2019: Part 3 June thru July

Exiting Wisconsin on June 25th, our first overnight was In Waukee, Iowa at the home of friends Pat and Sue Genereaux. We first met Pat and Sue while we were parked at Betty’s RV in Abbeville, Louisiana in 2010. We have since run into each on several occasions, most notably when they introduced us to the International Music festival in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Pat and Sue and Gizmo - and an amazing Iowa sunset

After a bountiful breakfast dining out with Pat and Sue at a local eatery, we hit the road headed to our next overnight destination, Lincoln, Nebraska to catch up with friends Paula and Dave Hansen. As with Pat and Sue, we also first met Pinkie and Dave while we were parked at an RV park. This was at Sunny Acres RV Park in las Cruces, New Mexico. Since that first meeting, Pinkie and Dave now have a home in Las Cruces where we’ve been guests, but they also have a home in Lincoln they’ve been renovating.

The drive from Waukee to Lincoln was pretty short so we had time to explore. We’ve driven through Omaha on our way to and from Wisconsin several times in the past with our RV but now, not concerned about traffic or parking, we headed over to the local botanical garden, Lauritzen Gardens.

Gardens were will with flowers and eclectic  sculptures

In 1982, Helena Street, former Omaha World-Herald Garden Parade columnist, hosted a meeting of five individuals to start planning a botanical garden. A site of natural woods and rolling terraces on a bluff just west of the Missouri River was selected as the garden's location. Construction began in 1995 on the rose garden and other early gardens soon followed, including a shade hosta garden, herb garden, children's garden and spring flowering walk. Since opening, new garden areas have been added each year, covering its present day 100-acres. Construction of a 32,000-square-foot visitor and education center began in 2000, opening in 2001.

Big Boy No. 4023 and Centennial No. 6900

Nearby was Kenefick Park, highly visible from I-80. In addition to a few short trails it has two of the largest locomotives ever to power the Union Pacific Railroad - one steam and one diesel. 

By late afternoon we arrived at Pinkie and Dave’s where we enjoyed much conversation and a scrumptious meal. They had just added another family member, a cocker doodle, Mia, to join Libby (Mia is now bigger than Libby). Hard to get Mia to settle for a photo until conked out for a rest.

Libby and Mia, Pinkie and Dave

Our third and rather uneventful overnight was in a hotel in Sidney, Nebraska. But it put us within easy striking distance of Denver, CO where we caught up with Chris, Robyn, Carter and Cali who were attending a baseball tournament (Chris was coaching Carter’s team). On our way to Denver we cruised up several roads at one of our favorite birding spots we'd not been too in years - Pawnee National Grasslands in eastern Colorado.

Carter, Robyn, Chris, Cali

From Denver we all headed back to Dillion where we spent a long weekend hiking, sightseeing, and getting caught up with the grandkids. Up into the mountains for water and wildflowers.

On one of our hikes Cali wanted to do a photo shoot so we obliged. We're always amazed at how much the kids have grown when we don't see them all the time.

Another of our friends we originally met while full-time RVing when we first state din South Texas was Robin Kinney. Robin happened to be driving back to the St. Louis area and was passing through Colorado. We compared schedules and sure enough, there was a time when our coordinates overlapped - enough for breakfast in Dillon.

Our last overnight was in las Cruces, guests once again of friends Frank and Paul. This is on one of our earlier visits when Pinkie and Dave were on hand in las Cruces.

Frank, Carol, Dave, Pinkie, Paul

Then on to Sierra Vista the next morning to get caught up on so many things we had neglected while we were away. Fortunately we have a couple of good neighbors that kept our plants going!