North Platte, Nebraska

We are just switching the whole trip up from the original plan.  Thought about staying in Kearney one more day, but once we got in the car this morning, we headed for I-80 westbound.

As we listened to our favorite program on NPR, we decided on North Platte.  Only about 100 miles.  No big deal.  Lots to see in North Platte on a sunny day.  Checked into a hotel and took off to see the city.   We were so excited to visit Front Street again and see its museum and history center.  We drove ALL over town to find it, and decided that it just didn't exist anymore.  Where it should have been, there was a new strip mall.  Stopped at a gas station for help and directions, and the kid working the joint honestly didn't know what we were talking about.  Before we left, we sat on the curb to discuss our next adventure when I saw THIS.........

 Our first '35' of the day.....  And our only one for today.  We got on Hwy 30 and drove west a bit and found Lincoln County Historical Museum and WWII Canteen.  Lincoln County has had major flooding this summer and we weren't even sure they would be open.  They were open, and are keeping all the sandbags in place because the threat is still there.  Minimal fee to tour the place, they accidentally gave us the senior citizen discount.  But I wasn't going to correct this little old couple and pay a dollar more!  It was a great way to spend some time............

 Many historical displays all the way from vacuum cleaners to this antiquated optometric practice!  We cracked up at how scary all this equipment looked compared to today's technology.  I'm thinking that where I work is much friendlier looking that THIS display!  The doctor office display was just plain creepy and I had to move on real fast.

 The museum had a lot of WWII history displays.  This was hanging on one of the walls and do you see anything politically incorrect with the sub-headline?  Somewhere in between 'dastardly' and 'attack'?  Isn't it amazing what was acceptable in the public eye back in that era?

 We both had a blast with this WWII helmet display.  It was laid out so that you could try and guess which helmet belonged to which country, with the answers posted under the helmet when you picked it up.  I had NO idea about any of them, but Wild Bill got every one of them CORRECT!  He is sporting the German helmet in the above pic, and the French helmet in the blurry pic below.

 Don't think either of us had ever encountered an authentic Remington bronze sculpture, but we got to see two of them today!  This sculpture was huge, and incredible.

 Bill said, "You're never in any pictures, so let me take one with you and that buffalo."  A buffalo?  I didn't ask why, it's probably better left alone.  HA!  But there, now you know that I'm really along on this trip.

 The museum had many buildings out back that included this house, which was actually a home purchased and built for $2,600 (I think) and ordered from the Sears Roebuck Company!  WHAT????  Of course, Uno Orb knew that.  This man watches too much TV.  It was one incredible house, even being over 100 years old.

 After seeing the old schoolhouse and the Lutheran church, we strolled back up front via the farm machinery.  A few stories got told about Uncle Shorty and working on the farm.  And out pops this jail!  Bill throws himself in there and says, "Take my picture!!!"  I took it, but it creeped me out a little. There are just some things in museums that creep me out, can't help it.

 As we were leaving, this handmade coffee table popped up near the exit.  My thoughts went to my dear friend Madeline.  She would have adored looking at this.  It was made by a man around 1963 or so, using all of his mother's jewelry.  Do you think she had enough jewelry or what?  :)  Interesting piece.

 One more stop was decided on, and we only did it because it's the WORLD'S BIGGEST train yard.  This is taken from the Golden Spike Tower west of North Platte.  When we got to the 8th floor to enjoy the lookout, the first thing you see is this corn field with an old locomotive designed within it.  We got a picture of it quick because something about it made me queezy and even a bit dizzy.  Weird.  But way worth the price of admission.

One last photo of the train yard.  There would be no way of getting the entire thing in one picture.  It was pretty awesome during the day, but our thoughts went what an incredible sight this could be at night.

Going to enjoy an evening in, watch a little TV, knit a little, and get ready for a  new adventure tomorrow.  Who knows exactly where we'll end up in the next 24 hours.  But I'll sure let you know!