Big Trip Report #5, Camping with the Cows & the memory of some great adventurers

All over the West, we saw windmills.

I don't want to get into an argument as to whether these gigantic pinwheels really are helpful in producing green energy and helping save the environment. I will simply say they are impressive. Kathy and I both think they are pretty. I am confident in saying that there is plenty of room for them all across the plains. If they are any good, out west is certainly a great place for them. I did most of the driving, so the windmill pictures are all Kathy's. Here is one of the many she took.

The Missouri River is the water route that Lewis and Clark took on their incredible journey west. The Missouri National Recreational River (https://www.nps.gov/mnrr/planyourvisit/visitorcenters.htm) is a National Park that straddles the Iowa Nebraska state line. Much of the Missouri River has been changed by dams and other manmade projects. The stretch of the river within the park is much as it was when the great explorers made their trip.

On our trip, Kathy and I generally followed this rule: 

If you come to an overlook, stop and look.

Just as we entered Nebraska we saw signs for an overlook, so we pulled off and took the driveway up the bluff to the parking area. The wayside park is new. The area on each side of the walkway to the observation platform has been seeded with native plant-life. To be honest, it didn't look like a very friendly environment for growing things, but as I said these are native plants, so they seemed to thrive.

Here are a couple of the views from the overlook. The water is the Missouri River.

It wasn't far from the overlook to our campsite. The Park service has several campgrounds in the park. All of them are primitive--no facilities--all but one, if I heard right, are accessible only by boat, so I chose the one accessible by car. 

We drove down about ten miles of gravel road. The ranger I had talked to before we left home told me that the end of the road was rough. It wasn't interstate quality, but I've been on worse. Corn on the right, pasture on the left. The road ended in a parking, turn-around area 75 or 100 feet square. A ranger happened by while we were setting up. Really nice guy. He gave us his card and said, "If you need anything. . . ." A couple of four-wheelers, fishermen and dog-walkers came and went before dark, other than that it was just us and the cows on the other side of the fence. I'l let the pictures do the talking.

 

It was hard to get used to just how spread out the West is. On the way out of the Missouri River campground, we drove about 20 miles (different route out) of gravel roads. These weren't just roads through forest of pasture land. People lived on these roads. There were nice houses, with nice cars and trucks parked next to them. Both houses and vehicles were covered in the brown dust that billowed up from the road. We passed what I would call a little village, built around a quite impressive church building and cemetery. I guess these folks just have to make peace with the dust and grit. That and change their air filters regularly. 

We hadn't signed any treaty with the dirt, so we were glad to see pavement once more. 

That day, we enjoyed Sunday lunch at the Pizza Ranch in Mitchel South Dakota. Our good friend in Guam, Kim Volsteadt, said it is his favorite place to eat when he's back in the states--he grew up in SD. We enjoyed it, Kim.