home we got our 100th Sugar Free Vanilla Iced Coffee of the year. We drove the west-end and dodge for a pleasant ride home. 8. Wells Blue Bunny Le Mars, Iowa July 17, 2020Two days ago the AC stopped working on the driver’s side of the car. Yesterday it started to work again. Subsequently I had my fingers cross for today’s drive. To my delight it worked as normal. That helped the day get off to a good start. We hopped on I-29 and headed north to Le Mars. Somehow we heard about the Chief War Eagle Monument in Sioux City. Because it was on our way to Ice Cream heaven we sought it out. Chief War Eagle was quite a person. He was accepting of all people including the white man. His monument sits high on a bluff on the north side of Sioux City overlooking the Missouri River and the Big Sioux River. We read that a person can see Nebraska, Iowa, and South Dakota from that spot. We didn’t know for sure what land was what state. We did know you could see for a very long distance. Moving on we set the GPS for Le Mars and headed northwest out of town. We found the Wells Blue Bunny store in downtown Le Mars. Le Mars is a town of about 10,000 people. It looked lively and prosperous. The businesses were busy, the streets were clean, it looked like a very livable town. We saw several people moving around on the streets and pickups everywhere. We had our picnic lunch in a very nice downtown park. It had a bandstand, seating, lawn and a parking lot. They thought of everything for this gathering spot. Next came the main event, ICECREAM. Everyone wore a mask, and we were pleased about that. Kay spotted a small table and we were able to eat inside in the cool. I made a decision to take a different route home. We knew it would take longer but we could see a little different part of Iowa. We drove east to Cherokee then south to Denison and finally to Missouri Valley. We got home around 5:00pm. In spite of Covid-19 we are having fun with our day trips this summer. 9. Indian Cave State Park, Nebraska July 24, 2020We started on this day trip knowing there would be no coffee until we reached Nebraska City. I decided to take the scenic route as opposed to the fast route. We drove NE highway 75. No surprise we saw lots of corn. The countryside and the corn crop all looks very green. We better get some rain soon or it will be brown and yield will be way down. Our first stop of the day was at the Lewis and Clark Visitor Center. The setting is on top of a hill over looking the Missouri River. All the exhibits were hands on. Kids would really like this center. There was more information about the expedition then I could take in during the short time we were there. Great maps, life sized stuffed animals, and art were available and on display. The center is rated as one of the best Lewis and Clark visitor centers anywhere in the United States. After Nebraska City and a large Sugar free vanilla Iced Coffee in hand we continued south. This part of Nebraska is new to us. We have never been in these parts before. We passed through Auburn, its like most small towns in Nebraska, slow moving and not to prosperous. The next town up was Nemaha. One hundred seventy eight people live in Nemaha. This town was depressing. Moving on we headed east into Indian Cave State Park. What a beautiful place. The park is huge and well maintained. The grass was mowed and more picnic tables then we were able to count. The restrooms were clean and numerous. To find Indian Cave we had to drive all the way through the park. We found it easy enough but it was closed due to recent high water. We ate our lunch at the very end of the park road in the shade of the trees. Very few people were in the park and it felt like we were the only people there. After a short, hot walk on the side of the muddy Mo we were ready in enjoy the AC in the car. During the drive to the park Kay noticed a sign about a nearby winery. We decided to check it out. I knew our way home but was not really sure where we were. To my surprise the winery was in Brownsville. Kay and later Emily both recalled that we had been there. Years ago Emily and I rode our bicycles from Nebraska City and met Kay at the Whiskey Run Creek Winery. Kay and I enjoyed a glass of wine in the shade on the deck. I decided it would be a good idea to cross the river in Brownsville and drive up I-29. After an enjoyable day we returned home around 5:00pm. We are both really enjoying our one-day road trips.10. Pony Express and Patee House Museum St. Joseph July 31, 2020With a full tank of gas, coffee from home and Dashboard Dinning from McDonalds we headed straight south down I-29 to St. Joseph Missouri. Our GPS took us to the front door of the Pony Express after a two-hour drive. The Pony Express Museum was an unassuming one-store building that started as the livery stables. The Pony Express departed St. Joseph for it’s first ride April 3, 1860. The end of the line was 2,000 miles away in Sacramento, California. Each group of riders would race to Salt Lake City exchange mailbags and return to St. Joseph or Sacramento. The museum layout was in a circular fashion. As we processed through it told as well as showed the story of a long dangerous ride. The riders had to contend with unfriendly Indians, wild animals and Mother Nature. We spent a little more then an hour at the museum. We found out the Pony Express was in operation for only 16 months. We both agreed the museum was well worth our time. If the reader would like to know more about the Pony Express Museum click HERE. After picnic lunch we moved on to our second museum of the day. Now the Patee House Museum is a real museum. A brick four-story building housed everything. This National Historic Landmark was built in 1858 as an elegant 140 room pioneer hotel. It served as headquarters for the Pony Express in 1860. John Patee built this luxury hotel. It also served as the Provost Marshal’s office for the Union Army during the Civil War. In 1965, it was designated as a HYPERLINK "" \t "_self" National Historic Landmark. It has a vintage 1941 merry-go-round called the Wild Thing Carousel. Every ride is in the form of an animal. On the first floor is the Hannibal and St. Joseph locomotive. Kay and I both thought this museum reminded us of House on the Rock in Wisconsin. As I was paying for my shot glasses the lady told us St. Joe had received about 6 inches of rain in the last couple of days. We are 71/2 inches behind for the year back in Omaha.List of exhibits include but not limited to the following.Covered wagonHotel roomsModel railroadBlacksmith shopSaloonVictorian houseFire trucksService stationSeveral vintage cars and trucksGeneral storeDentist officeMore and moreWe found a new and better way to drive south on I-29. From our house take 84th street to Plattview road, which turns into Highway 34 and cross the river there. Wedding Anniversary Week11. Monday August 3, 2020We ordered lunch from Pan Asian and ate at Mahoney State Park. After lunch we walked all the way around Mahoney. The weather was one of the best days we have had all summer. The Temperature was in the mid 70’s. We shopped at Sam’s Club on the way home. Lunch was so good and so large we only ate Ice-cream for dinner.12. Tuesday August 4, 2020Happy Anniversary 52 years today. WOWWe ordered lunch from Pacific Eat House and ate at Two Rivers Recreational Area. The park is small by state park standards but a nice place. We saw many campers parked and enjoying the beautiful day. We walked around the Union Pacific cabooses and some campsites. After our walk we drove all around the park. We saw but did not go into the day use area next to the Platt River. On the way home we stopped at a McDonalds in Hell Land and purchased an over priced Vanilla Iced Coffee. When we got home we were happily surprise to find the road crew laying asphalt. The road in from of our house is all but done. I drove on it today for the first time. 13. Wednesday August 5, 2020 Pioneers Park and Nature Center and Red Path GalleryToday was our anniversary celebration. It was a cool weather day and a really fun day. We started with a homemade blueberry muffin breakfast at Mahoney. We sat in the coolness of the morning, ate muffins and watch the horses. We felt like we were on vacation. We drove on down to Lincoln and found Pioneers Park. The park is located on the southwest side of Lincoln. It has several small lakes, lots of trees and wide-open grasslands. We found a concrete sidewalk and took off on a two-mile walk. The nature center was closed but that was not a problem. We headed west to Seward. We found this town to be nice and very busy. The Red Path Gallery was close until 1:00pm. As a result we walked around the green square until we found a coffee shop. We enjoyed a cup of coffee until we could get into the Red Path Gallery. All the art was from Nebraska artists. Most of the art were painting but many different media was used as well. The Red Path Gallery also had a tasting bar of Nebraska wine. Believe it or not we bought a bottle of wine. Of all places in Nebraska it came from the Whiskey Run Creek Winery in Brownville. It’s a small state after all. Seward has no city parks. We were told about the bandstand around the corner from the Red Path Gallery. We found shade and enjoyed our lunch that we bought from Whole Foods in Omaha. 14. Thursday August 6, 2020 Mahoney for DinnerCan you say, tomatoes and golf? We got stuck with a 6:54 tee time at Tiburon. As a result I left home very early. Kay on the other hand was relegated to home with tomatoes up to her elbows. The forecast was “a few popup showers”. Well after twelve holes the sky opened up and the lighting and thunder boomed. We went to the clubhouse and after an hour we got our rain checks and went home. When I walked in the door what should I see but no tomatoes and a clean kitchen? Kay had made magic and turned those tomatoes into soup. She froze some and they all were placed in the freezer.Both of us were tired from work or play and getting up before the sun. We sat down and went to sleep. Knowing it was day four of our anniversary week; our plans included carryout and a park. That is exactly what we did. Kay ordered our favorite turkey on sourdough bread from Jam’s and we went to Mahoney. We sat at the same table as yesterday and watched the horses. It was a long day but once again it was a fun day. Friday August 7, 2020Kay went to lunch with Winnie. We went to Emily’s for cocktails. 15. Saturday August 8, 2020Today was the last day of our anniversary celebration. We ran some errands this afternoon just waiting for our dinner call. Kay ordered shrimp and jambalaya from Herbe Sainte, and you guessed it, we drove to Mahoney. Someone else had already taken our picnic table. We adapted by taking a table on the other side of the street. We found dirty filthy tables in this pavilion but we were prepared. We sat down and enjoyed a nice dinner. Kay discovered her liking of jambalaya. After our selfie we took a short walk. 16. Thursday August 13, 2020 Auburn BeeWe had a slow start to the morning. Out of here around 9:30. We bought our 2 salad lunches at Whole Foods and we were ready to go. That was until I remembered I forgot my sunglasses and sunscreen. On the road a little after 10:00’ Not to be left out we stopped in Nebraska City for a Large Sugar Free Vanilla Iced Coffee. Arriving in Auburn we found the El Portal restaurant and picked up a map of the Bee sculptures. Auburn is a small town with a city park just off highway 75. We visited six sculptures before lunch and six more after lunch. We ate in Legion Park. This park is in honor of the residents of Nemaha County who lost their lives in war. All the sculptures were the same design and decorated differently. The artist painted them to represent a single theme. Our favorite was named Follow Your Bee. It was sponsored by Union Bank and Trust and was in front of the bank on highway 75. A cluster of sculptures was located in the courthouse district. This appeared to be Auburns central business district. Unfortunately the businesses all but disappeared. This was one of the most depressed towns we have seen all summer. Next we headed to the little town of Peru. If we thought Auburn was depressed Peru was even worse. Remember this is a college town. Downtown Peru had a bank, two bars and a few boarded up buildings. It was move in day at Peru State and as a result the campus was very busy with students and parents all over the place. The campus looked like a nice place, good looking buildings and very lively. 17. August 21, 2020 Greenfield and othersAfter eight hours, two hundred thirty miles we had visited eight different Iowa towns. When I first planned this day trip we were going to visit the town of Greenfield and come home. Well that all changed a few days before our day trip. In the past we had heard about the White Pole Road. Well that is in the Greenfield neighborhood. That sounded good so we included the five towns and twenty-six miles on highway 6 between Dexter and Adair. Oh but wait, I checked the list of day trips on my list and I discovered the little town of Orient was also in the Greenfield neighborhood. What started as a short quick day turned out to be one of our busiest days. We set sail for Greenfield to check out the county courthouse, Opera house, and Hotel. The courthouse was closed. How can the happen? A nice shop in the Opera house was closed because we were and hour early. The green square was unique. Unlike most towns with a green square the traffic was one-way with only two exit points. Kay was disappointed that we were unable to shop in the nice little gift shop. We did walk around the square and stopped at one of the businesses that was open. I had previously decided to purchase some radish seeds if and when I came across them. Kay spotted some in the window. So I thought I should buy some right there. Now I am the proud owner of a package of Cherry Bell radish seeds. The door was locked but a lady was on the other side of the door. The business owner pointed at the sign, which said something about Covid-19 and her poor health. Subsequently we did business though the door. The shop owner handed me the seeds and I handed her some money through a crack in the door. Next up on our trip was the town of Orient. The main attraction was the Wallace Country life Center. The birthplace farm of Vice President Henry A. Wallace includes 40 acres of the original Wallace farm, fruit and vegetable production gardens, restored prairie, outdoor art sculptures, replica historic barn, farmhouse and other buildings. This life center is a few miles out in the country from Orient. It is impressive and well worth the visit. On our way to the White Pole Road we stopped back at the opera house in Greenfield and sure enough Kay made a purchase of a small wooden bird. By this time if we were going to eat some pie from the Menlo Café we needed to get a move on. Straight up highway 25 from Greenfield is Menlo. We purchase two carry out pieces of pie. We found a small park had lunch and ate our above average pie. So now we had more then enough time. As a result we drove to Dexter the most eastern town of the five on the white pole road. We found Drew’s Chocolates and came home with two boxes. Today, Drew’s still uses the original recipes and equipment in the same house at 426 State Street.? Famous worldwide, Drew’s is the only candy shop in the country that fork dips each delicious piece of chocolate by hand on a daily basis using pure chocolate and the freshest ingredients available.? We were saddened by the fact the Bonnie & Clyde Shootout Site alluded us. Moving west the town of Stuart was next. Bonnie & Clyde robbery site is located in the middle of town, but nothing was at the location that commemorated the robbery. The Historic All Saints building was large and impressive but the pictures of it on the Internet are better then in real life. Oh well. The Rock Island railroad depot is there adjacent to the tracks but again no big deal. We passed through Menlo because we had already been there. Casey was the next town. Honestly there was no point stopping there. The last town of Adair lined the main street with variations of the American flag. By this point we were so ready to get home I forgot to go to the Jesse James Historical train robbery sight. The gang learned that $75,000 dollars in gold was to be transported through the area but were soon disappointed to discover the gold shipment was not onboard and they only got away with about $3,000.?Again, Oh well. Over the years I have looked at this spot from I-80 but I thought today is the day I will see it up close. Kay and I were basically disappointed in the White Pole Road. A few miles of the road had no poles at all. The towns did not promoted it or support it with any kind of store or display. We both thought the idea was great but just not followed through with any kind of unity. 18. August 28, 2020 Templeton Rye Templeton, IowaToday was pretty straight forward. We got up around 6:00am, got ready and was on the road by 9:00am. We drove down the road without any events not even and egg McMuffin. Our first stop was in Audubon to see Albert. No No Albert the Bull. His claim to fame is being the largest bull in the world. No one would argue with that after seeing Albert. Moving on up Hwy 71 to Templeton we found the Templeton Rye Distillery. It is by far the largest facility in town. We were right on time for our 11:00am tour. The tour lasted about an hour and 15 minutes. We were shown the total process of distilling and some of the history of Templeton. The tour was full of to many facts to remember and it was interesting. Having never been to Carroll Iowa we decided to drive the short distance up the highway and take a look. Carroll with a population of 9,800 people looked like a bustling town. It looks better off then most of the towns we have been in this year. We tried but failed to find Kathy Johnson’s hometown of Maple River. We headed south and west and arrived home around 4:00pm.19. September 3, 2020 Art and Public Museum Sioux City, IowaThis is getting to be a real habit. Out the door at 9:00am with breakfast eaten, which means no egg McMuffin. Heading north today to the big town of Sioux City. On the way we spotted a possible day trip for the future. We may go to the Lewis and Clark Park, west to the Onawa. Those guys must have been everywhere around here. I love GPS we drove straight to the Sioux City Public Museum. I plugged the meter for two hours. It could have been longer. You know museums and me. This museum was all about Sioux City’s history. It is very hands on and interactive. Lots to read and look at. I had no idea Little Chicago (as it was called) was the original location for so many big companies. The museum was laid out by topic not by a timeline. As pointed out by Kay, once in a topical area the timeline of history became apparent. Kay also had an interesting insight to women in the museum. She said women were recognized for their accomplishments not just because they were females. I learned the railroad and packinghouses played a huge part in the development of the city. Immigrants from all parts of Europe came and settled in the area. Later in its growth, people from Africa started to settle in the area as well. I also learned the city sustained a very bad flood in 1953, a terrible fire in downtown, and of course the plane crash in 1987. This museum is very impressive and promotes and supports Sioux City in a great way. Admission was free and we continue to ask our self’s how a nice big museum can be free. Well it was time to eat. On the Internet I found a nice riverside park for lunch. We solved the lack of picnic tables by setting in the shade of a tree using our own chairs. Lunch was nice and peaceful as we watch the river flow by. Next up was the Sioux City Art Museum, which was also free. Can you believe it? Just like I read on the Internet, the building was amazing but it housed very little art. That is not to say it did not have good art, because it did. As we walked in I had the feeling of “I’ve been here before”. As I search my memory it came to me. This place reminds me of the Art and Culture Center in Bangkok. Upon returning home I checked my pictures and sure enough there is a similarity between the two. Thinking more about it I checked the Guggenheim Museum in New York. All three have some similarities. One gallery was 100% local artist. Most of them were former teachers. Good for them. Grant Wood’s Corm Wall was the most interesting. A hotel entrepreneur by the name of Eppley commissioned Grant Wood to paint these huge murals of the Iowa countryside. They were golden in color but very faded looking. I guess it was the technique he used that made them look faded. The plaque at the entrance to this room stated Mr. Eppley had commissioned two other murals. One mural was for the Chieftain Hotel in Council Bluffs, and the other for the Hotel Montrose in Cedar Rapids. When the Chieftain hotel closed it was decided the cost of salvaging the murals was too expensive. Subsequently the art council allowed people to come and remove portions of the murals. People actually cut them apart. Two large portions are still in tact and are housed at the Hoff Family Arts and Culture Center in Council Bluffs. When the Eppley chain was dissolved in 1956, Eppley kept the Hotel Montrose paintings, loaning them to Coe College in 1957. Coe became the paintings’ owner in 1976 when the Eppley Foundation of Omaha was liquidated. I had a one evening job at the Hotel Montrose Coffee Shop as a busboy. I worked one evening and never returned. I have no recall of the murals. 20. September 10, 2020 Wehrspann Lake and Soaring Wings Winery.As this day drew closer and closer I was unable to convince myself that it was going to be nearly as good a day as the previous nineteen. I was wrong. The day turned out to be a very enjoyable day. We started our day around 10:30 am because the Soaring Wings Winery does not open until noon. Starting the day at Wehrspann lake was a good decision. We had the park almost to ourselves. I don’t know why the park was empty. Maybe it was empty because of the misty, cloudy, windy sky or just because it was a Thursday morning. We only saw a couple of bikers riding on the path. We came upon two young deer, which just stopped and looked at us. They were not afraid of us at all. We decided not to do our usual picnic lunch today. Jam’s is on speed dial subsequently we called for carryout. We ate in the comfort of our kitchen. By this time it was well pass noon so we headed for Soaring Wings. We found it on a muddy road on top of a hill south of Springfield. The wine was so so for Nebraska wine but the views were incredible. The valley below was wide and vast. The trees were green and the corn was dried up and brown. As I watched the traffic head south on highway 50 toward Louisville all I could think of was ice cream. We gave in to my temptations and ordered ice cream at the famous Mrs. T’s Dari Cream in Louisville. We swooped the loop in downtown Louisville, checked out the school before heading home. On the way home we drove through the “Omaha National Cemetery.” This cemetery has not been operational very long but there are hundreds of graves already.21 September 18m 2020 Columbus NebraskaTo surgery or not to surgery, that was the question of the morning. Kay’s pressure this morning was 22 compared to 37 yesterday. As a result, Kay’s surgery is now scheduled for next Thursday. Kay was relieved not to have surgery today, but still very concerned about the whole situation. We got our dashboard breakfast and dashed home to eat it. We quickly packed and hit the road. We saw more towns today that we have never seen before. North Bend, Schuyler, and of course Columbus were the biggies of the day. Who knew Nebraska has a town called Ames? Richland is unincorporated with a population of 95 people. It barely had a reduced speed zone. We found Columbus to be a lively city. It has several large manufactures in town. They include but not limited to the following; Behlen Manufacturing Co., Kosch, B & W Manufacturing Co., Paracilpse, Sidumps, Flexcon, Cargill, and BD. I had found on the Internet a few places to visit while in town. Subsequently after arriving in town and driving highway 30 I pulled over and enter into our GPS the address of Pawnee Park. Located in the park is the Quincentenary Belltower. This is a series of 10 bells of various weights that ring. We were there at 11:30am and heard them ring out. What luck to hear this great bell tower. We also discovered one of the main reasons for going to Columbus. Located in a very large section was the Memorial to Andrew Jackson Higgins. He was born in Columbus and went on in life to create the amphibian boat that took his name the “Higgins Boat”. This boat was use during the invasion of Normandy on D-Day June 6, 1944. President Eisenhower said, “The Higgins Boat won the war for the USA” The Higgins’s company located in New Orleans employed as many as 20,000 people to build the boat. He was among the first to integrate the work force including whites, blacks, men and women. A very nice aspect of this park is the involvement of the people of Columbus. The money came from the corporations in the city but the idea and design came from others. Some of the design came from Columbus High School Students; plaques came from the local community college VICA group. Surrounding the Memorial were flags from groups in Columbus, States and foreign countries. This is a very impressive city park. Before leaving the park we found a picnic table. The weather was a little chilly, around the middle sixties and cloudy. The sky may have been over cast because of the smoke from the west coast fires as opposed to clouds. It is difficult to determine what is causing the overcast because the smoke has been with us for several days. Up next was the other reason we went to Columbus. The Glur’s Tavern is the oldest continuously operating tavern west of the Missouri. We had a great conversation with the owner. He lived in Omaha years ago and owned and ran the Mickey Flinn’s Bar on Center Street. He knew a great deal about Omaha and the Columbus area. We drank a beer, talked with the waitress, bought a T-shirt and general enjoyed our visit. We stopped at the Duster/Gottberg Brew Pub and found out I could not purchase a 6 pack. They only sell the beer there and in a growler for take out. What’s with these Nebraska breweries? I had to see the loop River so we drove the bridge over the river. It looked a lot like the Platte River. We set sail for home and retraced our route. 22. September 25 Who Knows WhereThis is Post OP day. Kay had a Xen implant procedure yesterday. She is feeling okay but not seeing very well. Her vision is cloudy. Our plans included the Weiss Gallery and Soaring Wings Winery both down by Springfield. Then moving on to the National Parks Midwest Headquarters in downtown Omaha. We planed to include a visit to the Kaneko Gallery. Our final two stops of the day were an art gallery in downtown Ashland and a picnic dinner at Mahoney. Well our day did not go anything like that. We called Weiss Gallery and they were closed for the day, so we did not go there nor did we go to the Soaring Wings. We headed for the National Parks Headquarters and discovered you could not get there from here. We did find a street called River Side Drive. Luckily it was on the other side of the dike and we could get there. Upon arriving we discovered the building was closed. At this point we were 0 for 3 in our plans. We looked across the river and saw the Hanafan Park and the building complex located there. It is a nice development including a bar and a few other businesses. The concert area is all grass and is a large area that leads to the waters of the Missouri River. Today was my first visit to the new Council Bluffs Sports Complex. It looked really nice to me. It included the football field with a track, and soccer and baseball diamond. We then drove up to the Lincoln Monument that looks out over the west end of Council Bluffs and downtown Omaha. What a great view from up there. The leaves are just starting to change color. We took a pass on the Kaneko Gallery. Now we were 0 for 4 in our plans. By this time it was 3:30pm and the Ashland gallery closed at 5:00pm. We needed to stop and purchase some items to go with the shrimp Kay had prepared. By the time we did that and drive to Ashland the gallery would be closed so we gave that idea up with out trying. Now we were 0 for 5 in our plans. John Kinsel called as we were on I-80 and told us the Bruce Hathaway is in the hospital and not doing very well. We did make it to Mahoney for a picnic dinner. We had accomplished one thing on our plan. That was to bad because the little black gnats swarmed us to the point it was difficult to enjoy dinner and we could not wait to get back in the car. We stopped at Nebraska Crossing and Kay found a new purse. Although our plans were all screwed up we had a great fun day. UpsidedownTop of Page ................
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