On The Great Platte River Road!

From Omaha, Nebraska we continued our westward drive, picking up the Platte River and following the early settlers route along the Great Platte River Road.

Above: Alex helping me navigate!

The Great Platte River Road through Nebraska was the path of the largest non-forced exodus in human history, according to the museum we visited today.  Almost 300,000 people passed along this route from 1841 to 1866 as america expanded westward.  The Trapper's Trail, the Oregon Trail, the Mormon Trail, the California Road, the Pony Express route, and the military road from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Laramie--all converged here along the broad Platte river valley.   The reason is easy to see.  It is almost completely flat for hundreds of miles.  Not a hill can be seen.  According to the Nebraska State Historical society, this was the transcontinental route of the covered wagon migration.  We made 2 stops today that helped us to learn about the rich history of this area.

With another sunny, dry and relatively cool day ahead of us, we drove about 2 hours from Omaha to Grand Island and the Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer.  Stuhr is a living history museum.  It's actually, a whole working town from 1893 with people in period dress and in character walking around and in the buildings.  It tells the story of early town building in Nebraska.   While Daniel was a little under the weather this morning (note, no smiles) we enjoyed walking the town and checking out the various buildings.  The boys seemed to enjoy the Blacksmith and Tinsmith shops the best.  And a visit to the train near the entrance.   While we have enjoyed this town before on previous trips, I felt it was a little underwhelming this time around. We had the place to ourselves for the most part, but most of the characters we met seemed unwilling or unable to really engage the boys or let them do anything.  Last time we visited there seemed to be much more of a hands on experience for kids.  With that, the boys rated it about a 7.5 out of 10.

Above: Alex with the Blacksmith and Daniel trying his hand at an old version of ring toss.

Above: The boys after I locked them in jail!  

After a nice lunch in the camper we hit the road again, this time for the Great Platte River Road Archway.  This is an amazing site.  In the middle of Nebraska, near Kearney, you come upon this giant multi story building that spans all of Interstate 80!  It's an impressive site.  The museum tells the story from the earliest settlers of this area, to the great covered wagon migration, the building of the transcontinental railroad, then the Lincoln Highway (see my previous blog for more on this) and ending with the Interstate.  It's a unique experience told wearing headsets by voices from the diaries of those who experienced it first hand.  It's always a moving and interesting experience.   

The boys really enjoyed this and gave it a 9 out of 10, especially after having their picture taken with the old trapper below.  I swear its the same guy who has been here for more than 10 years!  

Here you an see the boys helping to push a wagon through the mud on the Oregon Trail.

Outside, Daniel and Alex tried their hand at going through a giant maze.  

From there it was just another hour to refuel and our campground for the next 2 nights in North Platte, Nebraska.  For those keeping track we have now travelled 1520 miles with just under 300 more to go to Denver.  Camper has been doing well with gas, relatively speaking, we are now averaging 7.44 MPG which is quite good for us.  Oh and we have burned 1800 kg of  CO2 for anyone really wondering.  I'm looking forward to a day without driving and exploring the North Platte area in more depth.  HINT: this was the home of Buffalo Bill Cody and site of the worlds largest rail freight switching yard!