Sightseeing in Grand Island, Nebraska and Gina Gets her Engraved Rock

Saturday
October 24, 2009

Woke up late this morning and we decided that we would just hang out today. The weather is cold and we just didn’t feel like doing anything. It would just be one of those do nothing days. We both just watched some movies along with a little TV. At 6:30 we watched the LSU vs Auburn football game. Once the game ended we just called it a night and went to bed.

Sunday
October 25, 2009

We woke up this morning just chilling out (temperature 35 degrees with a 25 mph north wind). We were trying to decide how we would spend today. There were two choices go to see the geographic center of the contiguous 48 states or go see where the song “Home on the Range” was written. We decided on seeing the center of the US. We then took our showers and got dressed and headed off toward Lebanon, Kansas.

Monument at the Center of the 48 states


US Center Chapel


Inside of Chapel


Looking Down the Road Toward the Center of the US

Ok, it’s not a destination stop but it’s worth a stop if you are ever in the area. There is a small chapel located there and it’s a stop that Gina and I can say that we have been to.

From there we headed to the grocery store to pick up some broccoli. Gina was in the mood for some homemade broccoli & cheese soup. Once back at home Gina commenced to cooking. It seems like we are eating a lot of soup type foods but the weather here is just cold and you just want some warm liquid to eat so you can stay warm. The broccoli & cheese soup tasted great. After we ate Gina chatted with Ashley & Parker on IChat for over an hour. They’re both doing great in school and we look forward to seeing them at Christmas. We said goodnight and went to bed. We had another not too exciting day but very relaxing for us.

Monday
October 26, 2009

The alarm clock went off at 5:45 this morning so I could be ready at 6:30 just in case they wanted to get started on our fifth wheel. Gina woke up right after me when she heard the coffee pot finish brewing. We both had our showers and were dressed by 6:30. I talked to Curtis and he said that he would be over and get our fifth wheel around ten o’clock. Well, we got up early for nothing. However, if we wouldn’t have got up early they would have been knocking on our door at 6:30. Now that we were all dressed up we discussed what we would do today. We decided very quickly that Grand Island, Nebraska would be our destination. It’s the closest big city to Smith Center, Kansas. We got on the road around nine o’clock headed north. We stopped at Wal-mart in Hastings so we could pick up a few items we needed and to use the restroom. Back on the road toward Grand Island we were not sure what we wanted to do first. Gina had read that they had a nice downtown so that is where we stopped and parked around noon. We quickly realized that it was like most old downtown areas just a lot of antique shops. However, the shops were very nicely laid out with good lighting not like a lot of antique shops that just have everything thrown together. We went through most of the shops enjoying the old antiques. From there we had to go back to Wal-mart since we forgot a bowl to heat up our leftover soup with. It was a quick stop and while Gina was inside buying a glass bowl I was looking and calling campgrounds to see where we would be parking tonight. I found Mormon Island State Recreation Area. I did call them and they said that they had shut down all the water except for one toilet. We said that was alright with us. We were only about seven miles away. We arrived there at 5:30 and quickly realized that we were the only ones there except for the four deer that greeted us as we got set up. It’s a nice setting but it is right next to the interstate. Here are a few pictures of the park.

Mormon Island Recreation Area


Our Campsite


A View of the Beach


A View of the Lake

Gina quickly got the soup heated up while I hooked up the satellite. We had some good timing since I got the satellite connected at the same time she was putting soup in our bowls for dinner. After dinner we just relaxed watching “Law & Order”.

Tuesday
October 27, 2009

We woke up this morning with the temperature inside the truck a very cold 48 degrees. We do not run our heater at night. At least it was warmer inside the truck than outside. The outside temperature was reading 32 degrees and there was a 15 mph wind blowing. I turned the heater on and got the coffee brewing. We both enjoyed our coffee and then decided that we needed to get moving out of the campground. We first stopped at a truck stop right up the road to get cleaned up. I’m not sure I like the truck stop thing to get cleaned up but it fit the bill this morning. We then went up the road a little further and stopped at the Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer.

Front View of Stuhr Musuem

This is another museum about pioneers heading west and how times progressed to what they have today. They have a full size old town circa 1880’s. Here are a few pictures.

Two Log Cabins
One was built in 1857 and the other was built in 1859


Milisen House Built in 1879


Lesher House, Built in 1883


Fonda House, Built in 1884
House where Henry Fonda was Born


A One-Room Rural Schoolhouse, Built in 1893


Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church, Built in 1888


Gina, Angel and Zoey Playing in the Tee Pee

Around three o’clock we were hungry and I was in the mood for a nacho bell grande from Taco Bell. While we were eating we talked about whether we wanted to stay another day here in Nebraska or head back to Kansas. We finally decided to head back south to Smith Center. We got back at 5:15 and since Joe from JS Limestone called yesterday to let us know that Gina’s rock was finished we headed over there to see it. It came out beautiful.

Our Rock


Joe, the Artist


A Very Unique Eagle Design

Joe has only been carving these rocks since last year. He started doing them part time just as a side job until he got laid off from his job and then started doing them as his full time job. He has become such artist the only difference is his canvas is limestone. I highly recommend looking at his website http://www.jslimestone.com/ to see all the different designs that he has done. Joe is a very gifted and talented young man.

Curtis called us to ask us if we wanted our home brought out of the shop and we said that he could keep it inside and that we would just stay in our truck tonight. We parked our truck back behind Excel’s service center and got the electrical connected to the truck around six o’clock. We heated up our leftover gumbo for dinner and decided to take it inside the customer lounge to eat at the table instead of in our truck. Gina was finally able to get a good internet connection so she spent the next two hours on facebook trying to catch up with what everyone has been doing. Around ten o’clock we walked back to the truck and settled in for the night.

Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with.