OMAHA AND BEYOND

We spent a couple of days in Johnny Carson’s home town of Norfolk.  I managed to get in a couple of bike rides on a combination of bike trails and city residential streets.  Found a nice little coffee shop downtown and having arrived before they opened I waited with a homeless guy who filled me in on the city.  Actually a nice guy and he appeared to be sane.  He was there the next morning with his guitar strumming away while he waited for the coffee shop to open.

Continuing on still on our preferred blue routes, we made our way to Omaha for a re-supply.  We seem to always make a stop here on our cross country trips.  It’s right about in the middle of the country and has everything we need, Costco, Trader Joe’s plus things to do and see.  We stayed in a new (for us) city campground at GLEN CUNNINGHAM LAKE that has water, electrical and sewer hookups for the RV.  Large mature trees, maintained grass, and a paved trail for bikes and walkers around the lake.  Omaha has miles of paved bikes trails around the city, another reason to stop here.

We did manage to get downtown to see the JOSLYN ART MUSEUM.  A large facility with many galleries and many styles of art, from the European master, to American western and Native American.  We spent a couple of hours there and I especially liked the Native American exhibit with its pottery, decorated leather and beaded items.  In downtown there is a series of life sized bronze statues depicting the arrival of a pioneer wagon train.  The statues cover several blocks, with buffalo fleeing the settlers arrival and the buffalo spooking Canadian Geese.

When arriving in Omaha, we got a trailer wiring fault on the trucks computer and the trailer brakes quit working.  Still drivable, but worrisome.  So I found That Place RV Repair in the small town of Fremont, Iowa that happened to be right on a blue highway and in the direction we wanted to go.  So I gave them a call and spoke with Rich, the owner and sole employee.  He said he could take a look at it on Thursday and to call him on Thursday morning to remind him.  That was a little unsettling, but maybe he has a tendency to sleep in.  On the appointed morning, a gave him a call and told him I was on my way.  Arriving at 9, he told he needed a couple of hours and suggested that we head to Oskaloosa, some 15 miles away and get some breakfast.  What about Fremont the town we were currently in.  No restaurants here, go to Oskloosa.  So that’s what we did.  Pretty small city with a courthouse on the town square.  Had breakfast at Julie’s Cafe which was ok, but the price of a 3 egg omelet with sausage and cheese, potatoes, toast and coffee for $8.50 made it better.  Got the truck washed for $7.50 and headed back to the RV shop.  Rich told me he solved the problem by replacing all of the wiring between the RV and the 4 wheels.  He said the old wiring looked “sketchy”.  $75 later and we’re back on the road with no more brake issues…..Gotta love Middle America.

                                                                          OSKALOOSA

After entering Iowa, we would occasionally see FREEDOM ROCKS in the towns we passed through.  Freedom Rocks are huge boulders painted to honor veterans, brainchild of Ray “Bubba” Sorensen and there is one in each of Iowa’s 99 counties.  Each one is different with many honoring veterans from the county in which each rock is located.  Click the above link and see photos of all of them.