June 21, 2015 - Atkinson, NE to Omaha, NE

Happy Father's Day!

It rained all night while we slept.  It was very warm inside the bedroom. We did not bring the portable fan with us (the reason we did not bring was there was not much room to keep it in when we had the camper van). We did not run the generator because we were parked downtown and there was an apartment complex across the street and we did not want them to complain that we were making too much noise and be evicted! We try to respect our neighbors!  Both of us kept tossing and turning to find cool spots on the bed and the pillows.  

During breakfast it drizzled lightly and the sun tried to come out through the thick dark clouds and made it out just fine.  The temperature was 72˚. 

It was at 9:15 am when we left Atkinson, NE, got back on 20 going to O'Neill, NE.  

The road is almost as flat as Florida’s road, lots of greens and trees.  Bales of hay lying among the farmlands.  Not many houses along the route. 

In O'Neill Edith took a picture of the water tower. The town claimed it is the Irish Capital of Nebraska. There were lots of Irish themed buildings/signs in the town.. The town was very quiet... Either many people are at church or they sleep in or make plans for Dad's Day parties.

While enroute Edith faced timed with a friend and chatted for a while until the coverage became weak and broken up. She tries to keep in touch with our family/friends during the trip. She also used Glide to send/receive video messages.

We began to notice lots of cornfields (after all we are in Cornhusker state!).  Some not yet knee high, some are taller than Edith.

It was a pleasant drive on 275E. Not much traffic… One cornfield after another most of the way. Very green everywhere!

Leisurely drive

From 275 E we turned left to 32 E at West Point, NE (not NY) to go to 75 South.  Edith checked the map and decided that we should stick to backroads instead of main roads or highways, so we can see more of the countryside.

Now we could see that the corns are knee high in most places.

We went into Beemer town to go where the water tower is. While Edith stepped out of the Lil' Hom to go take a picture Erwin’s IPhone, which was tucked under Edith’s leg, fell out onto the grass and the road.  Now there is a a new light crack on the screen protector. Erwin was not too happy about it :-(

Temp was 86˚ when we arrived West Point, NE. Turned left to 32. At the corner of 32 and 275 is a cemetery with lots of unusual tombstones, but we were running late and it started to get hot that Edith decided not to go in there.  Another time, she told herself (will she remember it?)

On 77 North, few miles from Lyons, NE there was an old tilted barn. After this we realized we got on the wrong detour, but continued on the way until after we got out of Lyons, NE.

Erwin's sister Lorraine suggested that we check into a campground at NP Dodge Memorial Park in Omaha, NE, which is not too far from Lorraine's house.  Only $10 a night and we got site #41.

While we were getting ready to go out to visit Lorraine and her husband Jack there were fire trucks, ambulance going by at the park.  No idea what was going on.

It did not take long to find Lorraine's house. The last time we were there was in 2003.  It was good to see Lorraine and Jack.  As usual Lorraine has a bountiful garden of flowers and vegetables in the backyard.  

Pizza was served and we spent the rest of the evening catching up on news.  Lorraine showed Erwin a lot of family pictures, some of them Erwin had never seen before. It was a lovely family time together.  

While we were chatting about the breaking news on TV came on and it mentioned about the drowning of a father at the park where we camp at. The father jumped in the water to save his daughters and their friend; however, he couldn't swim and the kids were not wearing/using life jackets. The father did not make it and the kids were rescued by fishermen who happened to be nearby. The water was very high from all the rains and the water was very muddy colored! Very sad Father's Day for them!  

Miles driven:
LH- 
Jeep - 15

Today's route:
A: Atkinson, NE
B: O'Neill, NE
C: Beemer, NE
D: West Point, NE
E: Lyons, NE
D: NP Dodge Park, Omaha NE