Yellowstone - Day 14

July 5, 2013...Final day of vacation is bittersweet.  We are quite happy to be home but being away is so much fun!  Now it will be back to face a bushel of mail to open and do something with, lots of laundry, and work on Monday.  But I am very thankful and feel lucky to have experienced the last two weeks. 

Waking up early we headed down the road in the church van to Kearney, Nebraska.  There is a wonderful giant arch over the Interstate 80 that we wanted to see. We were very pleased that we took the time to experience it! The museum is wonderfully done and shows the history of settling the west from the early days of white man's arrival to the area.

We were given headphones to hear the stories that went along with the wonderfully created diaramas as we walked through.  WOW!  It was all so professionally done and reminded me of being at Disney where everything is nearly perfect.  Do not miss this the next time you are barreling down the highway headed west. 

The early pioneers stories mimic all the things we have been discussing the last two weeks.  Hardships galore with only a hope of a better life to come.  Again, I found myself wondering if I would have had the gumption to continue on from this point.  But for most, what choice would there have been?  They couldn't stay.  And they couldn't go back.  Onward was the only option.

There were two peekholes to view the interstate below.  That was fun and they had a radar up there reading the speed of the vehicles passing below. A lovely gift shop and café completed the inside of the archway part of the museum.

Outside was one of my favorite parts...the river.  Which had many big carp in them and feed to give to them. I don't know why but I LOVE feeding carp. If these carp lived at my house they would be so fat they couldn't swim for all the food I would give them!  I wished I had a five gallon bucket of food to give to them instead of a baggie full.  Next time.  ;)

Dan and I wandered around the outside exhibits including the garden and the lodge pole shelter.  It seems that this large round shelter was constructed by women and housed 20 or more families.  The huge lodge poles had to be brought in from further west because lodge pole pines do not grow in Nebraska.  What a gigantic effort those early settlers had to exert just to construct their home. 

Back on the highway these Illinois travelers headed east.  We talked some but I think most of us were pondering our experiences and tucking away favorite memories into our long term memory banks along with thinking of what awaited us at home....comfortable beds, pets we missed, and family and friends.

The people in our lives and our time spent with them are what makes life rich. I encourage you to take a vacation with friends and family even if it is only for a short time.  The few tense moments you experience but quickly overcome, the hours spent in each others company laughing, and the shared exploits to refer too later make for those lasting memories we will cherish when we are old and sitting in the rocking chair.  I plan to tell my grandchildren about my Yellowstone adventure and this blog will help flesh out the story.  Now, to get those photos and memories scrapbooked!  And now on to the next projects!

Thank you for taking the time to hear my Yellowstone story.  Sometimes it was a struggle to take the time to put fingers to keyboard (as opposed to pen to paper) but I am glad I did.  When I read the stats on how many of you read my words, I realize that somebody out there is listening to my thoughts and ramblings!  Thank you!!