Cooler weather and a nice campsite

After taking care of a few details for insurance on the new and old homes AND getting a cup of Dutch Brothers coffee, we headed out about 10 am. Today was all on secondary roads. We saw the Kansas and Nebraska countryside and admired the neat little towns. People seem proud of their yards, no matter how modest the home looks. Lots of flowers, grass cut, etc.

We stopped in a little park in a town of 315 people to eat our picnic lunch. Despite the small size, there were people about at the park, library, grain elevator, auto repair shop.

We are in pony express, Oregon Trail, european immigrant country. Lots of signs and monument markers about routes. Several Catholic and Lutheran Churches. Out West, many towns were settled by immigrants from similar backgrounds. As kids we were told about the romantic notions of "settling" the West without real thought to our Native neighbors who were here for millennia before us.

We arrived at the Recharge Lake campground near York, NE, at about 3 pm. Its a lake that was developed as a research experiment in 1990 to help recharge the local aquifer. Today it still does that, but also provides a recreation opportunity. There's fishing, boating (slow wake with canoes, kayaks, etc), camping, picnicking, and general recreation site. Our electric campsite is $15 per night. Tent sites are $5.

The area is quiet (Thursday night) and we had a pick of many campsites. Its cooler tonight so we are just sitting in the shade of the pickup and camper relaxing. We made a run into town earlier for ice and a bag of salad. Life cant be much simpler than listening to the birds and enjoying the blue sky with a few puffy clouds.

I am still coughing a lot, but I feel like I am on the back end of this summer cold. Phil, who so graciously shared it with me, is almost well. I hope by the Badlands we're both 100%.

Tomorrow, Creighton, NE, and Ashfall Fossil Bed!Read more