Three New Friends and One...

 Today we decided to head back east.  Well, not TOO far back east.  Only about 70 miles or so.  We stayed off highway (I-80) and stayed on old historic rte 30 which parallels, or is replaced by it, in many places across the USA. There were also quite a few county roads in a combination of paved, dirt and one lane dirt. And they all introduced us to three wonderful people (and of course many others unnamed) and to a menace we were glad to be shed of.


First stop was the town of Pine Bluffs, Wyoming.  Right on the Nebraska border, this town is called the 'Frontier Crossroads' because for the past 15,000 years, as revealed by local archaeological digs, right up through its days as a UP railroad town, Pine Bluffs has been a destination on the migrants path. North and south, and east and west, this place has seen the best.




And the one who knows this is the best is Chris, the Curator of the Texas Trail Museum in downtown Pine Bluffs..

She asked me to pose her with her favorite artifact. A doll she calls 'Princess' since its elegant handmade gown is from a local woman of the 19th century.


Chris and her museum celebrate the entire history of the town of Pine Bluff, and is named for the rowdy cow drive that took the trail from West Central Texas through Pine Bluffs and on up into Montana, as made popular in Larry McMurtry's books and TV mini-series, "Lonesome Dove'.

We had intended to spend only an hour or two here, but the well displayed museum, the wonderful Indian Archaeological digs on the bluffs, and the chicken fried steak that Chris strongly recommended we not miss at the Cafe 307 (because 307 is the area code for southeast Wyoming!) kept us from getting away till mid afternoon. OK, the deep fried scone topped with cinnamon glaze didn't speed us out of town any faster either.

Just a few miles east of Pine Bluffs we discovered the tiny town of Bushnell.  This place barely even came up on the GPS until we shrank the image down to the smallest possible screen.  But there it was, and we wanted to check it out, so out old rte 30 we went.

And once again, we struck GOLD!

Just as we were finishing the circuit of the couple of dirt streets we saw a weathered sign that announced a book shop and espresso bar!  In a town with no paved streets we found what turned out to be a GOOD espresso bar!  And a truly lovely, enjoyably laid out, used book store. I found a pocket size 'Oregon Trail' by Parkman to replace my hard bound edition (RVing is all about LESS weight) and a well made Americano.  Mona found Deb, the owners mother, and the two of them talked books and book stores for a while.

Open now for four years Deb calls this a true family effort. Dad did all the remodeling of the original horse barn. Deb helps out in the store when daughter Jamie isn't working in the nearby Kimball library or as Treasurer for the Texas Trail Museum in Pine Bluffs we had just come from, and a third daughter helps out too when she isn't busy advancing her craft as a new professional photographer.

Yes, Jim, I gave them your card!


Then we drove on east a bit further to Kimball and met Jamie in her library.

Coming back west in the late afternoon we struck a southbound 'severe thunderstorm' that included some quarter-size hail with some 60 mile an hour gusts. No tornadoes this time.  And NO damage!  Can you imagine that for once?


On arriving home, as Mona opened up the coach back at the Sierra Outlet in Cheyenne I found a bad omen of what was to come when I discovered a RED ANT hill just outside the coach door.  Red ants, unlike black ants, bite with a fury and love to do so. No, they don't eat their prey like the Army Ants of South America, but they will make setting up a tent on top of a colony something you will only ever do once.


Why was this a bad omen?  Well, I don't believe in omens, but in this case, once I got into the coach we saw the store security truck come racing, literally, across the parking lot to a halt beside our car.  The fellow was polite but firm.  He said we could not stay a third night, "The big bosses demand you leave now. No one should stay even two nights".  So, while we had so far had a wonderful time at the Sierra location it was time to move.

Unlike an eviction from a concrete foundation house it took us about 30 minutes to decide where to go next, 10 minutes to close up the coach and 60 minutes to drive south to Greeley, Colorado, where we had enjoyed the Fourth of July last week.

The corner of the lot we were told to use by the Walmart Manager was quiet, and the location almost as level as Sierra's, and we were told up front that one night is the maximum.

So now it's about 8:30 pm and we're hungry. What else for two aging boomers on a diet... PIZZA!  Surely a pizza place will be open!  And the GPS finds Roma's just 4 minutes away.  We drive to Roma's, and arrive just as they put the CLOSED sign in the window.

But next door is OUTRIDER's BAR & GRILL.  A nice, small, country place with a LIVE 4 piece BAND!

Well, the band was only practicing on a slow Wednesday night for it's next Saturday night performance, and the kitchen was just closing up (farm towns tend to go to bed earlier than big cities) but then we met Chelsea!

Chelsea had just started working here today but she said the place was open till 10 and she persuaded the chef to hold off cleaning the deep frier and grill a few minutes more.  So we shared a delicious burger and 'Chelsea recommended' zucchini fries. SO good!

But the band was even better. Turns out OUTRIDERS is the band, and the restaurant. We had alot of fun with Bob Purvis, the lead singer (Merle Haggard had nothing on Bob) and his crew, even though we were the only ones there except for Chelsea and other staff and the practicing band. They were so good at one slow song Mona took my hand and we did what we haven't done for ages... DANCE! The band played the song again, though that might have been for the practice, but we accepted it for us. And they loved it!

Mona's sleeping soundly now, and I soon will be.  Our first time ever calling a Walmart parking lot home has been a great experience so far. And there are NO red ants in this parking lot.

Goodnight, or good morning!

-Ken