Thursday, August 25, 2011
Mormon Island State Rec Area, Grand Island, NE: 6/5-7
Because the slideout was giving us such difficulty, and the weather was quite hot for Doug's struggles with it each time we moved, we changed our route slightly in order to eliminate one stop. We removed two small town city parks in NE in favor of one State Rec Area at the mid-point. This turned out to be a BIG MISTAKE (especially since there was a perfect alternative along our original route)! The route to Mormon Island SRA "skirted" Lincoln -- it looked small enough on the map! However, when we got near Lincoln, there was a truck detour that we thought it would be wise to take.
Another mistake. After following it for a while heading north, the detour signs disappeared (don't you love it when they do that??) and we were left to figure out how best to connect with I-80 to get to Grand Island. The GPS said turn left and go 8 miles straight to I-80, so we did. It was 8 miles right through downtown Lincoln at about 2 on Friday afternoon. SLOW GOING! But we finally made it to I-80 and onward to Mormon Island SRA. It was nice enough, but our pull-along spot left us parked almost in the middle of the road. Doug was too exhausted to go back to the office and request another spot, so we put out orange cones and settled in. Heck, we figured if someone ran into our slideout, part of our problem would be solved! This park was also more expensive than we like because a $4 entrance fee was added to the $18 camping fee.
We felt so "grumpy" towards the area that we did no sightseeing. We stayed home and used the air conditioner and did laundry (at least they had a laundromat). It was so hot & dry that we could hang out two loads a day, so we really got caught up! That made the stop almost worthwhile.
Another mistake. After following it for a while heading north, the detour signs disappeared (don't you love it when they do that??) and we were left to figure out how best to connect with I-80 to get to Grand Island. The GPS said turn left and go 8 miles straight to I-80, so we did. It was 8 miles right through downtown Lincoln at about 2 on Friday afternoon. SLOW GOING! But we finally made it to I-80 and onward to Mormon Island SRA. It was nice enough, but our pull-along spot left us parked almost in the middle of the road. Doug was too exhausted to go back to the office and request another spot, so we put out orange cones and settled in. Heck, we figured if someone ran into our slideout, part of our problem would be solved! This park was also more expensive than we like because a $4 entrance fee was added to the $18 camping fee.
We felt so "grumpy" towards the area that we did no sightseeing. We stayed home and used the air conditioner and did laundry (at least they had a laundromat). It was so hot & dry that we could hang out two loads a day, so we really got caught up! That made the stop almost worthwhile.
# posted by Doug and Willie @ 2:32 PM 
