#WhereAreTheUbryTerrells ... Leg 20: Nebraska
Our first adventure in Nebraska was to the Museum of the Fur Trade in Chadron. The museum didn't look like much from the outside, but the artificats were incredible, spanning from furs to seeds to guns. Even their website is worth a visit! So well known and well researched is this place that they were called upon during the making of the movie Revenant (featuring Leonardo Dicaprio) to autheniticate every little detail.
We ventured west from there (because why would we go east toward our final destination!) to another museum, but it was so hot that all we really wanted was an ice cold slushie. We stopped at the "Dairy Sweet" and had the best slushie of my life. You know how you usually run out of juice about halfway through? This one was blue raspberry all the way to the last slurp! AND the "barista" (what do you call someone who makes slushies???) convinced Van and me to add nerds to our drinks. Genius! So, so good. While we waited for our drink perfections to be made, Randy chatted up the local farmers who were taking up the 3 bar stools that made up this establishment. The corn seemed small for the first week of July and they confirmed that northern Nebraska is usually a few weeks behind southern Nebraska due to weather. As we continued south from there we confirmed that those farmers knew what they were talking about. The corn literally grew before our eyes!
That night we stayed in a Walmart parking lot. A first for Van! But by this time he was sleeping on the floor underneath our bed so he didn't even notice how bright the lights were. We had made it to Proverbs (which Van said he "knew" from Robert's church in Idaho) in our nightly Bible readings and came across the Scripture: "Grandchildren are the crowning glory of the aged" (Proverbs 17:6). For the rest of the trip Van would remind us that he was our "crowning glory" (which he is, but we always had to respond with a laugh!).
Somewhere along the way I realized I had become perfectly content on our journey. I was no longer frustrated with not having my own space or struggling to find time for myself. I was no longer perplexed by Van's strange habits (face it, kids are weird!) or angered by his inability to put his things away (though it didn't stop me from reminding him to do it daily!). We'd fallen into a comfortable routine in the mornings: I walked the dog, Randy cooked breakfast, Van put the beds away. And in the afternoons: Randy drove, I navigated, Van read. And in the evenings: Randy set up camp, I walked the dog, and Van explored. I was truly happy in this little world that we had created, slowly moving and seeing and being present to one another. What an incredible feeling! I was so grateful we hadn't given up weeks ago.
While Van reveled in the fact that he was our "crowning glory," Randy and I discussed how we would spend our one more day in Nebraska, debating between Lincoln, his brother's birthplace, and Red Cloud, childhood home of one of my favorite authors: Willa Cather (1873-1947). Randy suggested we go to Red Cloud first and, if we really wanted to, we could always bounce back up to Lincoln.
As I read online about the Willa Cather Foundation, I discovered that you can stay at her childhood home! How exciting to be able to write in the space where she was inspired to create such beautiful landscapes through words inspired by this small town.
However, Red Cloud was much farther away from our Walmart sleeping spot than we realized. So it was nearly 5 o'clock by the time we made it to Willa's front porch. We found her door to be closed. I wondered, was it enough to just sit on her porch and dream? Did I really need to go inside? To sleep here? To buy the t-shirt?
We began the tour and I was quickly yelled at for taking photos. I thought about sneaking a few more without my flash on, but my appreciation for this woman who went out of her way to show us a good time trumped my sense of wanting to record this moment for posterity. Besides, without a camera in my face I was better able to focus on the stories being told. One of the quotes from Willa that stuck
with me was: "Most of the basic material a writer works with is acquired before the age of fifteen." I wrestled with that one for a while. It was certainly true for Willa, for even though she spent all of her years after graduating from college on the east coast, all of her novels were based here, in Nebraska, in the place of her youth. But did that mean it was also true for me? Did I have nothing foundational to say about the life of adventure I have lived for the past 20 years?
The generous woman who gave us the tour did not, however, change her mind about letting us stay in the house for the night. So off we went, in search of another city, another adventure, and another place to sleep.
We ventured west from there (because why would we go east toward our final destination!) to another museum, but it was so hot that all we really wanted was an ice cold slushie. We stopped at the "Dairy Sweet" and had the best slushie of my life. You know how you usually run out of juice about halfway through? This one was blue raspberry all the way to the last slurp! AND the "barista" (what do you call someone who makes slushies???) convinced Van and me to add nerds to our drinks. Genius! So, so good. While we waited for our drink perfections to be made, Randy chatted up the local farmers who were taking up the 3 bar stools that made up this establishment. The corn seemed small for the first week of July and they confirmed that northern Nebraska is usually a few weeks behind southern Nebraska due to weather. As we continued south from there we confirmed that those farmers knew what they were talking about. The corn literally grew before our eyes!
That night we stayed in a Walmart parking lot. A first for Van! But by this time he was sleeping on the floor underneath our bed so he didn't even notice how bright the lights were. We had made it to Proverbs (which Van said he "knew" from Robert's church in Idaho) in our nightly Bible readings and came across the Scripture: "Grandchildren are the crowning glory of the aged" (Proverbs 17:6). For the rest of the trip Van would remind us that he was our "crowning glory" (which he is, but we always had to respond with a laugh!).
While Van reveled in the fact that he was our "crowning glory," Randy and I discussed how we would spend our one more day in Nebraska, debating between Lincoln, his brother's birthplace, and Red Cloud, childhood home of one of my favorite authors: Willa Cather (1873-1947). Randy suggested we go to Red Cloud first and, if we really wanted to, we could always bounce back up to Lincoln.
As I read online about the Willa Cather Foundation, I discovered that you can stay at her childhood home! How exciting to be able to write in the space where she was inspired to create such beautiful landscapes through words inspired by this small town.
However, Red Cloud was much farther away from our Walmart sleeping spot than we realized. So it was nearly 5 o'clock by the time we made it to Willa's front porch. We found her door to be closed. I wondered, was it enough to just sit on her porch and dream? Did I really need to go inside? To sleep here? To buy the t-shirt?
We decided to head back into town where the foundation was based, and found it to be open! However, we were told that there were no more tours to the house that day, and that we were too late to reserve a room for the night (even though the whole house was unoccupied!). Disappointed, we debated sleeping in the local park (which had a pool! did I mention Nebraska is HOT!) and returning in the morning. However, the desk clerk offered to show us the Willa Cather movie and allow us to wander the very small museum. We took advantage of her offerings. When the movie finished, a nice story giving some family background to many of Willa's books, another woman showed up to help close up shop. The first woman, who told us there were no more tours, offered to take us to the house for a quick tour since there was someone else to man the desk. Hurray!
We began the tour and I was quickly yelled at for taking photos. I thought about sneaking a few more without my flash on, but my appreciation for this woman who went out of her way to show us a good time trumped my sense of wanting to record this moment for posterity. Besides, without a camera in my face I was better able to focus on the stories being told. One of the quotes from Willa that stuck
with me was: "Most of the basic material a writer works with is acquired before the age of fifteen." I wrestled with that one for a while. It was certainly true for Willa, for even though she spent all of her years after graduating from college on the east coast, all of her novels were based here, in Nebraska, in the place of her youth. But did that mean it was also true for me? Did I have nothing foundational to say about the life of adventure I have lived for the past 20 years?
The generous woman who gave us the tour did not, however, change her mind about letting us stay in the house for the night. So off we went, in search of another city, another adventure, and another place to sleep.
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