Omaha Nebraska to Douglas Wyoming

I have started travel journals several times over the years only to stop writing about half way through the trip. It's been fun blogging about our trip and Facebooking along the way! Thanks for all the comments on the blog, emails and Facebook wall postings about our trip. I never knew so many of the people I know have family and friends in the area we traveled! Special shout out to Vince, Bill, James, Midge, Mom and Dad, Hollie, Jennifer, Mary, Mike, Venys, Kim, Sean, Diana, Ramona and Marcy. I've either heard from you by email, comments on my blog or Facebook as we traveled. I know there have been a higher number of visits to the blog which is nice. A lot of people have asked about our route home. I have been intentionally vague about our itinerary since although we had an idea of our eastern limits we did not know how far we would travel and when we would head home. We don't have to be back to work until Monday but we decided to arrive home by Friday evening so we have all weekend at home before returning to work.

We started the day in Omaha which is on the eastern border of Nebraska. We drove across the entire state of Nebraska which is 430 miles across and then another 100 or so miles into Wyoming before stopping for the evening. We camped for the last time this trip. Now in the spirit of full disclosure I will confess that we only camped because the Courtyard in Casper was full. I am dangerously close to officially hating camping! I knew once we stayed in a hotel it would be difficult to return to camping. For the most part we have had a great time camping and the campgrounds progressively improved - until last night! We stayed at a KOA (first mistake) which was loud and the sites were close enough for me to hear the guy in the next camp snore all night. I got up early and went for a run only to find a nicer campground 3 miles away right along the Platte river with a paved running/biking trail on site!

We have already made up our minds that we will stay in a hotel on our last night on the road. Who knows where we will end up tonight! There are multiple options depending on the route we take. I've made several hotel reservations depending on where we might end up and will cancel the rest! Don't want to make the same mistake and find them all full!

We really liked eastern Nebraska - specifically Omaha and Lincoln. Our friend Bill once lived in Omaha and we have already decided that it would be a great long weekend trip with him when we have more time. It looks like they have spent a lot of time on redevelopment of the downtown. The picture below is a night shot of downtown Omaha.




From Omaha we headed to Lincoln to visit our 4th state capital this trip. Very cool building and campus. I was talking to one of the tour guides and asked about the House and Senate chambers and learned that Nebraska's legislature has met as the nation's only Unicameral,( no separate House and Senate) since 1937. I thought that was interesting - it was a vote of the people.




We've been through Lincoln before on another trip but did not take the time to go inside the state Capitol building. Well worth a visit. From there were visited the campus of the University of Nebraska - home of the Corn Huskers! We went to the football stadium and the bookstore. I could not resist getting a picture decked out as a Corn Husker! This just goes to prove that a sports fan will wear anything to support their team!






Lincoln seemed like the kind of place we would like to spend more time as well. I hope that the Huskies play them in Nebraska in the next several years - we would definitely attend!

As we continued west we stopped at Chimney Rock National Historic Site. The site is located along the Oregon Trail and reference to it can be found in the journals of hundreds of pioneers headed west.






From there we went to Scotts Bluff National Monument.






We took a short hike before continuing on our journey. I took several pictures that I thought I would share since I could not choose just one!









I hope you enjoy!

Later -

Jim

Posted on the run from my iPhone.

Omaha - 1730.6 Miles From Home

Here we are at the apex of our trip - as far east as we will travel on our 2009 road trip. Seven states so far with Iowa and Nebraska being the two new ones added. Toby is now up to 9 states visited!

I'm a visual kinda guy so for those of you like myself I thought it would be helpful to post a map - the highlighted state is Nebraska and Omaha is located along the far eastern part of the state bordering Iowa.




Our 5th night on the road called for a hotel. We are loyal to Marriott so we sought out a Courtyard and found a brand new one that opened less than a year ago and is the largest Courtyard in the Country! It was very nice and just what we needed!



We actually pulled into a campground - thought about it and we both could tell by the looks on each others face that we really did not want a 5th night on the ground! This is more like it! It's going to be difficult to return to the tent!



Toby enjoyed sleeping on a nice soft pillow as opposed to the ground.



Even if he found it a bit humiliating to gain access through my gym bag!



I love this picture, it cracks me up! It's been so much fun traveling with our dog. He is a great traveler although I can tell he misses having access to the yard. I realized when I let him off his leash in the room and he ran around like a mad dog that he had either been confined to the cab of the truck or on a leash for the past 5 days!

We visited the state capitol in Pierre before heading out and continuing to follow the Lewis and Clark Trail along the Missouri river between Pierre and Omaha.



Along the way we had a picnic along the Missouri river at the spot where George Shannon rejoined the Corps of Discovery after being lost for a week. We continued on to the grave of Sargent Charles Floyd the only member of the group to die along the journey. His death is thought to have been a ruptured appendix. His grave site is along a bluff over looking the Missouri river.



Finally we arrived in Omaha and had just enough time to walk across the Bob Kerry pedestrian suspension bridge that opened less than a year ago. Very cool - spans the Missouri river and connects Iowa with Nebraska.



Tomorrow we will begin our 1730.6 mile journey home.

Later -

Jim


Posted on the run from my iPhone.

Birthday Wish From the Road

Today is my Goddaughter Emily's 15th B-day! She is pictured here with her Mom and my friend Nancy.




Please join me in wishing Emily a Happy - Happy Birthday! I hope you had a great birthday and that 15 eventually feels different than 14!



Have a good one!

Jim and Kent

Posted on the run from my iPhone.

From One State Capitol to Another

We did something that I have never done before. We camped for the 4th night in a row! Usually we camp one night and then stay in a hotel the next. I like the fact that we are saving money but the reason we are camping so much is because we have Toby and it's easier just to pull into a campground and be done with it as opposed to paying extra for having a dog or sneaking him in.

We drove from the Theodore Roosevelt National Park to the state Capitol in Bismark, ND. The state Capitol was built in the early 30's after the original burned to the ground. It's a modern art deco building that if you did not know what you were looking for you could easily pass without notice. Inside is a very different storey. Art deco design, big columns and beautiful house and senate chambers.



We followed more of the Lewis and Clark Trail. We have traced all but a couple of small sections over the last ten or so years. Every since reading the Steven Ambrose book Undaunted Courage we have been following parts of the trail. Little side story - when Kent and I first started dating Undaunted Courage was being read on Radio Reader on NPR and we would listen to it in bed and get the map out and follow along and talk about retracing the route someday. I know TMI but it's my blog! Anyway......It really was an incredible journey across country when there were no interstates, campgrounds and nothing moved faster than a horse. Not to mention flush toilets and hot showers! Flush toilets and running water are two things I won't do without and hot shower although not a deal breaker can only be tolerated for one night!

We visited a Lewis and Clark visitor center located on the Missouri river. It was one of the better ones we've visited. When we signed the visitor book I noticed that there was a family from Aberdeen there visiting at the same time - small world.



Near there was a replica of Fort Mandan where the Corp of Discovery spent a long cold winter. The guide was very knowledgeable. There was a huge statue of Seamen - Lewis's dog that joined them on the journey. Of course we had get a picture of Toby with it!




From there we headed south to Pierre, SD. SD became Toby' s 7th state! The drive to Pierre was unbelievably beautiful - far exceeded my expectations. Big green rolling hills like big carpets of green grass on each side of the river. We took a short hike until we spotted the biggest snake we have ever seen and ran back to the truck (can't you just picture it) - there was a scream and some hyperventilating involved! I managed to get a picture of it on our other camera which has a zoom lens.

By the time we made it to Pierre we found a campground (with showers) grabbed some dinner and called it a day.



We are heading to the state Capitol first thing this morning and who knows where we will end up tonight. Having a great time, getting close to needing a hotel and good coffee!

Later -

Jim



-- Posted on the run from my iPhone.

Running on the Road

One of the things I love about running is that you can do it any where you go and all you need is a pair of shoes and some running shorts. I've been lucky enough to run in a lot of cool places and see some interesting things. The picture below is the view this morning as I headed out for my run.



There is no better way to scope out a new city than to put on a pair of running shoes and hit the streets. Running in Alaska I came upon several moose and in Hawaii while running out towards Diamond Head I spotted whales in the distance. Today was another one of those memorable runs that stand out from the day to day routine training runs.




I got up and started out to run about six miles. Since our camp site was about five miles into Theodore Roosevelt National Park it was an easy decision to run throughout the park. I did not run into one car the entire time! It was beautiful! I saw 15 deer which was cool but it was the buffalo - yea buffalo, that was especially cool! Reminded me of the moose in Alaska and whales in Hawaii. Male buffalo as you might guess are huge - I was a bit worried about how close to get but luckily by the time I got there it had moved off the road and I could easily pass. Got to love the iPhone. Not only can I Facebook and blog on the road, I can take pictures while out for a run!





Headed to Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and Fort Mandan and then off to Bismark.

Have a good one -

Jim


-- Posted on the run from my iPhone.

North Dakota

We finally made it out of Montana and into North Dakota! With this picture of us crossing into ND we now have a picture of us at every state line in the country! Now Toby is getting into the act!



There is not enough of a signal here to post many pictures but I'll try a couple. We are camping for the third consecutive night which is a record!





We are staying in a campground that is located five miles into the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. It's very quiet here compared to our other sites. The park is amazingly beautiful and wildlife abundant. The park reminds me of a green lush version of Badlands National Park. It takes a lot of effort to get here which is probably why the park is less visited than other National Parks. Roosevelt first visited the area in 1883 and after becoming President established the the U.S. forest service and signing the Antiquities Act under which he proclaimed 18 national monuments. He also got Congressional approval for the establishment of five national parks and 51 wildlife refuges and set aside land as national forests. The Theodore Roosevelt was one of the five national parks he created.



We survived yet another severe thunder storm. This picture was taken from the truck following a huge down pour.



Lastly I took this clandestine picture of one of the many cowboys having dinner at the local bar and grill where we had a burger. There was a rodeo in town so although the service was painfully slow - there was a lot of cowboy eye candy!



More updates to come.

Have a good one -

Jim