British Columbia

Dawson Creek was our first stop in the province of British Columbia.  We traveled 260 miles to get to the Mile 0 RV Park. Mile 0 refers to the starting point of the Alaska Highway. The gateway arch shown above made a perfect first photo for this British Columbia Blog.

Buck and Janet at Mile 0.

The Dawson Creek Visitor’s Center manager spoke with our group about the history of the Alaska Highway.  The manager’s father was one of the army engineers ordered to construct the road.  President Herbert Hoover considered building a road from the lower 48 states to Alaska as early as 1930.   But the threat from Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 created an urgency for the connecting road.  Construction began March 9, 1942 and was completed 8 months and 12 days later.

Built by 11,000 American troops, including 7 regiments of engineers, 16,000 civilian workmen from Canada and the United States, and 7,000 pieces of equipment, the construction was an unbelievable task of penetrating the 1500 miles of mountains, lakes, rivers, and gorges.

The highway served its purpose for the use of the military to defend off Japan’s military attacks from the northwest sections of Alaska. The highway was open to the public in 1948 and since then has been improved upon many times.

Curved bridge made of wood built in 1942
on the Alaska Highway.

At Dawson Creek we stayed four nights which gave us time to unwind, do laundry, and enjoy our caravan members while sightseeing and eating out.  Also, time to wash our tow!

From Dawson Creek we journeyed to Ft. Nelson, BC, a distance of 282 miles. In route we passed a sign, “Suicide Hill.”  It commemorates one of the most treacherous hills on the original highway, noted for its ominous greeting:  “Prepare to meet thy maker.”  

The next day we left Ft. Nelson, BC for Liard River, BC, only 189 miles away. The Liard Hot Springs location was a great attraction as our caravan members soaked their sore bodies in the hot springs.   The second night a buffalo graced our campground with his presence.  He grazed the green grass without blinking an eye as we all shot pictures of him.  As we left the campground the next morning, the buffalo had attracted an audience with several members of his herd, I suppose.

Big Boy!

Bears and caribou were also spotted on the Alaska Highway as we headed to the Yukon Territory.  We even stopped so that a bear cub could cross the highway to get to his mom.  Amazing!

Crossing the Border

With great anticipation and fear we approached the border crossing into Canada on Wednesday, June 17.  We had heard horror stories of the border patrol officers climbing into motor homes and searching through everything inside. (And of course, if this happens, the officers do not place things back in neat order like they found them.)   Sometimes they will conduct a search if they suspect that you are not telling the truth while answering the questions they ask.  Other times they will  select a victim just at random.  Maybe they have a quota to meet or maybe they do it just for show - to serve as a warning to other drivers who watch the search happen as they approach the border patrol.  Anyway and for whatever reason, all our caravan members were more than a little anxious as we approached the border.

We were about 5th in line at the only patrol booth that was open. As we moved forward we knew that one more of our group had passed through, hopefully without a hitch. Suddenly an officer came from in front of the vehicles ahead of us and motioned for us to get in the lane for a booth that just opened.  We didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing, but we had to do it anyway.  So here we are at the booth ready to be questioned.  The first thing the officer said to us was, "Don't set your air brakes."  I thought, this might be good - we won't be here long. And basically, that was true.  We were questioned for only a few minutes.  The only credentials he asked for were drivers' licenses and passports.  We had those ready to show him along with insurance cards for motor home and truck and our medication lists.  Then he started with the questions.  "Do you have a weapon on board, sir?" Buck answered that he did not.  "Don't you have a weapon to protect yourself back home?"  Buck answered that he did.  "Why did you not bring it with you?"  Buck answered, "because it's against the law in Canada."   The officer replied, "Good day sir, enjoy your stay in Canada."  

All our caravan members made it across the border without a problem.  We're told that while the first experience may not be so bad, the next one very well could be.  It all depends on the officer sitting in the booth at the border crossing and how much harassment he wants to dish out.  We will cross the border three additional times before ending up in Washington state in September.  So while we're happy we passed this time, we know there's more stress ahead. 

Once we crossed the border we were in Alberta, Canada.  Alberta is a large province containing many counties, cities, and small towns.  A province in Canada is like a state in the US.  During our time in Alberta we have stayed in three Alberta towns:  Ft. MacLeod, Rocky Mountain House, and Whitecourt.  These were one-night stays.  Traveling to Ft. MacLeod from Great Fall,s Montana, we drove 220 miles; from Ft. MacLeod to Rocky Mountain House, we drove 250 miles; and from there to Whitecourt we drove only 150 miles.  Each day's leg has taken us north and west as we travel towards Alaska.

In Whitecourt we were greeted by the mayor at the interpretative center/visitors center. We were also treated to a pizza supper by the caravan.

The province we're in today is British Columbia.  We're at Dawson Creek at a campground called "Mile 0 RV Park."  This campground sits off the Alaskan Highway.  We will travel on this highway to enter Alaska in a few days.  We're at Dawson Creek for four nights.  This gives us time to rest, to do laundry, and to visit the area.  Today at 1:30 we're celebrating Father's Day with cake and fellowship.  After that we'll have a group picture made with our caravan members. We must wear our new Northern Exposure Caravan green jackets.  After the picture-taking,we will have free time until the 7:00 travel meeting on our last night here - June 23.

At Ft. MacLeod, we found some Canadian buffalo grazing in a pasture. They're not as privileged as those in Yellowstone. 

Gathering of the Northern Exposure Caravan

In the last blog, we posted some pictures from Yellowstone National Park.  A mule deer was camoflodged in a growth of trees.  I remember asking if you could find it.  Did you?  Here he is.

He watched Buck take the picture!

We traveled from Cody, Wyoming to Great Falls, Montana on Friday, June 12.  A rugged adventure even in the travel with road constructoin.  Not the type we know in North Carolina.  Up here, they tear up the entire road - both lanes - for a couple or more miles.  While they are working, you must drive through one of the rough dirt lanes with the help of a guide car.  No need to wash your RV or your car - since you're sure to run into this road construction on every trip!

When we arrived to Great Falls that Friday, we met a few of our caravan members who had already arrived.  The wagon masters and tail gunners were, of course, there already.  Remember we had met the tail gunners in Branson. MO.  They had come to visit us there from NW Arkansas.  The wagon masters are also from Arkansas.
As more caravan members arrived, we met them and instantly made friends with people from Texas, New York, California, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Arizona, Tennessee, Virginia, and Montana. Yep, we're the only rig from North Carolina.

The next few days were busy with a dinner for everyone on Monday night, buying groceries, doing laundry, getting a bank to convert our US dollars to Canadian money, and of course, locating a camping store that sold the RIGHT WINDSHIELD WIPERS to fit our motor home.   Carole, remember the story of the snake that keeps rearing its head when you think you've already killed him a million times?   But, hey, this time was the winner.  Those new windshield wiper blades slipped right on the windshield wipers arms.  Thank you, Lord.

As our departure date neared, we attended meetings to help us learn the procedures.  Incidentally, the organization hosting the caravan is SMART - Special Military Active Recreational Travel Club. At one of the meetings, we introduced ourselves. We are amazed at the service theses SMART members contributed to the support and safety of our United States citizens. Believe me, you'd better be on time for the meetings!

We learned about the border crossing and the credentials we needed to cross the border.  ID or Driver's License and passport are two requirements.  Also, just in  case, you may need to provide insurance verification for both motor home and tow vehicle.  You may also need medication lists.  They will ask you if you have a weapon or explosives on board, alcohol, and if so, how much, animals and if so, what species, and any other questions of their choice.  We were told not to take raw chicken - either fresh or frozen. So we grilled chicken the night before we left.  Find out how the border crossing went in our next blog!

There are 21 "rigs" in the caravan. Twenty-two were signed up, but a lady from Arkansas (not the wagon masters) fell in Walmart in Great Falls and broke her arm in three places.  She had surgery the day we left for Canada.  So 21 rigs, 42 people pulled out of Dick's Campground on Wednesday, June 17 headed to Ft. MacCleod in Alberta, Canada.

We had an order of departure.  The wagon masters and two other rigs left at 8:00 AM so they could arrive at the destination first and get all details ironed out and be ready to help with parking of all the other rigs.  At 8:30 a group of 5 would leave. We were in the 8:45 group along with 4 other rigs. This method was used to avoid congestion on the highways.  We didn't have to stay together after we departed.  We could stop for sightseeing, fuel, food, rest area, etc. as we chose.  But we were not to arrive before the wagon masters. We all had numbers assigned to our rigs.  We were number 10.  The signs were placed on the ladder on the back of the motor homes and in the windshield on the front of the motor homes.

Probably the prettiest motor home 
in the caravan.
The owner tows a burgandy truck.

Here are pictures of some rigs that are in our caravan.

Wagon Master displays our
Northern Exposure Caaravan Logo.

Fifth Wheel pulled by a truck.

Over and out!
                                                                                                                                                                           

Old Faithful

Thursday, June 11, when we were still in Cody, Wyoming, we made our third trip back into Yellowstone National Park, specifically, to see Old Faithful, the fantastic and historic geyser that "faithfully" erupts for millions of people each year.  It's made a habit of erupting once per hour, but lately, for whatever reason, Old Faithful has not been quite as faithful to stay on schedule.

But we were determined to see her do her thing!  So we, along with hundreds of people, watched and waited for a little over an hour. And she spilled forth just as she was expected to do.  Attached is a video that we hope you can play. It's our first time to insert a video in a blog.

Old Faithful

Yellowstone National Park - Wyoming

Monday, June 8 we traveled through the Yellowstone National Park to Cody, Wyoming without a problem, not even rain.  Back in Idado we had tried to call the KOA local repair guy to help with the windshield wiper problem.  Once we made contact, we learned he would not return until Monday late. We knew we were scheduled to arrive in Cody on Monday, so we checked the weather and found that rain was not a prediction.  Once we arrived in Cody we located an RV repair company.  We took our Motor home to that company and the owner, a Marine vet, fixed our problem.  Thank you Lord.

We're staying four nights in Cody and will leave tomorrow, June 12 for Montana.  For the past few days we have returned to Yellowstone National Park. We saw Old Faithful erupt today!  Will share that video later.  We hope you enjoy the pictures.

Reflections of the Tetons in the
Yellowstone Lake.            

                   

             This big dude is walking along
           the road.  Must have been defeated
                            by his male counterparts for the love of his life.

A herd of buffalo headed for a cool drink.

Pretty wildflowers growing along the road.

Fire damage from 1988

Can you find the mule deer in this picture?

On to Idaho

Utah was the first place we'd been where we had two full days without rain.  But on June 5, our travel day to Idaho, I heard thunder during the early morning and those morning storms rolled through.  We began preparing to leave and as we did, the sky cleared and we left Little River Utah KOA .  

I drove the first leg.  We went north on Utah State Road # 6.  That's a short cut instead of following interstates.  It wasn't a bad drive. Great passing lanes gave drivers a chance to get past us.  Free range cattle grazed the land.

See for yourself

As we traveled, the mountains became closer until we were in very mountainous country.  Then the rain caught up with us so we were driving in rain for the first time.  Not a problem really, the windshield wipers work fine. WRONG.  The first thing that went wrong was that the wipers froze in action.  The wind force against the wind shield caused them to freeze.  No, there was no place to pull over since state roads don't have pull-off lanes.  So I drove without seeing very well.  I looked at the yellow line on the right to be sure I was not too close to the edge of the road. Buck read the road signs to me.  The windshield wipers stopped and started several times depending on the wind force.  Finally, the right one just died into the trough in the windshield. I admit, I said a choice word or two when that happened, and wanted to stop.  But Buck said "You're almost out of the rain," and he was right.  I was unnerved somewhat, but kept driving until we were on I-15 N.  We changed drivers at a stoplight as the interstate went through a small town.  Buck drove for several hours.  Then after fueling, I drove us into the Pocatello, Idaho, KOA. We ate supper in the motor home - grilled chicken salad, left over chicken from the June 2 meal at Utah.  That was a tiring day!!

Now for the TV update.  Back in Utah, actually the morning after we had driven there, Buck went to get free breakfast at the KOA office.  He had watched TV before he left, and, of course, left the TV on.  I didn't pay attention to the TV, so I didn't notice that it had stopped.  When he came back, we were both shocked that the TV had apparently died.  Then we remembered that the message on the screen for over a year was a reminder that time to change the bulb was nearing.  So after our travel to national parks, Buck tore down the big Sony TV in our motor home.  He searched for the location of the bulb and finally found it at the most unlikely place - the bottom right of the screen.  So we replaced the bulb.  YEA!  But when he tried it, there still was no life in the TV.  I suggested tearing it down again and starting over.  HE DID NOT LIKE THAT IDEA.  So after one night in Idaho, we went to Wall Mart and purchased a 32" TV, thinking that we would use it until we find someone who can repair the big Sony, and if that could happen, we would replace the TV in the basement of the motor home with the new 32" TV. We have not found anyone to repair the Sony, so the 32" TV is in a chair in front of the Sony attached to all the connections to make it work! When we prepare to travel Buck stores that TV on the couch and sets it back up when we arrive at our destination.  Probably our way of life until we return to Shelby.

We also bought a camera at Wall Mart. Hopefully, the pictures we send to you will be better.

Remember from above that we had trouble with the windshield wipers.  We went by truck, to a Camping World to buy new ones. Buck hoped that installing the new ones would fix the problem. (It didn't.)  

On our return trip we traveled once again to a National Park, but actually it's called Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve.  For 80 miles we traveled through farm land, dessert land and town limits to get there.  Because we missed a turn we were delayed 20 minutes but the Visitors Center was still open at 5:10; they close at 6:00 PM.  So we went in, bought a magnet and cards and watched a video.  We learned that the craters are caused by ancient volcanoes that erupted across the earth surface near the town of Acro, Idaho. A series of deep fissures known collectively as the Great Rift cross the Snake River Plane.  Beginning 15,000 years ago, lava welled up to produce this vast ocean of rock. 

Nothing can live in this volcanic rock.

 The most recent eruption occurred only 2, 000 years ago, and geologists believe that future events are likely.  We're finding that to be a prediction at every national park we visit. Sounds like God is not yet finished with creating the earth. 

At Idaho, I suddenly felt a long way from home and especially a long way from the grandchildren.  Much has happened to them since we left on May 14.   School has ended, church music programs are over, dance recital is coming up Saturday, scout advancements have occurred, summer plans are being made with their families.  Guess I know now how grandparents who live far away deal with that distance.  I also miss our friends and church family.  And I miss my plants and flowers at home.  I've heard they are doing fine, and I would love to see for myself. But Buck and I are troopers - we will make the journey as planned.  If fact, I've been called a gypsy occasionally due to our love of travel.

We're headed to Wyoming and to Yellowstone National Park. Catch ya then!

Packed and ready to roll!

Amazing National Parks

Tuesday, June 2 we drove forever to get to Green Mountain KOA in Green Mountain, Utah. Mapquest estimates travel time at the speed limit level of 80 MPH in this case, but when driving a motor home with a tow, going that speed is unrealistic.  We travel at about 65 MPH on the interstates. As we traveled I-70 West from Colorado we saw drastic changes in the countryside.  We enjoyed lush green mountains and farm land as we left Colorado but the further west we went, we were so shocked to see barren land that had no vegetation or life at all.  Also, huge formations began to appear, well they weren't huge at first, but as we continued on our way, the formations became huge, even mirroring ancient Gothic buildings. WOW, is this really Utah?  Do I have to stay here?

Finally, we arrived and settled in for a three-night stay.  I had marinated four chicken breasts in Colorado, so we grilled them all and saved two for a meal for the next day. It was Buck's 70th birthday, so I tried to prepare a good meal. Remember his present was the long-sleeved t-shirt from Rocky Mountain National Park. He received many good wishes by phone and Facebook before the day was over.  When we went to bed that first night in Utah, I think he really felt 70!

Wednesday brought a beautiful day for sight-seeing.  Buck had selected this location because of the many national parks in the area.  ( At first, I really had my doubts about this selection.)  So off we go to the first one: Arches National Park.  Remember that we had seen strange formations on each side of the interstate?  After going to the national park, we know what they really are. Underground, a salt bed exists just like in the ocean.  The salt bed is responsible for the arches, spikes, and unbalanced rocks.  This salt bed was deposited 300 million years ago when a sea flowed into the region and eventually evaporated.  Over millions of years, residue from floods, winds, and other oceans that came and went, blanketed the salt bed.  The debris was compressed as rock. Thousands of feet thick in some places, this salt bed was deposited across the Colorado Plateau.  Because a salt layer is unstable, over time it shifted, buckled, liquefied, and re-positioned itself, twisting the rock layers upward as domes and as whole sections fell into the cavities.  Thus, the odd formations.  And those formations continue to change.  Water and time cause the formations to change - like the formation may drop off a huge chunk of itself to the lower levels below.  We viewed a video - where I learned all my information- and then toured the national park. WOW, it's a must see.  Truly amazing.  A picture is shown below.

Arches National Park

As if that one national park wasn't enough, we journeyed to the second one for the day. Canyonlands National Park, just a few miles away. This park preserves a wilderness of rock at the heart of the Colorado Plateau.  Water and gravity, this land's prime architects, cut flat layers of sedimentary rock into hundreds of canyons and mesas.   The Colorado River and the Green River set the stage for the canyons.  The two rivers merge south of the canyons and flow through the Grand Canyon in Arizona.  There, the river is known as the Colorado River. A picture from this park is shown here.

Canyonlands National Park

Assuming we had extra room in our brains for more information, on Thursday, we went to the third national park: Capital Reef. We drove forever to get there and even had to wait twice for road construction. (That's everywhere around here!)  This reef developed when a giant buckle in the earth's crust occurred in south-central Utah.  This vast warping of rock, created 65 million years ago by the same great forces uplifting the Colorado Plateau, is called the "Waterpocket Fold."  Capitol Reef National Park preserves the Fold and its cliffs, domes, twisted canyons, and graceful arches.  But it does more - it preserves the free-flowing Fremont River and the dessert sky.  Like the other two national parks, this one exists due to the flow of water and length of time.  A picture is shown here.

Capitol Reef National Park

Please note that Colorado Plateau is mentioned in the description of all thee national parks.  Most all of Utah is in the Colorado Plateau.

I took many pictures at all three of the national parks with my cell phone, but they didn't do justice to the sights. So I took a picture of post cards!!  (Honest Abe, here). Just wanted you to see the scenes up close.

I have another "TV" update, but I'll save that for the Idaho blog. See ya then!

Rocky Mountain High

Saturday, May 30, I started driving on the trip from Nebraska to Colorado.  Beautiful day and no trouble.  Well, there was road construction as it is on every trip.  Those orange barrels can really make for a narrow lane especially when the other side of the lane has a concrete barrier or worse, a raging Colorado river 30 feet below with no side rail to "protect" you.  But that's OK.  If the truckers can get through those narrow spaces, so can I.  And that's the truth.  There's no horror story coming from this! Like Buck says, "Just pucker up and drive through it." Along the way, we needed to stop for fuel.  So I pulled off the I-80 exit to a Flying J. As I was turning slowly, of course, into the car/RV entrance, I saw a car leaving the exit.  I glanced down and a woman looked up at me with great surprise.  I waved and smiled and she did, also. Yes, a woman can maneuver a 60 ft. rig!

After 4 hours we changed drivers at a rest area.  We don't even leave the motor home en route except for fuel.  Buck has to get out and pump the fuel, of course, but bathroom and food needs are met in-house. Fort Collins, KOA in Colorado was our destination.  We pulled into the campground in record time.

After set-up, we sorted laundry and I went to the laundry room at the KOA.  Buck showered and rested, then came to help me fold clothes.  We ate dinner as usual - in the motor home.  Chili burgers with cheese and onion.  Rain came, as usual.  We haven't had a day without rain since we stopped in Memphis.

Sunday morning was clear and beautiful.  We attended worship service at Bethel Baptist in Fort Collins.  A picture is shown below.

Bethel Baptist Church, Ft. Collins, Colorado

We entered a beautiful sanctuary with a very welcoming congregation.  One lady from Greensboro, NC was especially happy to meet us.  She was glad to hear someone talk like her.  The pastor was from Alabama.  His sermon was based on John 18 where Jesus was brought before Pilot for sentencing. I remembered much of the sermon and realize that it was not Jesus on trial that day, but Pilot, himself.

After the service, we had lunch, and headed to the Rockies.  As we drove through them I remembered John Denver's songs about the Rockies. "Rocky Mountain High" came to mind.  The Rockers are so majestic, massive, magnificent, marvelous, mysterious, and made by God. (Got stuck on "M" words) Yes, you could get high on all that!  We went to the Rocky Mountain National Park Visitors' Center and Buck got his National Park Passport stamped. We also bought him a long-sleeved T-shirt with the RMNP picture and logo. It was a birthday present since he has a birthday coming up.  We also bought post cards.   A young family with girls about the age of 9 and 5 were in the visitors' center.  They were separately being indicted as junior ranger members of the RMNP Service.  After each induction, the ranger asked for a round of applause from all the visitors; we gladly joined in.  I think they had to buy a junior ranger vest in order to be inducted.  The joy on the girls' faces made it worth the purchase.

We left the visitors' center and headed higher in the Rockies.  We drove on Trail Ridge Road which is the highest continuous highway in the US.  It's highest point is 12,183 feet.  Man, talk about high!! As we were in the higher levels we saw snow and even skiers. They would ski down the mountain range and hitch-hike back to the top for another ride down.  Young folks, of course!

In the meadows we saw wildlife grazing or resting.  Large elk families sunned together there in the meadow.  Antelope grazed along the roadside.

We saw miles of mountains with no trees.  Guess that's why they're called the "Rocky" Mountains.

It stormed Sunday night; not a day without rain since we left Shelby.

Must end this blog with a story about the TV.  Remember the antenna is probably still in Merriam, Kansas.  I knew Buck wouldn't go long without one, so on Monday, a RV repair guy brought in a new antenna and installed it for us.  We are $500.00 poorer than before that day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll get Buck back for this!

Entering tunnel

Snow-capped Rockies

'Don't Let Me Forget"i

It's Thursday morning, May 28 and those Kansas City skies opened up and shared more rain with us.  Heavy rain with thunder and lightening.  This was a travel day for us, so luckily the storm moved away from us by 9:00 AM.  So we began to prepare the RV for travel.  We're getting faster at that each time we do it.  Just before we pulled out Buck came in the RV for something and said to me, "Don't let me forget to pull in the TV antenna.  I was busy inside and I replied "OK."

Well, we both forgot so we pulled out of the uptown campground onto a street with many trees growing near the side.  Suddenly, there was a huge "POP," and Buck knew immediately what we had forgotten to do.  We couldn't stop in the street with traffic all around, but we knew our antenna was probably stuck in a tree somewhere in Merriam, Kansas.

We drove onto the interstate and began our trip to Nebraska without a TV antenna.  When we stopped at a rest area to change drivers we saw some young people with possibly their father having a snack at a picnic table.  Buck asked the man if one of the guys could climb the ladder at the back of our RV and walk on the roof where the antenna was originally connected.  Buck's right knee was not strong enough yet to place all his weight on it like he'd have to do on a ladder.  So the guys were a life saver.  Buck was concerned that when the antenna was torn off, a hole may have been made in the roof.  But that was not the case.  The young guy found the cord that was still connected to the motor home, but no damage had been done to the roof.  Buck spoke with the guys about where they were headed; Yellowstone National Park for an end-of-school trip.

We traveled on to Minder, Nebraska.  This campground was the opposite of the one in Kansas.  It was at the Pioneer Village Historic Museum Campground with wide campsites.  It wasn't crowded at all and we had WIFI!  Yippe!  We thought we would not have TV reception since the antenna was still back in Kansas.  But we did have it.  As stated before, the cord to the antenna was still connected to the roof, and that cord provided us with TV service.  I was so glad that we could continue to keep track of the weather.  It hasn't rained on us in route to any of our destinations, but it has rained and sometimes stormed at each of the places we've camped. In fact, it rained that night in Nebraska.

The next day, without breakfast, we headed to the Pioneer Village. It is the world's largest privately owned and funded collection of authentic Americana.  It's the story of America and how it grew since 1830.  More than 50,000 items from every field of human endeavor are on display.  These items are contained in 28 buildings on 20 acres.  These authentic originals are arranged in their order of development.  For example twenty rooms of the past, show kitchens, living rooms, and bedrooms of each generation on display since 1830.  As you view them, you see the development of the culture, the dress, and mechanical items throughout the years. All of the mechanical items are in operating condition.

This includes the auto collection.  Hundreds of antique autos, airplanes, street cars, tractors, motorcycles, airplanes, and bicycles are on display.  Several buildings are devoted to the transportation transitions.

We visited a school building where the main subjects were math and religion.  Children learned all the other subjects through the study of the Bible.  Talk about a school with integrated curriculum!  WOW!

The village maintains a fire house, depot, sod house, china house, church, merry- go-round which is the oldest in the US and is run by steam, horse barn, antique farm machinery building, livery stable,blacksmith shop, pony express barn, pony express station, hobby house.  There's just nothing like it anywhere!

The village was truly a wonderful step back into history. I recognized many items used in my childhood.  Amazing!  Guess that shows my age!!!

Harold Warp, owner of the village was a descendant of a pioneer who settled in Nebraska.  He is no longer living but during his lifetime his major goal in life was to provide a collection of these items to show how life has changed.

 We left the village around 2:00 PM and found a restaurant for a combination of breakfast, lunch, and supper.    And that was our stay in Nebraska!

I took about 500 pictures in the village, but only a few are shown below.

Telephone switchboard
 for the "Party Line."

Pioneer Village Church 1884

Antique Car

Kitchen in the 1800's