After spending several months in the west we were saddened as the Rocky Mountains disappeared in our rear view mirrors. But we needed to attend a wedding in Chicago and we had only nine days to drive 1,144 miles which meant we needed to drive 127 miles a day and that is traveling fast for us. As usual we decided to stay off interstate highways because we wanted to travel slowly and see the small towns of the Midwest. Highway US 30 was just north of us so we drove in that direction until we hit US 30 at Sidney, Nebraska.

America's first coast to coast highway was the Lincoln Highway stretching from New York City to San Francisco. In 1913 plans were put in place for the 3,389 miles of "improved" road and it was completed a few years later. About 1926 the federal highway system laid out roads all over the country and much of the Lincoln Highway became federal highway 30 and later highway US 30. Until that time all roads or highways had names instead of numbers.

What a pleasant drive across farmland and small communities in Nebraska and Iowa. Most of the way we could look to our right and see the speeding traffic and semi trucks on interstate I-80, but on the old highway we drove 55 mph and encountered few vehicles. The highway ran by multiple railroad tracks and every five minutes or so a train passed us. After a while the small towns began to look the same with railroads tracks paralleling the main street, large silos for grain and a few stores. Every town had large spots for parking and we often stopped to stretch our legs and study the towns.

The Great Platte River Road Archway Monument opened in 2000 and it spans interstate highway I-80 at Kearney, Nebraska. They encourage RVers to spend the night so we took advantage of their offer. The Platte River was the main trail taken by an estimated 360,000 pioneers in wagons and on foot heading to new lives in the west and the Pony Express followed the river through central Nebraska. Other trails that followed the Platte River were the Oregon Trail, the Mormon Pioneer Trail and the California Trail. In the 1860s the first transcontinental railroad followed the river and in the early 1900's the nation's first transcontinental highway, the Lincoln Highway, followed the same route as did the nation's first interstate highway (I-80). The museum depicts the history of the people who used those routes along the Platte River as well as the routes themselves. We were given headphones and as we moved from one exhibit to the next, we heard the history of that era. The exhibits and displays explained the Indians, wagon trains, buffalo, hunters, traveling by old automobiles and even the modern interstates. When traveling through central Nebraska a stop at the Archway Museum is a must.

Continuing on US 30 we stopped in Carroll, Nebraska at Wal*Mart and found their lot small and crowded, so we went to Big K and spent the night in their large parking lot with permission of course. We decided to eat out but did not want to unhook the Honda CR-V and our GPS mapping system showed a Denny's restaurant one-half mile away if we walked down the railroad tracks. I'm sure we looked like a couple of hobos walking along the tracks and then we took a side street three more blocks. We found Denny's restaurant, but it was not the standard franchise restaurant - it was a neighbor restaurant and bar in a residential neighborhood with excellent food.

Amana Colonies

In Iowa we left highway US 30 and dropped down to US 6 to go to Amana and the Amana Colonies. This was our third stay in Amana and we have always enjoyed those towns and their history. The Colonies are comprised of seven villages, each separated by about two miles in a circle - Amana, West Amana, East Amana, Middle Amana, High Amana, South Amana and Homestead. In 1855, native Germans settled in central Iowa and bought 26,000-acres for as little as $1.25 an acre. They began a communal existence and many of the original buildings stand today. Amana, the largest town, has many craft, meat, cheese and wine shops, plus restaurants, hotels and bed and breakfasts. We toured the settlements and often stopped to take a walk and pictures. Ever hear of Amana appliances - they make Amana refrigerators and Maytag appliances in Middle Amana. The Amana Woolen Mill was established in 1857 and it still produces woolen blankets and other items. I made a picture of one of the original warping creels (looms) that holds up to 240 cones of yarn.


Back at Amana Colony RV Park a Honda motorhome Club was having a rally and we were amazed at the bikes and trikes and their campers that are towed behind the bikes and then fold open for camping. They sure is a lot of money in those beautiful bikes.

JC Whitney

We stopped at Hickory Hollow Campground in Utica, IL and across the highway I spotted a store I never knew existed - the one and only JC Whitney Outlet Center. Wow, I got excited. JC Whitney began in 1915 selling automotive parts and they started doing catalog mail order sells in the 1930s. My first car was a 1952 two-door Chevy coupe and as a sixteen year old boy I studied their catalogs and ordered parts and accessories every time I had a few dollars. I continued to order from them through the 1970s and there was only one problem. After placing an order I was on their catalog mailing list for life and no matter where I moved their catalogs followed - something like getting a booger on you finger and not being able to shake it off. Somewhere between not placing an order for twenty years and going fulltime I finally got off their mailing list and I swore when I went into their outlet store I would not mention my name or show a credit card with my name imprinted on it. But the store was a disappointment. Oh, it looked like the biggest Auto Zone in the world, but they did not have a display of fuzzy dice for the rear view mirror or curb feelers for the fenders. I bought a can of spray window cleaner and paid with cash so they didn't know who I was.
 

Chicago

Not wanting to drive the motorhome into Chicago and there are no campgrounds in the city anyway, we parked in Joliet and drove the 53 miles into the city several times. We arrived four days before the wedding of my nephew Zackary Prince and Marla Hall and there were planned activities every day. For months and months we traveled back roads and stayed in small towns and suddenly we were in a big city with heavy traffic. The 53 mile drive took anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours and forty-five minutes and once in the city parking cost $15 for a few hours. But we had a great time and we like to visit the Windy City, but would never consider living there.

One of the highlights was touring the King Tut display at the Field Museum. King Tutankhamun, the boy king, reigned from 1334-1325 BC and died at about 19 years old. For more than 3,000 years his treasures lay under Egyptian sands and about 130 of the priceless treasures were on display. We found the artifacts beautiful and interesting, but no pictures were allowed. In a separate Egyptian display I was able to make pictures of mummies and coffins. The Field Museum was founded in 1893 and the present building was constructed in 1921. The building's exhibits cover approximately nine acres and 1.2 million square feet. The exhibits cover much more than I care to write about so I suggest you visit yourself and plan to spend a full day.

Below are some pictures of Chicago and the wedding. Many family members attended so it was like a family reunion and we certainly enjoyed our trip to Chicago. We also wish Zackary and Marla many years of blissful life together. (Usually I put the title of the pictures in the pictures and you can see them by placing your cursor on the picture. In these pictures I put the titles below the pictures. Some of these pictures were made by my son Darren.)
 

Field Museum	Mummies and Coffins	Security in Training	Chicago
Bean	Tall Ship	Skyline	Lighthouse
Chicago at Night	Promontory Point Wedding	Linda and Norm (me)	Don and Gloria (my sister)
Sandy, Troy (my son) Luke, Logan	David (my nephew) and Christy	Marla and Zackary (my nephew)	Marla and Zackary at Lake Michigan
Martha and Darren (my son)	Andrew and Chris (my nephews)	I caught the bouquet	Christy,Don,Marla Zackary,Gloria,David

Louisville

We rolled down to Clarksville, Indiana (Louisville, KY) and set up for a month in the KOA Kampground. It was time for visiting family and medical, dental and eye checkups. After those were completed we invited internet friends Jerry and Dianne Conn to our motorhome for an evening of eating and talking about traveling fulltime.

How can we stay so busy? I always thought retired people sat in rocking chairs on porches, but we seem to stay busy day and night, day after day and month after month. What the heck - life is great.