TRUCKIN’.
Day 9 – We figured we’d be putting some extra miles on the RV today, and we did. What was totally cool was that we crossed into Mountain Time & gained an hour towards the end of today’s trip – we didn’t know that was happening yet so that was a nice surprise. It was nice to have an extra hour after a long day of driving thru Nebraska. We’ve gotta admit, the idea of driving for hours through NE had been daunting. Like Kansas, we thought it was going to be miles & miles of nothing; yawn, boring (no offense intended to people living in the midwest). But it turned out to be more interesting than we’d expected.
373 miles
We got up at 6:15 a.m., humid & 67 degrees, overcast. Supposed to be a hot one today. The mosquitoes were very aggressive this morning, Cujo-style. Canada geese were walking thru the campsites as we were leaving. We didn’t want to leave; another day at the NWR would’ve been great. This morning Java was happily relaxing on her blanket on the dashboard. She probably didn’t want to leave either!
Wilson Island State Recreation Area, 32801 Campground Ln., Missouri Valley, IA, (712) 642-2069, http://www.iowadnr.gov/Places-to-Go/State-Parks/Iowa-State-Parks/ParkDetails/ParkID/610118. Convenient campground right next to the fantastic DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge, on the Nebraska/Iowa border. Not expensive! Electric only & primitive camping, also. Site #25 was a really good site, private, large, electric hook-ups. We would camp here again. The area is beautiful, the campground very clean. Definitely come back again for fall migration of snow geese at the NWR! Mark & Donna, are you interested?
We left Wilson Island SRA at 9:15 a.m., 69 degrees, humid & overcast. Back onto I-680W, crossing into Nebraska & skirting around Omaha, huge city, then hooking back up with I-80W below Omaha. On to Lincoln, the State Capitol, another large city. Then it became more agricultural & industrial, parts of the trip being flat, midwest prairie; parts of the trip small hills with more trees than we’d expected. Then it would flatten out again. Plenty of farms, lots of cows & horses.
We stopped at a rest stop for lunch at 1:30 p.m., 88 degrees, windy & hazy. It got hotter & more humid. While Rob was driving, I was researching where we should spend the night. We’d wanted to get as far as we resonably could thru Nebraska in one day. Wyoming is our next state & we’d really been looking forward to getting to the western states, the mountains, etc., before the weather got bad. A snow storm is expected to stall there this weekend; we’d like to get beyond and out of the storm’s path. We decided on stopping at Lake Ogallala, about 15 minutes north of I-80W off Highway 61. It looks like a really pretty area.
Getting a little tired & grouchy, kitties getting restless, it was after 4 p.m. when we reached Ogallala & got on Highway 61. Interesting little town with a western flair, signs for things like Boot Hill, cowboy clothes, etc. A little while later we came over a hill and were looking down on a HUGE lake with a dam – it was Lake Mcconaughy on the left side of Hwy. 61 and on the right side of the road in a scenic valley was a small lake, Lake Ogallala. Lake Mcconaughy was as big as one of the Great Lakes, or at least it seemed that way because you couldn’t see the end of it. Deep blue water, white sandy beaches (some with camping on the beach), lots of trees, just gorgeous. Lake Mcconaughy State Recreation Area has three big campgrounds which cater to boaters & larger boats. According to the map, there are several independent campgrounds further along the large lake, too. But we really liked the look & feel of the much smaller Lake Ogallala State Recreation Area, smaller boats, people fishing. We picked our own campsite in the small campground. It had 3 small loops with primitive sites or electric sites; hardly anyone was there & we had our pick of sites right on the Lake. We chose site #46 between big cottonwood trees, with panaramic views of the glassy-still water. The weather had changed, no longer humid, 82 degrees, sunny, no wind. All sites have a decent distance between them and have these very large trees between them, also. Very nice campground.
Pixie was very happy to have the long drive over with. She was rolling around on the bed in glee, playing with my socks, something she loves to do.
Pixie loves socks!
After unpacking, setting up, & taking pictures of the site & campground, we were working on the blog and boom!; we were hit with the strongest wind gusts we’d ever encountered when camping. The previously still & glassy Lake had kicked up waves that were splashing when they hit the shore, not far from where we were parked. The smaller trees were bent over; branches were flying by, and strangely, it was still sunny out. We looked around for a tornado or a water spout. Nothing. It was the weirdest thing. Very scary, too; the RV was rocking, the wind was howling. We got out the weather radio & they said the winds were 5 MPH – last forecast was 90 minutes before – useless. We didn’t know whether not having information was a good thing or a bad thing. Rob went outside to check if the kayaks were still secured on the car; he could barely get the door open. Amazing the electricity stayed on.
Before the windstorm. Lake Ogallala SRA, Ogallala, NE.
Morning, peaceful again, Ogallala State Recreation Area, Ogallala, NE
It was getting dark, the wind continued, not just gusts but sustained winds. The phone finally had an update to the weather. A cold front was moving in over LARGE Lake Mcconaughy & picking up the cold from that lake, coming over the dam & rushing into the valley through the Lake Ogallala campground below. Winds of 45 MPH were expected through midnight. The forecast was for snow showers on I-80W on the route we’d be taking tomorrow in eastern Wyoming. Still no clouds, no rain, clear skies, no lightning. Really strange. This may be common in the midwest, but it was scary to us. Went to bed with the wind howling. The temperature had dropped more than 20 degrees. We’d driven 373 miles today.
We would love getting together again! Let us know when and where 🙂
What Mark said! 😊 SO fun to see you guys!!