We left the plains of Kansas for the new plains of Nebraska. Traveling the plains is like driving I-5 between Los Angeles and San Francisco, with a few more whistle stops. The tropical depression that hit the gulf and traveled north has caused a lot of high winds, mostly crosswinds, sometimes headwinds, either way they reduced gas mileage, we did make to Nebraska in good time though.
We finally settled in to our temporary home at the Ogallala NE KOA. The sites are all gravel with full hook ups, called "buddy sites". What that means is two RVs share a site, with separate utilities for each RV, located in between the RVs. This KOA is right off the I-80 and close to amenities, has a play area for the kids, dog park for the other kids, laundry, and showers. The noise from the highway was tolerable, even with windows open. We joined KOA after learning a little bit more about their campgrounds. The campground we stayed at is categorized "Journey" because it is close to the highway. All "Journey" category are going to be near highway, they are generally overnight. They have two other categories: "Holiday" and "Resort". "Resort campgrounds are the premier campgrounds with all the bells and whistles.
Anyway, the town of Ogallala has a rich history steeped in cattle, it was the end of the trail when the cattle were being moved from Texas. In the mid 1940's the town would start a new life as tourists would flock to a newly created lake thanks to a C.o.E. project:
Lake McConaughy is the largest lake in Nebraska with about 30 miles of shoreline for fishing, swimming, and camping. This lake also provides irrigation water for 225,000 acres of farmland, and hydro-electric power to power a city of 45,000 people. Around here 45,000 people is a huge city, most of the towns we have been through sport a population between 200 and 8,000 (does not include livestock).
There are a couple of other attraction in the town of Ogallala: Front St., Mansion on the Hill, Boot Hill Cemetery, and the Petrified Wood Museum.
The museum that dumbfounded us the most was the Petrified Wood Museum, because of the wood, rock, and art displays.
Most of the displays are from twin brothers who have been doing this for almost 50 years. I am only going show you pictures because there was so much to see, I was overwhelmed.
That's all you get see, you need to see this place yourself. Time to head back home and prepare for South Dakota.
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