YCGL - Wednesday, June 21, 2023 - North Platte, NE - Still...

 Good News, Bad News.

Good News first.  I talked to the Fertile, MN town clerk/secretary/gopher/manager/you-get-the-picture yesterday.  All the campground spaces are filled from the July 4-11 during the county fair.  No surprise there.  What was a surprise is that there is only one person camped there the week before.  So, I'm set up for June 29-July 3.  Pretty amazing if you ask me.  Of course, it meant inverting the trip by going there first, but I'll just work down from there and still try and catch all the people that I wanted to if I was driving north instead of south.  Everything there seems to be working out.

Bad News.  I was able to get the pickup into the dealership here in North Platte on Tuesday at 8:30, in the morning!  They checked it out and decided that all the problems were from the thermostat, which they didn't have.  So, they are getting one from Omaha this morning and I'm scheduled to have it worked on at 2:30 and it shouldn't take more than 30 minutes.  I still need to put on miles today since I've lost one night here.  I need to get to Austin, MN by as early as possible on Thursday to meet up with the Ray and Darlene Kyllo familys (my cousins) so I can spend the night with them and drive to Windom on Friday for the reunion.  Fine and good.

However, as I was driving to do some grocery shopping last night, I started getting steam blowing out of the engine when I got there and the engine light came on when I started driving home.  So, I'm thinking that there may be more than just the thermostat, and if it takes another day, I just won't be able to make it to the family reunion.  Which would be a real shame.  

So, the saga continues.   I might be short on news the next couple of days.  I've got a lot of miles to put in and hopefully a lot of family and friend time to maximize.  

Today's picture is from Monday's drive.  Much of where I've been driving is the old Oregon Tail.  (All of you who played Oregon Trail when you were growing up, raise your hand.)  One of the landmarks on the trail was Chimney Rock, a tall spire that you could see from miles away.  Here's what it looks like today. 

It used to be taller back then, but the soft sandstone is eroding with time.  Same is true at the Scott's Bluff National Monument, which is the same outcrop. 

Scott's Bluff National Monument

This picture was taken in 1906.