Miko and Me: The Great Plains Calleth

Usually I can hardly wait to get on the road. It calls to me – it's exciting, dare I even say thrilling? This year not so much. Being cooped up since February has become a way of life. Ennui has set in. Everything seems to be an effort. Staring off into space , doing nothing has become the new normal for me

I decided that I had to shake things up. Do the proverbial 'Kick In The Ass' and motivate. Onward!!

Day 1: Stayed at Pottawattamie County Fairgrounds in Avoca Iowa. I only mention this because:

a. I like the way the name rolls off the tongue. It is one of those verbally fun words.

b. I lost a set of keys to the RV. This is the 2^nd set of keys to the Camper I've Lost. Can we say Space Cadet?

Pottawattaie County Fairgrounds

Day 2: I actually get up early, ready to start the day. Dog walked – check. Camper ready to roll – check. I drive about 3 miles and turn onto the westward entrance ramp to I80. I look back and there is a massive amount of smoke coming off the wheel on the camper's driver's side. I immediately pull over. The hub on the wheel is hot. I have roadside assistance, so no problem. The Dispatch Center tells me that probably a wheel bearing froze up. They will have to tow it 50 miles to Omaha. They will also need to get a LowBoy tow vehicle because the camper is 13' tall. A LowBoy is one of those trailers that have a huge drop in the deck height to allow them to transport tall objects. Where are we going to get one of those in rural Iowa? Luckily, they find a mobile tech to come out. Juan was a nice guy. We try to move the camper over a little farther off the road but the wheels are totally locked up. It won't go forward or backwards. What to do? Well, let me tell you. There is a wire that is connected to the brake system in the camper and also to the truck. If, for some reason, the camper gets disconnected from the truck, this wire pulls out from the camper, locking all the brakes. Somehow, that wire had disconnected from the truck, perhaps when I turned onto the freeway? Plugged that sucker back in and all is working. I had Juan take the offending tire off and check to make sure that I hadn't burned bearings or brakes or whatever goes on inside a wheel. I got charged $450 for that little bit of effort. At this point I had spent 4 hours on the side of the freeway being buffeted by all those huge semis – I was in a weakened state. I guess it is a new definition for Highway Robbery. I can tell you one thing though, checking that that wire is connected will be part of my departure checklist.

Day 3: Found my lost keys – I am not going to say where because it would be definite proof that I really am losing it. There were no issues on today's drive. I think I'm very very slowly getting my travel chops back. I decided that I am really going to shorten the amount of time on the road. I have no place to be, no timetable to follow. The animals (Jogger and Miko) get a little stressed out with long hours, so why not take it easy?

I joined an organization called Harvest Hosts. You pay a yearly fee and you can camp at one of their participating sites for free. Most of their sites are farms, distilleries or ...wait for it – wineries. Is this my type of organization or what? There are also various other types of attractions that participate.

I ended up today in North Platte Nebraska at a Harvest Host site, boondocking at the Golden Spike Tower. This tower overlooks the World's Largest Rail Yard which is run by the Union Pacific Railroad.

From the website: ...reaching a total length of eight miles. ….Each day, Bailey Yard manages 10,000 railroad cars.

The coolest sight was what they called the Hump. An engine pushes a train up a slight incline. At the top, a person disconnects the car from the train, and pulls a lever switching the track for that particular car. The car then rolls downhill, all on its own and connects to whatever new train that will take it to its new destination. It was sort of eerie seeing loose railroad cars sliding down a hill all on their own.