Day 99 &100

After a good night, we got up this morning anxious to see family who live in Columbus.  After a call to see if it was a good time to stop by, I made a reservation nearby in Brown County which was very convenient only about 6 miles away from my family. We hurried to get set up and start our visit. We had a great visit and they always make you feel so welcome. Wish we all lived closer to one another. After going out to eat we visited a little longer than back to camper. The next morning we had a great surprise when I got a call and my cousin, her husband and my uncle were bringing coffee and donuts. We had a great time and sure hated saying goodbye. Hopefully, we will get together again really soon. We are now headed for our final leg of this trip about a 5 hour trip to home. I have mixed feelings since this has been such a great trip and I hate for it to end, but home is calling us too and anxious to see family and friends back home. Here are a few pics from last couple days!

Blessed with awesome family. Can you believe my uncle is almost 90!  I hope I get those good genes. 

Love these two, so much fun to be around. (Note: Bob is really a Reds fan!)

Cousin and Uncle time!  Thanks for having us. 

Day 98 Indiana bound

Sad leaving the kids, but time to head toward home. We got about 40 miles west of Indy when we decided to stop for the night. We found a KOA close to interstate and called it a day. Not much to report other than Illinois and Indiana desperately need to invest in road repairs!  Good night, pretty tired. 

Day 97 Illinois day out

Paige knew about this great car museum not far away that she knew Carvel would love and she was right. It is a huge a great place to spend the day for most anyone. Afterwards we went out for a nice dinner and then some more camptime for the kids. What a great day! Already dread leaving.  Here are some pics from today. 

Our campsite 

Nice place

Car museum every clasdic car imaginable 

Joey trying out race car

Ghostbusters 

Muscle cars

Fun places for all

Rod Stewart car

Mater

Little more putt putt

Aaron getting in on action

Day 96 Happy Birthday Paige!

So happy to be able to celebrate with Sis and her family. We had cake and ice cream and partied a bit. We stayed at a campground nearby that was great for kids so the kiddos came out and stayed with us a while!  Here are a few pics today. 

Day 95 Illinois bound

After enjoying our trip across Iowa we are ready to get on the other side of the Mississippi River. I am especially anxious to get to Illinois to see my sweet niece and her family. I am trying to make it for her birthday, which is tomorrow. We crossed into Illinois, but knew we couldn't make it all the way so we stayed around Sterling. We lucked up on a nice and cheap campground about 80 miles from Sis. If we hadn't been in a hurry we would have toured Ronald Reagans birthplace that was very close by, next time 😊! Here are couple pics from today.

Still in Iowa, thousands of birds

Iowa lake

Iowa

Mississippi River

Made it!

Day 94 Iowa- Bridges in Madison County

While still traveling thru Iowa, I was checking what interesting places might be worth stopping at along our way.  When I saw we would only be a few miles off our initial route by going into Madison County, I couldn't resist.  I loved the movie Bridges of Madison County, so I had to see those bridges and the town.  As a bonus I found out it was also John Wayne's birthplace and early years home. They also have a John Wayne museum.  The town is Winterset and it is wonderful. I felt like I had gone back in time. The town centered around a wonderful courthouse. The buildings were either restored or well maintained. They still had a Ben Franklins and a Rexalls!  We got to go eat in the cafe where part of the movie was filmed and it was so neat in there and food was good. We then went to see all the John Wayne sites before they closed. Afterwards we checked out 3 of the 6 covered bridges and walked up to a tower that was a memorial. We then headed back to town and got in line at Frosty for an ice cream. What a great day! Oh I forgot to mention the city had a wonderful campground right in town we stayed at!  This place is worth stopping for a visit, trust me. Here are pics from today.

The town built around this beautiful courthouse

How long has it been since seeing a Ben Franklins in a downtown?

Flower baskets everywhere

The cafe in the movie. We ate lunch there.

Inside cafe

Eastwood sat on 4th stool from door in movie

Picture from scene in cafe

John Wayne Drive

John Waynes birthplace

Inside museum

My John Wayne lol

Bridge from movie

Also pic of this were used in movie

Old bridge walking distance from campground

A memorial that's on top of hill in park. We walked up and about killed us.  

A little snack after our hike.

Nice city campground

Day 93 Nebraska

I am thoroughly convinced that Nebraska is king of farming. I have never seen so much hay, corn, cattle and so many tractors in my whole life. Did I mention we are in our second night coming across state and not half way across. Also, it is hot, upper 90's yesterday and at one point 103 today....HOT!!!  It is a beautiful state, but ready to cool down and move on. Here are some pics from today. We overnighted in North Platte.

The view from camp site last night

Another view

Corn

More corn

Hay hay hay

Farm stuff

Day 92 Road to Nebraska via Fort Laramie Wyoming

We headed out from Casper and found a nice state road to drive.  It would take us to Scottsbluff, Nebraska seeing true farmlands. We try to take the roads less traveled when possible to drive slower and see more sights. Well we really lucked up on this road. We didn't know until we were almost 30 miles from the historical site of Fort Laramie, that it was right on our way. No question we were stopping. What a gem off the beaten path. Fort Laramie was a key location for all travelers heading west during the mid to late 1800's as well as military strong hold during the days of conflicts with natives as the push westward continued. This was an elaborate fort with much money being spent for buildings within the compound. The community fought to keep the fort even after the military shut it down. It was even used as private residences until the state bought it and had it put on the National Historic list and is now maintained as a federal site. Amazingly, this is free to visit. Although, many buildings have been loss and only foundations remain, there are several great buildings restored and this restoration is continuing. It is well worth the 30 mile drive off the interstate (we only had a 3 mile trip off our road). Again, had it not been 100 degrees we would probably still be there, lol.  Here are my pics from today.

Bakery that made 700 loaves a day!

Guards quarters on upper floor over inmate cells

Armory

ison cells held both military and civilians

Now this was a segregation cell,very tiny

Back of building holding prisoners

The oldest documented building remaining in Wyoming

Officer quarters

Officer quarters

Bottom floor contained  mess hall

Upstairs sleeping area

Original bridge into fort