We carried on east a little bit to the Oliver Reservoir State Recreation Area where they have about 50 numbered camp sites... and it's totally free!
Again, typical prairie scenery. Almost thought we were back in Saskatchewan!
Loved this old barn.
Scenery along the way.
Heading north.
Rolling hills.
Into Nebraska!
We stopped in Kimball, Nebraska. My Ultimate Campgrounds App listed 10 free RV sites in the municipal park, but we couldn't find them there. We stayed there for lunch though, and I went for a walk to see if we were in the right place. I think I found the RV parking area, but it was in behind the fairgounds and the entrance road looked like it got muddy when wet. I knew they were calling for a thunderstorm or two yesterday evening, and it wasn't the nicest anyhow... so we carried on.
Plan B was the Oliver State Reservoir Recreation Area.
I had read that they had 50 numbered campsites here (with no services) that are totally free to use with a 14 day stay limit.
I was also worried about the roads there, but we found a site that looked like it would be fine if things got too wet.
Most of them are tent sites are not geared towards motorhomes, but we found something suitable...
Yep... this will do!
GPS 41.230005, -103.82338
Oliver Reservoir.
We were the only ones there!
View out our front windshield.
Only thing is... there is a busy traintrack right behind the campground. So busy, that there are two lines, and trains went by pretty regularly. Oh well... can't complain and it was actually fine.
Sure enough, we had a thunderstorm and it rained pretty good for a couple of hours. I knew they were also calling for a cold front to go through this area last night, and sure enough they were right. It's supposed to only last today, with temperatures back to normal tomorrow.
The wind picked up, and kept up throughout the night. At one point, I heard what sounded like sleet hitting the window and sure enough there were little patches of snow on the ground this morning, with the temperature hovering around freezing. Of course, we are at 5,200 feet.
Only a high of 43F (5C) today and overcast and a bit breezy. I think we'll go into downtown Cheyenne, Wyoming (pop 60,000) and wander around.
Then, we're headed north again towards Wheatland, WY where we have another booking with a Boondockers Welcome host.
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And in Canada...
Is that a crack on Ruth's side of the windshield? can you still get replacement windshields for your motor-home. I'll bet it's cheaper in the US than Canada if they are still available.
ReplyDeleteYep... it's been there for about a year. And yes, it is cheaper to get it done in the U.S., and the glass is still available. But I haven't been able to justify the $650 USD to change it, especially with us going up through Canada to Yukon this summer where the chance of windshield damage is higher. No, we don't have glass insurance.
DeleteHmmm Cheyenne, Wy...we had lunch in an old historic bldg. and encountered an old couple talking about us...not in a good way (we Native Americans, they WY cowfolks haha). We ignored them and had a fabulous lunch. After lunch we took a self guided tour of some of the old bldgs. Very interesting history including the railroad history. They have a huge map of it at the train station. Funny we visited the railroad station in Caliente, NV...the same railroad line in Cheyenne.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I love the prairie photos and the old barn. If I ever travel the area again, I'll be sure to look up some out of the way camping sites.
DeleteYes, they have quite a lot of old buildings and some of them have been turned into cafes and restaurants. There are lots of information plaques all around the downtown which is nice. Some tell you about the history of the railroad, the town and the people and others tell you about the buildings themselves, so yes it makes is easy to do a self guided tour, which is what we did as well.
DeleteThanks, I especially loved that photo of the old barn! :-)
You were parked next to the Lincoln Highway (US 30 in Nebraska) one of the earliest transcontinental highways, running from New York City to San Francisco. Sometimes I fantasize about following these old highways coast to coast.
ReplyDeleteWe actually read that on one of the plaques that they have all through the downtown area. We had not realized it.
DeleteI think maybe you should get out there and travel those roads, rather than fantasize about traveling on them. ;-)
I’m liking the “Home of Arbor Day” sign. Not a tree in sight.
ReplyDeleteYeah, we thought that was funny too! ;-)
DeleteI doubt this park is on a regular rvers route, but I keep hearing about the lack of rv parks and rv sites based on the number of units sold. Doesn't appear to be a problem or am I wrong?
ReplyDeleteI think it is likely a problem in certain areas at certain times of the year. But we tend to avoid those types of areas so as far as we're concerned it's not a problem.
DeleteWe have been in a couple of empty campgrounds, it is an odd feeling:)
ReplyDeleteThis isn't the type of campground that you would find busy except maybe in the summe. There are no services here other than some outhouses and it is made more for tenters rather than RVers and at the moment it isn't really tenting season in this part of the country. We actually love having a campground to ourselves. :-)
DeleteTravelling through a nice area and really gotta love when the campgrounds are not busy at all.
ReplyDeleteThe prairie landscape has a beauty of it's own, that is for sure.
DeleteWe did a 37 day trip to Alaska and never got a chip nor a scratch. This year in Texas on the Interstate between Weslaco and Mission I got 7 chips in one month of which 3 had to be repaired. Furthermore Alberta is a haven for chipped windshield because they "Chip Seal " the roads, hence very few people get windshield insurance. All that to say that you have a better chance of getting a chip in your windshield in TX or Ab rather than on your trip to Alaska.
ReplyDeleteThe crack that Sherman has was from April 2015, after 8 years of traveling throughout Canada, USA and Mexico and when we got it we were within 30kms of Cabri Regional Park and it wasn't even on the dirt road. Obviously they can happen anywhere but we figure that we will be doing quite a few gravel roads up north so we would just as soon replace it after that trip or who knows maybe we will just leave it until we absolutely have to replaced it.
DeleteWe are following you. I downloaded the US/CAN campground app. Thank you for the tip.
ReplyDeleteHappy travels Angi and Bernd.
Hi Angi and Bernd, hope you two are doing well. We miss you both.
DeleteWe use that app quite a bit when we are looking for good free or very cheap places to boondock or drycamp. I hope that you will find it useful too. :-)