The challenge now is getting out of here, because we've seen what the few vehicles coming in here look like after traveling on that 14-mile gravel road after two days of rain.
Their wheel wells are packed full of mud and I'm not sure how the wheels were still turning. I wish we had thought to take a photo to share, but we didn't.
This is after two days of rain and a modest amount of farm vehicles traveling upon it.
With only 23-miles between campsites today we had some time to kill before the 4:00PM check-in time.
What to do? I know, let's go to the nearby town of Chadron where they have a Walmart and a Runza. What's a Runza you ask? It's only our new favorite fast food chain and you can basically only find them in Nebraska.
A Runza Sandwich is according to their website, "ground beef seasoned with a top-secret blend of spices and mixed with cabbage and onions, all wrapped up in fresh-baked bread."
Different than a just a plain old burger, it's simple and tasty with no condiments required.
We accidently stumbled into a Runza restaurant on our first visit to Nebraska back in 2021, then on our way to Alaska in 2022 we purposely made a short detour into Nebraska for a sandwich and today another detour for our 2023 tasting and I'm happy to report they still taste good.
So good that we each ordered a sandwich "to go" and ate them for dinner the same day!
After lunch and some Walmart shopping we headed west on US-20 to our reserved campsite in the Red Cloud campground inside of Fort Robinson State Park.
At $35 a night it's not a bad deal for a full hookup site (water-electric-sewer), but then you have to add in $12 a day for your Vehicle Entrance Pass.
Rather than try to give you an "incomplete" history of all the different phases Camp Robinson, later to become Fort Robinson, has gone through I'll just mention that if you're interested in any of the following: U.S. military history, Indian War history, Buffalo Soldier history, Army K-9 training, or even Olympic polo training from the 1930s, then this is a place you should definitely visit.
On the other hand, we were able to satisfy our curiosity on the subjects with a little more than a three hour visit. That's good, because we only have today to check this place out before we move on to our next destination.
FORT ROBINSON (1873-1947)
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This building is known today as "The Lodge". It was the Enlisted Men's Barracks in 1909.Today rooms with a queen ($65) or twin beds ($70) can be rented for an overnight stay.
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Today this building houses the 2-story Historical Society Museum ($5 entry fee).In 1905 it served as the Post Headquarters and Post Commander's Office.
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In 1887 this building would have been one of many Officer's Quarters.Today it is filled with period pieces as you'll see in the next six photos.
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The length of this road is lined with more Officer's Quarters buildings.
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The bare bulb and bare wire street lamps are also authentic to the 1940s.
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This building is "Commanche Hall" and in 1909 served as the Bachelor Officer's Quarters.Today it sleeps 60 persons and can be rented for $1000 a night.
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Out front along the roadway are two identical stone monumnets.
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The one of the right is dedicated to Chief Crazy Horse.
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On the other side of the front lawn is this stone monument.
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This one is dedicated to the First Lieutenant who the fort is named after.
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Today this building houses the Trailside Museum of Natural History ($4 entry fee).It is operated by the University of Nebraska.
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The museum is one large room with this 10-foot tall mammoth skeleton as the centerpiece.
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We are now doing a drivng tour of the park where these 1887 Officers' Quarterscan be rented for $200 or $210 per night and sleep up to 10 or 12 people.
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This 1891 Officers' Quarters Duplex sleeps 16 and rents for $475 a night.
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These 1909 Officeers' Quarters rent from $250-$290 and sleep between 14-20 people.
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Across the street are the much older buildings of Camp Robinson.This location commemorates the location where Crazy Horse was mortally wounded.
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He was taken inside this 1875 Adjutant's Office and treated where he died five hours later.
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A look inside of the 1875 Guard House.
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This is what the inside of the Enlisted Men's Barracks look like.
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Not quite as comfy as the Officer's Quarters.
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This is the Mess Hall were the meals were served.
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The small preparation room just off the Mess Hall.
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This is what half of one of the barracks looks like where 60 to 75 men slept.|
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