We have been touring State Parks in Nebraska for the last two days. First we stayed at the Niobrara State Park. It is at the confluence of the Niobrara River and the Missouri river. It was rainy and terribly cold. The rain stopped by morning and we did get most things dried out by the time we were ready to pack up. Next we drove to the Ponca State Park. It is also on the Missouri, and just across from Sioux City Iowa. This is a huge park. And in a way commemorates the Ponca tribe of Indians. Now we have never heard about the Ponca’s. They were very peaceful people, so there were no wars to read about, I guess. Anyway we gave them smallpox and eventually drove the ruminants from their land anyway. We drove all over the park before choosing a spot to eat our lunch. The area is geologically deposits of moraine material from an ice age. We would have like to be able to ride on the bicycle, but the hills were sharp and steep. Even Little Blue complained some about chugging up some of the hills. The views were beautiful, however. After lunch we continued on to the Mahoney State Park on the Platt River, just outside of Omaha. We are camped here tonight, and we did get the bicycle out and rode all of the roads in the park just before dark. That gave us just over five miles and lots of hills. They have a regular theme park here. Swimming pool and water slides; Equestrian center; pony rides for the kiddies; Horse drawn carriage rides for all. There is an ice rink, a lodge where they were serving Father’s Day Brunch today. Ours was spaghetti and brazed chicken nuggets in Ragu sauce and stir fried green beans. All went well except the stir fry pan was badly blackened. Judy saved the day with tooth paste. After supper we are watching a dazzeling firefly show, and playing guitar. Tomorrow we head into Missouri and will try to spend a couple of days doing genealogical research on some of our forbearers.

Couldn’t link up with Verizon last night, so I can add to the saga.

We were treated to a fireworks display sometime after midnight last night. This was accompanied by a deluge shower to make sure no fires would be started. This went on for about an hour. Our campsite turned to a sea of mud. After all of this excitement and we were about to doze off to sleep again, we heard someone or something rummaging in our dishes. Gary bravely emerged from the tent with nothing but a flashlight to do combat with a raccoon. This confrontation ended up a “Mexican Standoff.” The Racoon went on to tackle the garbage cans and Gary locked down the campsite a little better.

Now it is Monday. We have just finished up a couple hours in the SAC Air Museum at the edge of Offut AFB and right next door to the State Park.