Made It To Kansas

Halstead, Kansas             High 67 Low 45

Last Night we stayed in Burr Oak, Kansas. It was just an overnight on our way somewhere else, but for $7.00 for full hook-ups it can’t be beat. We didn’t have phone service or Wi-Fi, so this post is a day late.

We stopped at a museum in Hastings, Nebraska but I will wait till a later post to talk about it.

On our way to and from Hastings we had two firsts. The first was the Highway from I-80 to Hastings was probably the worst highway we have driven on in the 48 States. The speed limit was 65, but we couldn’t go near that. At least in Alaska you were fore-warned about the frost heaves.

After Hastings the road was a little better, but not much. The second first was after we got into Kansas. We had the most rain I have ever driven in. It was all we could do to see where to drive. We left the rain after a few miles, but when we got to Burr Oak we got rained on again for a while.

Now back to our visits in Nebraska. We went to Boot Hill in Ogallala and learned about some of the local history. I didn’t know it but Boot Hill is so named because most of the cowboys got buried with their boots on. Before Boot Hill was abandoned in 1885 when the Ogallala Cemetery west of town came into general use, at least 48 bodies were laid to rest here. It is probable that the death count was much higher. Ogallala, which during that time averaged a population of about 200 souls, was reputed to be the most violent town on the trail with an equivalently high death rate.

This horse and rider statue found on Boot Hill represents a Texas Trail cattle drover who appears to be looking over the graves and town—back over the trail—back to Texas. This bronze statue is a copy of an identical statue found in Dallas, Texas. The statue of the horse and rider was sculpted by Robert Summers. The TRAIL BOSS replaces a earlier concrete statue of a horse and rider sculpted by Dr. Gainsforth which now is located at the Ogallala Livestock Market sale barn west of town.

After Boot Hill we went to visit Lake McConaughy  which we found out is the largest Reservoir in Nebraska. At the Visitors Center is a small Museum that tells about the Dam and Lake. It was worth a visit. We could have driven around the lake, but it was about a 60 mile drive and we chose not to.

The view we had of the dam.

This is getting a bit wordy, so I will talk about the Hastings museum on later posts.

Thanks for visiting. 

Ogallala Museums

             

Ogallala, Nebraska           High 68 Low 44

It rained almost all day yesterday so we decided to go visit the two museums in town. They are across the street from each other.

The first was the Petrified Wood and Art Gallery. It was started by identical twins, Harvey and Howard Kenfield. At 89 years old they still make items for the Gallery. We got to see many examples of petrified wood from various states and nations.

We got to see lots of examples of what looked like small wooden cabins that are actually made from petrified wood. The shingles and siding look like wood, but through a process, the brothers have split the petrified wood into small slivers of rock which are then glued together.

There is one gallery with mostly arrow heads made into art. One picture was an Indian chief made entirely from Arrow heads.

There are several bronze statues and lots of fossils.

This is a replica from another Museum.

One room had a collection of art that incorporated quilts into the landscape. As quilters, we were very interested to see them.

There was an old Doctors buggy on display.

After the Petrified Wood Gallery, we went to the Front Street Crystal Palace which is an old west looking saloon which is actually a restaurant that also houses a cowboy museum.

There are lots of displays showing the history of the town. For a while cattle were driven to the town which was the end of the railroad for a time. There was lots of prostitution and gun fights. One display told about the prostitutes and how they sometimes followed the cowboys from place to place.

One display was a frontier barber shop. I thought the sign with the prices was interesting.

Today we went to see Boot Hill and Lake McConaughy, but I will write about it tomorrow.

Thanks for visiting.

Rainy Day

Ogallala, Nebraska           High 47 Low 38

It rained almost steadily today and was cold. The only good thing is it's not snowing like it is where we were.

I got kind of stir crazy, so we took a drive through the old part of Ogallala. We found some interesting wood carvings in front of a law office.

 These two were facing each other.

We also found a bronze statue by some old gas pumps that looked like an old gas station which now houses a tourist information center.

There are a couple of other museums and attractions in town that we will try to see tomorrow if the rain stops as it is predicted.

While we were out, we found a really nice quilt store. The lady running it said it used to be her's for the last 29 years, but that she had sold it last year because she wanted to retire. She was running it while the new owners were a a Pfaff Sewing Machine thing in Nashville. It was a very large store with lots of fabric which we resisted.

I hope we can do a few things tomorrow.

Thanks for visiting.

Not Too Much to Report

Ogallaga, Nebraska                High 63 Low 46

We had planned on going back to Cheyenne for one night, but the weather report scared us. It was supposed to snow tomorrow starting at 6:00 AM. So for that reason we decided to go to our next stop 2 days early.


The morning was nice until about the last half hour before we got to the camp ground when the side wind started to pick up, But even that was better than trying to drive in the snow for the next 2 days.

We are staying at the Sleepy Sunflower RV Park with Passport America. They normally only allow 3 nights with the discount, but they made an exception for us and gave us the whole 5 nights at the discounted rate.

It is a small park with only 44 sites and I counted 10 rigs here, so I guess it is not their busy season. We are right next to Interstate 80 and we are hoping the road noise isn't too bad.

The owners seemed super nice and the sites are quite level. They are set up so our two rigs doors face each other. If we weren't traveling together, this could be a problem, but for us it works out.

Another plus is a fenced dog run that Penny seems to like although it has been a little cool.

Thanks for visiting.

Candy Store

Brighton, Colorado              High 73 Low 44

The day started out very pleasantly. This afternoon it started to rain and for a while it rained very hard. The sky went from sunny and warm to black clouds and lightning.

Are you ready for this……..We went to the local quilt store in Brighton. Linda’s friend Nadine told us that it was the best store in the Denver area. All the fabric was $9.00 per yard, with the exception of 108 inch backing. We asked the owner how she could sell it for that price and she told us because of the volume.

It was a nice store and, yes, we bought some material. We then had to hurry back to the RV to go with Linda, their Mom, and friend Nadine to Hammond Candy Co.

From left, Cindy Linda, Linda's friend Nadine and in front sitting Linda and Cindy's Mom.

It is a large Candy Company located in Denver. It was family run from 1920 until 1999 when it was sold. It then grew from a small factory with 10 employees to a larger facility with 60 employees. In 2004 Hammonds moved to its present location with 35,000 square feet.

In 2007 the present president and CEO and a group of investors purchased the company and in four years doubled number of employees and production.

In 2010 Hammond’s purchased McCraw’s Candies, makers of flat taffy. They now sell candies in most of the states, including Costco, Sam’s Club and Trader Joe’s as some of their clients. The manufacturing plant in Denver is their only location.

We enjoyed the tour and were given a sample of Candy cane as we left the tour. There was a sign that said they hand craft 10 million Candy Canes per Year. We watched a video about the history of Hammond's Candy and then we got to see the process of making candy canes.

Of coarse the tour ended at the back entrance to the candy store. 

Right now it is still raining, just not as hard.

Thanks for visiting.