On our last leg

Up early today. It was time to go. We could feel it in our bones.

Right away we were struck by how suddenly there seems to be more traffic in this area (Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota – not exactly New York City or anything).  And starting in Omaha, we are in a whole new ecosystem. We are getting back to the lush climate we are used to in Minnesota.

Jan in front of the Iowa State Capitol

To follow our theme, and to break up the 7 hour drive, we decided to stop at the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines. It is the most beautiful and ornate of all the capitols we have seen. It has five domes, the biggest one of which is gold leafed. The entire inside is hand painted and hand carved with incredible detailing. As the tour guide said (and this time we timed it right so we could get a guided tour – at least most of one), you could never build this capitol now. The craftsmen were new immigrants who brought skills with them from Europe who could support their families on one dollar a day. It took 15 years and a little less than 3 million dollars to build – completed in 1886. They have spent over 300 million in recent years alone to restore it.

This was the first Capitol building that scared me. We climbed (somewhat painfully) 298 steps in a spiral staircase – only to emerge into a narrow walkway in the dome. That railing was not nearly tall enough to convince me, as I walked the circumference, that I could not tumble to the beautiful tile floor 15 or so stories below.

Inside the big dome. We went pretty high up there. Yikes!

Inside the Iowa State Capitol

The state senate floor

Thinking that the state capitol reflects the culture and value of the local citizens, I was surprised to find such an ornate treasure in Iowa. And I mean no disrespect to Iowans. I just think of them as pragmatic and down to earth.  The capitols of North Dakota and Nebraska are so much more simple and linear in design. (In contrast, Montana’s capitol is quite ornate, which makes complete sense – what with the gold rush and all.)  Yep. Iowa has me fascinated.

Iowa's first ladies in their inaugural gowns

Welcome home!

After leaving Des Moines, all we wanted to do was get home. Sightseeing is for those with leisure time. We were transitioning away from leisure and toward expedience. Get home; unload and unpack; do laundry; buy groceries; make dinner…and then...relax. Of course we hit a complete traffic jam at the southern edge of the Twin Cities metro area. But we made it. Here we are!

I'll save my reflections -- and there are many -- for another post. For now, I'm going to start getting caught up on what's happened since we left. Starting with watching all the episodes to-date of Marvel's Agents of S. H. I. E. L. D. Woo Hoo!!!!!

Listless in Lincoln

Breakfast is served

Having canceled our tee time due to high winds -- we have no timeline to keep today.  So we took our time over breakfast and then took more time finding individual nooks in which to nest/get productive. Jan organizing some of the 1,400 or so pictures he has taken on this trip. I did some blogging and got materials together for a client meeting. Transition time.

Nebraska State Capitol.
AKA The "tall phallic symbol" on the prairie

By midday we were ready to go see our fourth State Capitol, that of Nebraska. The locals call it the “penis of the prairie.” They’ve got a point, as you’ll see in the pictures. It has some similarities to the NorthDakota State Capitol. Both many-story towers in art deco style – a contrast to the more formal domed buildings many of us associate with State Capitols. This one is very modern on the inside, with colorful, bold and contemporary art pieces. (North Dakota—not so much.) I grew to like it the more I looked around.

Wall panel at Nebraska State Capitol

Ceiling detail in the Nebraska State Capitol

Next stop was the Sunken Gardens, a very small city park named by National Geographic as one of the 300 best gardens to visit in the USand Canada. Even in October, it was bursting with color – very smile-inducing. Aaah.

Lazlo's cute little tasting glasses

We had Linner (lunch/dinner) at Lazlo’s Brewery and Grill in the trendy Haymarket district. (One of the first warehouse districts to use federal funds to convert to urban usage.) Our beer and food was great and everything. But the memorable thing was another patron (who was either from or had been to Door County)’s t-shirt, “Your bait stinks and your boat’s ugly.” He was sitting with a guy in a Green Bay jersey. No accounting for taste. For those of you who aren’t  from Minnesota, that’s just a friendly little jab at Wisconsonites. ;-)

Street art in the Haymarket District

Inside the Wilderness Ridge Lodge

We did some more exploring, including visiting the Wilderness Ridge Lodge and taking a nice long country walk. But we were clearly getting listless. Time to move on. Time to get home. 

Doors in to the Wilderness Ridge Lodge

We celebrated our last night on the road with martinis on the Westview B&B’s lawn, a good soak and then watching “Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day” and eating microwave popcorn in comfy bathrobes. Sweet! 

Day 27 in and around Lincoln

Today is day 27 of 29. That fact that this adventure will end  is getting more and more real. While still trying to experience the day, we are talking more about what's next. What we need to do to get home and what we'll need to do once we get home. The magic veneer is getting thin.

Throughout this trip I've been able to watch myself find things to worry or get anxious about. Then I've been able to catch myself and laugh. I so want to carry this home with me -- this ability to not sweat the small stuff. To be patient and present. To slow down. I don't want to get back to warp speed. I want to keep being able to find small moments of wonder and humor in the world around me.

Whew.

Regardless, we are enjoying Lincoln, Nebraska. Today we played golf (shocking), visited a space museum, saw a few important sites, had a soak and had a fabulous dinner. It was a good day. A few pictures suffice to tell the story.

Golf was at Quarry Oaks in South Bend. They proclaim themselves to be the number one public course in Nebraska. Who are we to differ? It was a stunning course. And boy howdy, is it interesting with 20 to 25 mile an hour winds.

Part of the course runs along the beautiful Platte River

Jan felt compelled to celebrate the sister city
 of his birth place in Indiana.
Read the sign carefully for a good laugh.

Apparently, Round the Bend Steakhouse (self proclaimed as
one of the premier steakhouses in Nebraska)
 finds its annual festival to be better advertisement
 than its own name or ongoing menu.
Does Montana's Testy Festy feel threatened? 

Jan in heaven at the
Strategic Air and Space Museum

Flag of children's art sewn together into a flag at SASM

Street art in downtown Lincoln

Dinner was at Dish: Crispy mango duck on coconut jasmine rice with sauteed garlic green beans. Wonderful. Dessert? Some of the 57 snacks available at Westview B&B!

From cattle auctions to a good soak

Where to sell your cattle in Ogallala

After checking out the Kingsley Dam on Lake McConaughy we fortified ourselves by having breakfast at Kathy's Kafe, which just happens to be located in the Ogallala Livestock Auction. While the auction was happening. I had the best pancake, sausage and bacon of the trip. Maybe ever. With cowboys walking in and out, and the auctioneer selling in the background.

Cowboy coming to get a "lot" of cattle for auction

Our server was an older, salt of the earth woman who told us -- in between coffee refills and catsup deliveries -- that she had raised her grandson while her daughter lived in Breckenridge, Colorado. As an adult he moved to North Dakota. Once he had children, his mother (our waitress' daughter) reappeared and moved close to him so she could spend time with her grandson. Now our waitress rarely saw any of them. Ouch.

Ogallala Nebraska is just a few miles from northeastern Colorado -- and essentially the same in culture. The culture clash stood out again in her personal story.

 Driving east, we then headed to North Platte, to see the Golden Spike Tower and Visitor Center (a giant image of a railway spike) . It overlooks the largest train yard in the United States. The volunteer guide we had had been a Union Pacific conductor for years before his retirement. He told us so many great stories, and helped us understand how this complex system works. For example, did you know that trains can never be closer than 2 miles apart? Or that train personnel can never work more than 12 hour shifts? So if the train is delayed for any reason and they don't make it to the station within 12 hours (to the minute), a truck brings a replacement crew to wherever they are on the track. And people still hop trains. In fact, rail cars that transport autos now have to be enclosed and locked. So many people were jumping on, breaking the car windows, starting the cars, and riding the train in the lap of Mercedes or Audi or Ford luxury. Fascinating!

Jan in front of the 8 story Golden Spike

Up on the 7th floor observatory of the Golden Spike

Hole marker at Wild Horse Golf Course

 From there we went on the Gothenburg to play at Wild Horse Golf Course. A beautiful prairie course with rare pieces of fairway, horse skulls for yardage markers and rock hard greens; which we played in a 25 mile an hour wind. Double ouch.

Then, fortified by a Dairy Queen blizzard, we pushed on to Lincoln, the (you guessed it) state capitol.

Great Platte River Road Archway Monument
 at Kearney

While driving, we searched on Trip Advisor for our next lodging. Westview Bed and Breakfast, the highest ranked B&B in Lincoln looked good.  Reviewers insisted that the place was worth it for the breakfasts alone. We reached the owner Tim, who confirmed that there was room in the inn, and went on to assure us that we would have a jacuzzi, fireplace and 57 kinds of snacks. The latter being the deciding factor, we took it. This place used to be a poor farm. Really. Now it's nothing but luxury -- at a very affordable price.

By the time we arrived, we had been traveling for 13 hours. (And what a great, varied day it was -- one of my favorites of the trip.) We immediately tested the jacuzzi in our room. We loved it so much we decided to stay until Saturday -- at which point we'll push on home. (We're staying in Prairie Nook, in case you wondered.

On the open range in Nebraska

Our navigation system's idea of the best route to Bayside Golf

So as I mentioned in my last post...we drove for along way through northeast Colorado without finding a public bathroom. So we started really relying on the navigation system in our car to get us to our night's lodging as quickly as possible. To find a bathroom.

Let's just say we learned a thing or two about our navigation system. Like that it doesn't differentiate between  road surfaces. Here is a picture of the road it took us on to get to Bayside Golf Club near Brule, Nebraska.

My salvation along the way: the first public bathroom
we'd seen in 2 or 3 hours

So we were starving by the time we found our lodging. They suggested we head into Ogallala to the Open Range Grill. Well we may have missed the Testy Festy in Montana, but here in Nebraska one can also experience "cowboy caviar." So we did. And I had sweet potato fries and the Gomorrah burger -- a sinful combination of grilled jalapenos, mushrooms, cheddar and bacon on a burger from a locally raised cow. Worth. Every. Sinful. Calorie.

"Cowboy caviar" from the Open Range Grill

We spent three nights and two days at the Bayside Golf Club. I'm not sure what words to use about the whole experience. Perfect. And quirky. And funny. Perfect. And the weather cooperated so well. High 70s to low 80s during the day; high 30s in the morning.

The course is beautiful. It lies at the edge of the Nebraska sandhills along Lake McConaughy, the largest lake in Nebraska and the largest reservoir in the four state region. The land was open range cattle grazing before the owners developed it into a destination golf course. When you look at the scenery, you can still imagine what natural prairie must have been like. I'm sure it was full of bison back in the day. I can picture My Antonia here as well.

At this time of year, reds and golds are the most common colors anywhere that isn't green groomed grass. And this course is target golf. Patches of green in a sea of golds and reds. With lots of bunkers. Natural bunkers, given the sand hills it is built upon. Let's just say you can lose a ball or two. And then find another fifteen. If you are brave enough to venture into the wild.

The club was developed by and still is owned and operated by a local family. They treated us royally. The club closes on October 15th so everything is winding down. The restaurant had already closed, but they spontaneously decided to open it again on Monday night, due to the Cenex Harvet States business meeting taking place. So we got to enjoy the fun as well. 

Jan with Bob and Tony

Enter Bob. And his brother Tony. Bob and Tony are from a small farming town in northeastern Colorado, though Bob is now a software developer in Denver. They were here with two friends having a boys golf retreat. And one of their friends happened to get a hole-in-one. The whole group was amazed by this. And so they wanted to share the fun. Bob bought shots of Jameson for everyone in the bar. And sat at the bar with us to eat the rib-eye steak we all got for dinner. (Cleaning out the fridge.)

Monday night football, celebrating a hole-in-one, great steaks and a family atmosphere -- which included everyone in the place. You can't make this stuff up. It was a crazy night after 36 holes of golf, and I fell asleep by 8:30pm.

Road to the beach at Bayside Golf Club

A step at the beach

Did I mention that we paid $50 each to play all the golf we wanted (36 holes) on the first day. And on the the second day, they charged us the local rate --  $35 to play all the golf we wanted. (Another 36 holes. What? 5 or 10 years ago we would have played at least 54 each day!) As the nights were getting colder, they didn't want to rent us an unheated cabin. So instead, they let us stay in a two bedroom townhouse for the same price. With a great view of the lake and the golf course. We even got to do laundry again! We love this place!!!

Best moment: Sitting out in the yard on Sunday night looking at the stars. The sky is pitch black here. You can see so much. Clean crisp air and a shooting star to boot. Wonderful. 

Wistful moment: Planning our next steps. It's Tuesday. We'll be home at the end of the week. Can't believe this trip is nearing the end. But there is more of Nebraska to explore in the meantime! Onward ho!

A different Colorado

Bighorn sheep near Georgetown, Colorado.
 They are only tiny speck at the top of the mountain
 -- but we saw them!!!!

When we left Breck, we knew that the Black Hills had just gotten almost four feet of snow. And the national parks were all closed due to the federal government shutdown. So we decided to explore Nebraska. I mean -- Nebraska wasn't at the top of either of our bucket lists. But we've been amazed throughout our trip how much there is to see and know about the tiniest corners of this country.

Clear Creek Canyon Road

So that meant heading east -- out of the mountains -- and back to the high plains. We started heading east on I70, and were rewarded when we stopped at a scenic pullout by finally seeing bighorn sheep. They had eluded us at the National Bison Range, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Flaming Gorge and everywhere else we'd been. We were so excited to see them! (Another guy at the stop said he'd lived in Colorado for four years and never seen them. He was ecstatic. We all high-fived in our excitement.)

Rather than following I70 all the way into  Denver, we took US 6 through Clear Creek Canyon. What a gorgeous (and I do now understand the root of that word) spot. And striking not just for the natural beauty, but also for the number of outdoorspeople in it. We saw bikers, fly fishers, rock climbers, hikers and everything in between. That is the part of Colorado that will most stand out to me. The healthy active people you see everywhere.

Jan in front of the Colorado State Capitol

Next stop? If you've been following this blog, you know the answer. The Capitol, of course! And what did we find? The Capitol in bubble wrap. We couldn't see the inside either, because it was a Sunday.

Sign on the lawn near the Capitol

There is a beautiful public commons kind of space between the Capitol and the city/ county government building two blocks away. With rules about when the space can be occupied. This is all connected to an huge community arts complex. I wonder how the rules about using space play out on an average day, given all the homeless people we saw in the area.

City/County government building

Another side of the Civic Center Park

One of many statues on the lawn of the Colorado State Capitol.
If you look carefully at the Indian's foot,
you'll see a local resident of the park

When we left Denver, we headed northeast via smaller highways. And I was struck by the entirely different State I was seeing. And i'm even more struck by the fact that I took no pictures along that route. The scenery was dry, flat and sparsely populated. Periodically we came across very small towns with very few services. (I was long overdue for a bathroom by the time we finally found one. (Look at the next blog to see what that looked like.) We saw very few people, other than the farmers harvesting their crops. It was Sunday -- but it felt a little creepy to drive through towns that looked empty.

The economy in this area has nothing to do with tourism -- it's all about cattle, sorghum, sugar beets, and alfalfa. I couldn't help but wonder how this part of the state sees Denver (big city), let alone the ski resorts (big money, glamour, jet-setting crowds, etc.). It really did feel like a tale of two Colorados. Must be very interesting to see the negotiations at the state legislature.

Other animal sighting: Coyote on a train track.