Day two, and while we knew we had a long way to go, we didn’t want to spend all our time driving. There was going to be stuff to stop and see along the way, and when it was something that caught our eye we wanted to be able to stop. I much prefer traveling this way, though sometimes it makes a mess when you are supposed to be somewhere at a certain date or time.
We were supposed to be somewhere a few times along this trip. The first was Colorado, near Denver. Sue’s niece and nephew had just had a baby, and everyone wanted to see it. Sue and the girls wanted to make cooing noise at it also – I think they practiced sometimes when I wasn’t around.
Colorado is a ways from Milwaukee, especially in a gas guzzleing RV and with two girls. All the more reason to stop sometimes so we could get out and stretch.
Not all the spots were that great.
We got through Iowa and entered Nebraska without any problems, then started looking for somewhere to stay. We’d gone a bit longer into the day than planned, which would happen from time to time, and Sue found a state park for us to stay in. We decided to take a rest day, and took two nights. There were a few things to do in the area, and there was a water park.
In the morning we headed for the Lee G Simmons Safari. They wouldn’t let us through on motorcycles, so we unhooked the trailer from Cliff and took him off-reading. Really, we were the only RV there. Everyone else had jeeps and such, but he did fine.
Of course, we were there for the animals. It wasn’t quite Africa, but there was wildlife roaming around. It was late morning and getting hot, so by “roaming around” I mean “hanging out in the shade.” Smart animals, I think.
And yes, I was aware that the wildlife was against the fence and as far from the road as they could get. I think I would have picked that option too, had I been in their position.
Right around the middle of the safari was a parking area where you could have lunch (we did), and walk to a couple enclosures. One held a bear (black), another had a couple wolves (hiding), and the last some bald eagles. These were apparently rescues who had been injured. I couldn’t tell if they were still hurt, and the staff I asked didn’t know if they would be released once they were strong enough – I got the feeling the answer was “no” but they didn’t spread it around.
There was also an overlook above an algae filled pond with pelicans and a swan, and some other birds just hanging out. These weren’t confined like the eagles, and I assumed it was because they weren’t as likely to wander off.
Right after I took that picture, a huge fight broke out between these three. I didn’t hear what they were fighting over, but guessing it was politics. It’s always politics.
We got back in Cliff to head back to the park (and the pool we knew they had, it was quite hot out). The way out was blocked by our first bison jam of the trip (which didn’t happen as often as I thought it would, if I’d been asked to give a number before we’d left). This one wasn’t bad, and we got a nice up close look on the way out.
Back at the state park, we took Cliff directly to the pool, which was actually a full-on water park with slides, lazy river, all that stuff. Everyone got into their swim suit and cooled off.