YCGL - Minnesota - Day 1 - Sunday, April 17

Happy Easter!  I started the day going to church.  We had two services, and I went to the earlier one.  That should have made everyone suspect.  But, I had a mission, of course, to get out of town as quickly as possible, well that and hugging as many people who walked past me as possible.  I always have been the official church hugger.  A guy has to keep his standards up.

Saturday, I had gotten the motorhome ready, loaded clothes, gone shopping and loaded those groceries in, done laundry, ate pre-Easter dinner with Chris and Larry and Matthew and Nicole (a family friend who is living with them until school starts next fall), finally finishing at midnight with 2 inches of snow.  After church, I stopped and got some cash and then my allergy shots, so I was home by 10:40.  I had the rest of the kitchen food to pack, various other supplies, the small telescope, overall, it took four hours.  I don't know what took four hours, but it did.  OK, a good portion of that was cleaning the house, so that if the firemen came while I was gone, they'd be able to find the kitchen table and work outward from there.  And then, while hitching up the car, one of the locks on the tow bar for the car wouldn't unlock, so that took about 20 minutes to get the WD-40 on one end and silicon dust on the other.  Finally worked.  So, finally off at 2:00.

I am staying at the Golden Spike Railroad Tower, in North Platte, NE, an observation tower over the Union Pacific railroad yard, the largest in the world.  It was not open today, but its a Harvest Host and they ask that you be there by 5:00.  Well, getting off at 2:00 and taking 4-1/2 hours of driving, it wasn't going to work.  And the wind had started to blow by 2:00.  It really wasn't a problem because the wind was at my back until I got to the Nebraska state line.    And then it seemed to kick up a couple of notches, or knots.  I pulled off the road in Kimble, NE at 4:30 to have lunch and rest a bit until it calmed down a little.  Which it didn't.  It blew so hard that the motorhome was rocking back and forth, there was a slapping sound which I decided was the awning opening a little and slamming shut.  All of which emphasizes the truth of the old saying, "The wind doesn't blow in Wyoming, Nebraska sucks!"

I finally left at 7:00 and arrived here at 11:00.  So,  the picture is from the parking lot tonight, but more tomorrow.  Good night! Sleep well, I know I will.