Fort Robinson Campground, Fort Robinson State Park. Tachometer – 3470 miles
Click here for Pictures
We had a warmer morning today and after a quick visit to Safeway set off rather early eastward on route 80 towards our next destination. We crossed over into Nebraska, part of the Great Plains. I expected to see a flat, endless grassland, but in reality there are some hills here and there. We drove north towards Scotts Bluff, an atypical rock formation towering 800 feet (250 meter) over the surrounding area. We arrived at noon and had lunch in the parking lot.
After lunch, one of the rangers took us up the bluff with a shuttle van, a service happily provided to RVers whose cars cannot pass through the 3 tunnels built in the 30’s. Ron was ecstatic – a shuttle AND tunnels.
At the top the view was great. You could literally see for tens of miles in each direction. At least 23 miles east, because that is where another monument lies, Chimney Rock. (see picture). From the summit we walked down a nice 1.5 mile path back to the parking lot. This park is not very spectacular but for many people that emigrated westward 150 years ago it was a sign that the easy plains are over and the mountains are coming up. The Oregon trail and the Pony Express passed there.
We drove northward on highway 71 and then highway 2 and reached our campground fro tonight at Fort Robinson State Park. It used to be a military outpost in the 1800’s and there are many of the original buildings. Our RV campground is on a site that held one of the last battles between whites and Indians. Crazy Horse, the Cheyenne leader, and about 100 of his tribe were captured and imprisoned at the fort. They attempted to escape several months later and in the fighting that ensued, they were all killed here. What a world…
We had a nice afternoon and evening playing in the campground and eating outside in the nice warm evening sun. Tomorrow we head north to the South Dakota Black Hills.
Good Night,
-Hemi
This entry was posted on Saturday, June 2nd, 2007 at 11:32 pm and is filed under Big Trip, Nebraska, North America RV 2007. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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