Day 8 - Minden, NE to Valentine, NE

At 6:25 this morning, I woke up to a strong wind rocking the motorhome.  When I opened my eyes, I realized that the sky was orange.  If you've ever been in REAL thunderstorms (ie. not California versions of thunderstorms), you'd know that the light and the color of the sky can be really, really odd!  So, I woke up Greg and got the kids out of the tent.  We collapsed the tent and our EZ-Up, pulled in all the loose debris of camping with kids, and waited out the storm.  Thankfully, it skirted around us and was moving fast.  There was a lot of lightning and thunder but nothing too close.  What a way to start the day, though.  Nebraska has had record rains this year and many parts of the state are flooded.  Thankfully, this storm didn't do too much to add to the problems.



Some of the mid-westerners sort of sneered at our reaction to the storm.  Personally, I think making sure my belongings didn't spread themselves all  over town and that my kids weren't outside during a lightning storm just makes sense.  It wasn't as if we screamed and ran around yelling about the sky falling. But, then again, how would they handle a little 5.0 earthquake . . .

After breakfast, I went into town to  laundry and dishes while Greg finished fixing the motorhome.  When I got back, he was done and ready to pack up.  We got all loaded up and organized and walked back for one more visit to Pioneer Village.  I wasn't up to much  walking around so I planted myself under a tree at a picnic table with my Kindle.  It was glorious.  When Greg and the kids were done, we had ice cream at the snack bar and then hit the road for northern Nebraska.

Greg and I really prefer to travel on small by-ways rather than main highways.  Due to our time constraints, we'd really hustled on our way over so I-80 was the best bet.  Today, we were only on 80 for less than a half-hour.  We headed up 183 to 2 and then to 83.



It was a great drive.  We loved the small towns we drove though . . . Broken Bow and Valentine in particular were great towns.  We chose our route so that we could drive through the Valentine National Wildlife Refuge.  It was so beautiful  - full of wetlands and birds.  Well worth the choice of this route.


Remember the flooding, I mentioned? This was on 83 . . . it was a little alarming to drive into . . . even while watching the truck ahead of us successfully drive through.

Through sheer dumb luck, we ended up at an amazing campground. Fishberry Campground is amazing! Beautiful, new facilities. Free WiFi. Clean, functional bathrooms. And a gorgeous view. . .

Day 7 - Minden, NE

We spent another day in the midwest . . . it was a very hot, miserable night.  We woke up to beautiful, cool morning that promised rain.  It never delivered and by 1pm, we had the kids back at the pool for the day.  There was a lot of picture taking of lots of FMCs -- this involved moving coaches backwards and fowards and lots of coordination and organization by too many "cooks."  Still,   in the end, we had some great shots!

Greg did some major repairs.  We continue to be amazed by the kindness and hospitality of this little town.  The auto parts guy thanked Greg for letting him order belts for him.  I chatted with a woman at the pool who invited us to come out to their baseball game tonight.  We made the newspaper and a special on the TV news.  Everyone is as kind as can be!

I can't believe the rally is over and we'll be leaving so many great, new friends.  I know we'll be back!

One of the attendees brought his sons out from Norway.  He bought an FMC 4 years ago, shipped it to Norway and fixed it up.  He did a presentation tonight of all the work he's done so far.  It's pretty amazing!

Our evening is hot and muggy tonight with no breeze. I think we'll be running the air conditioner tonight.  I wonder if we'll get the thunderstorm that keeps threatening to arrive!

Day 6, Minden, NE

We spent a warm but breezy night in Minden and woke up to a beautiful day with no breeze . . . just the promise of heat!

The FMC Owners Club organized a couple of seminars for us through the Minden Chamber of Commerce.  It was really great.  They got a nurse practitioner to come and speak about Basic First Aid and CPR with a bent toward situations that might come up while we're traveling.  They also had the guy that manages the fleet of school buses for the local school district.  He arrived in a school bus which certainly got everyone's attention.  I, evilly, told the kids that in Nebraska, they pick kids up at campgrounds to go school . . . even in the summer! The seminars were fascinating and I think everyone learned something.  It was pretty cool!

Afterward, we went to the smorgasbord at the Pioneer Village  .  It was, well, a meal.  The Millers headed over to the Pioneer Village museum then.  We spent several hours touring the museum and buildings before the heat did us in.  We'll have to come back for another couple of hours tomorrow.  The Chamber of Commerce arranged passes for us to the museum as well as discounts at the local city pool.  A group of us moms took the kids over to the pool for the afternoon.  The kids LOVED it. The men hung around the campsite talking about their FMCs and discussing how to fix all their problems and how to make them all perfect!

I'm looking out now at a huge group of folks sharing cocktails and conversation.  Here is a link to a bunch of pictures of the day.

Day 5 (Sidney, NE to Minden, NE)

We woke up to a beautiful mid-west morning.  It was humid and warm but lovely.   I took a walk and saw some birds and an adorable little bunny!  I then came back to wake up my family so we could go have breakfast with Harry and Sandy and then head over to Cabela's for a little shopping!

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About an hour away from Cabela's, we picked up Eric at the airport.  He couldn't drive his FMC out so he flew in.  He's a great guy -- he even brought us a part for our air conditioner!  I'm telling you, FMC people are the best!!!

This is a HUGE arch that crosses I-80 shortly before we turn off to go to Minden.  It was most impressive.  Since we were in a hurry, we didn't stop to figure out WHY they built an arch over I-80!

We pulled into the campground in Minden, NE.  It's part of an attraction called Pioneer Village.  My first impression is that this place has seen better days.  Still, we have power and shade and the people are wonderful!  Lots of kids -- ours have been running wild with them.  Lots of good conversation.  We got set up and sat down with a cold beer and felt so much better!  We've arrived and we're staying put for a few days!  Hurrah!

What a day . . . (4)

We woke up this morning at a truck stop in Laramie, WY.  I have to say, first of all, that truck stops like Flying J and Pilot and Petro (we stayed at the Petro) are really nice and full of amenities for the traveler.  We were really grateful for this since we woke up early, tossed the kids out of their bunks to sleep on our bed, and started the motorhome to head off to Cheyenne and meet up with our group.

Well, that was the plan.  Thing was . . . the motorhome wouldn't start.  Oh boy.  So, we started fiddling, sure that at any minute, we'd solve the problem and be on our way.

No such luck.

Thankfully, we have made some amazingly good friends in this crowd of people who love FMCs as much as we do.  So, when we called the group to say that they shouldn't wait for us, one of them said they were on their way.  And, they came and joined us . . . drove an hour out of their way to join us in Laramie and spent 6 hours diagnosing and fixing our FMC.  Amazing people.

Still, what a day.  They solved an electrical problem that was preventing a spark, put in a new fuel pump and filter, and replaced a broken fanbelt which gave us back power steering.  When we were done and the motorhome started up, we cheered and got on the road.   We stopped for the night at  Cabela's World Headquarters in Sidney, Nebraska.  They have an RV park there so we are hooked up with electricity (charging all our electronics that we can't function without) and showered and ate some non-fast food and we'll sleep well tonight.

In the morning, we're going to shop at Cabela's, possibly get the motorhome washed, and head on down the road.  We'll pick up another FMC guy at the airport in North Platte and continue on our way to Minden, NE and the rest of our group.

What a long, strange trip it's been . . . and, folks, we're just getting started!

Day 3

Salt Lake City to Cheyenne. Well, that was the plan. The drive was spectacular out of SLC (and Liza got to shop at Kohls & IKEA before we left town). Liza saw a Sandhill Crane outside Park City which was exciting! Had lunch in Wyoming and started having issues. Fanbets are not our friends. We limped our way across the state -- enjoying the beauty and wildlife but not the lack of an alternator or power steering. At 11pm, we called it a night outside of Laramie. We planned to wake up fresh and push through to Cheyenne where a whole passel of FMC owners are waiting to convoy into Minden, NE.

Best laid plans. Greg us currently diagnosing why the motor won't turnover. Lots of telephone advice and support from Cheyenne -- we will prevail!

Still, there are worse views to wake up to . . .

Day Two

10:00 - driving thru Fernley, NV.

11:30 - Gas pedal stopped working outside Lovelock, NV (ie middle of no-freakin-where). Fixed it with safety pin! It's official ... We're running on bailing wire!
4:30pm - got gas in Wells, NV. Motorhome refused to start. Talked to Stephen while fiddling with wires & now it's running fine!

7pm - crossed into Utah & mountain time. So now it's 8pm!

10pm - pulling into SLC after a crazy long drive across the salt flats (really? 100 miles?) FMC is purring like a kitten. Tomorrow, we're shopping before we leave town - Camping World, Kohl's, & IKEA! Then we are heading off to Cheyenne!