Harrison, NE
Saturday, October 15, 2022
Saturday was a long driving day as we began to make our way back to Wisconsin. Our day started at a dispersed camping area just outside of Jackson, Wyoming. It didn’t take long for us to pack up since Shaun’s truck was still attached to his camper and setup/tear down is a breeze for us in our Class C RV. We were on the road again around 9:00am.
Along the way, we stopped for propane at a quaint general store on Wyoming’s Highway 26 just outside Jackson. I love how the west makes every place feel like the set of a movie — even gas stations.
At one point during our drive, we came upon a group of college students broken down on the side of the highway. Andi pulled over to see if he could offer any assistance. Apparently, the trio of boys had been driving through the night to make it back to college after spending time in Jackson. One of them had fallen asleep behind the wheel and hit the highway’s guard rail, popping a car tire in the process. There was no cellular reception in the area and they didn’t know how to change a tire, so they were waiting there for school friends to come upon them. Andi offered to hook up our Starlink internet so they could make a phone call, but they declined and said they’d be fine. Hope they made it back to school OK.
We stopped in Riverton, Wyoming for lunch. Andi picked a restaurant called Rusty Truck, but it didn’t turn out to be very good. The restaurant was packed on a Saturday afternoon and severely short-staffed. We waited for close to an hour for our burgers and they weren’t anything gourmet once we received them.
Back on the road, we continued onward toward Nebraska. I’ve always wanted to visit Toadstool National Monument in northwestern Nebraska so Andi and I decided to stop there on our way toward Wisconsin. Laura and Shaun weren’t sure if they were going to continue on with us, or if they were going to peel off toward Minnesota. In the end, they decided to spend one more night camping with us.
We pulled into the town of Harrison, NE around 8:00pm Saturday evening. The camping spot Andi found was just what we needed. Two free, paved, parking spots next to each other at the town park. The camping spots even offered electricity and water hook-ups! We parked our rigs next to each other and settled in for the night. None of us really wanted to cook in the dark, but Andi offered to grill some stir fry we already had prepped and Shaun warmed up some spaghetti. The six of us sat in our camper and reflected upon the past week of travels. We had such a wonderful time traveling together!
Sunday, October 16, 2022
Laura and Shaun left bright and early this morning around 6:00am. They wanted to push home in time for the work week. Meanwhile, Andi and I decided to check out Toadstool Geologic Park near Harrison, NE today. Toadstool is a natural playground of rock formations dating back 38-24 million years ago. The geological formations are similar to those in South Dakota’s Badlands. Many fossils of animals now extinct have been discovered here.
I thought it was neat that the park encourages climbing and exploring the rock formations. It was so cold and very windy that morning, but Andi and I decided to take the kids on a walk around the one-mile loop. We were the only people there.
It’s hard to believe we were in Nebraska! Toadstool Geologic Park felt otherworldly.
I would have loved to visit the Nebraska State Museum in Harrison where many of the fossils found in the park are on display, but it didn’t open until later this afternoon and we didn’t have time to hang around. After wandering around the rock formations, we hopped back into the Jeep to drive to the RV parked in the nearby town of Crawford, NE.
From there, Andi and I opted to take the scenic route along Nebraska’s Highway 20. We’ve driven the interstate across South Dakota a dozen times or more, why not see something different?
The “Bridges to Buttes” Scenic Byway took us from Crawford, Nebraska through the towns of Chadron and Valentine, NE. Born and raised in this state, I’d never explored this area so it was fun to see. In Valentine, we stopped along the banks of the Niobrara River for a picnic lunch in the RV. We also stretched our legs on a quick hike to Fort Falls.
From there, we continued north into South Dakota on our way toward Wisconsin. Andi and I were determined to drive as far as we could, and finally stopped for the night near Mitchell, South Dakota around 8:00pm that night. Andi found a $10 camping spot at a local city park where we could plug into electricity and take showers. I am not a fan of utilizing public campground showers, but after returning from the shower house, Andi raved about how clean the facility was & how nice the hot water felt. OK, twist my arm, I really could use a shower so I opted to check it out. As luck would have it, the Andi, Tory, and Aden used up all the hot water and I was left with a cold, miserable camp shower! Not my idea of a good time.
Tomorrow, we’ll push on the last stretch of 400 miles toward home.
