The first thing we need to do is backtrack to where we saw a Walmart on the way into this campsite yesterday. Also if we see one of those gas stations priced below $3.00 we'll pull in there too.
I saw a station advertising $2.94 gas, but when I entered my credit card in went up to $3.03, still not a bad price, just not what I expected.
The good thing about this station was I could take a backstreet straight to the Walmart parking lot without having to get back on the highway.
Inside Walmart we picked up some groceries and water and paid with a credit card to get our 2% rebate, every penny counts. I paid for other essentials like toilet paper with my debit card so we could get $100 cash back to replenish our pocket money.
From the Walmart parking lot Tricia took a short ride in THE POD over to the Home Depot next door. While Tricia put the groceries away I went into Home Depot to purchase a replacement smoke alarm for the one in the bedroom that insists on chirping every once in a while, even with a brand new battery in it.
Leaving Home Depot we glanced out ROVER's windows to the right and could see our next sightseeing destination dominating the horizon.
Scotts Bluff National Monument was an important sight navigation station for the people following the Oregon Trail that runs right in front of the Visitor Center. Just like Chimney Rock, 30-miles east of here, it is a unique formation and easy to recognize.
SCOTTS BLUFF NATIONAL MONUMENT
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This road that runs in front of Scotts Bluff is called the "Old Oregon Trail".
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A "bluff" is defined as a broad rounded cliff. I'd say this qualifies!
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There are reproduction wagons placed on the original Oregon Trail by the Visitor Center.
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It wasn't clear which bluff is Scotts Bluff, it's more of a collection of all the nearby bluffs.
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This wagon was built to simulate a Conestoga Wagon which did all of the heavy hauling.
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Now comes the fun part! We get to drive ROVER up to the top of Scotts Bluff.We had to leave THE POD behind, no trailers are allowed on the road.
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There are going to be 3-tunnels along the road, all of them very short, but very necessary.
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Here we are approaching the entrance to the first tunnel.
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No sooner than we left the first tunnel the second one was within sight.
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This one had some extra plaster along the sides holding back the crumbling rockface.
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There was a pretty spectacular view looking east from up at the top.
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There's a nice hike out to the tip of the bluff, but we weren't in the mood.Plus it's a travel day and we don't have the time to dilly-dally.
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Time to start heading back down to hook back up with THE POD.
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The view looking west is not to bad either.
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Inside the tunnels you can see how perfectly smooth the walls are.
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Can you spot THE POD down there in the parking lot?
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He looks kind of lonely down there. I sure hope he isn't mad about being left behind!
It was near 11:30AM when we were leaving Scotts Bluff National Monument and we still had 120-miles to drive today. So before we got back on the road the conversation quickly turned to what are we going to do for lunch?
Tricia got on her phone and did a Google search for Fast Food Restaurants and then she yelled, "Oooh, Runza!"
Now if you've never been to Nebraska, or read this blog from previous years, you've probably never heard of Runza. Runza does have locations in neighboring states, but the majority of the restaurants are all in Nebraska.
I looked up the locations a few days ago and made a mental note of one that would be on our route and planned to surprise Tricia with a visit. I totally forgot all about it, but the surprise in her voice was just as rewarding.
We've been through Nebraska three times now and each time we've made a Runza visit. I'm sure glad we didn't miss out on our 1-day Nebraska visit this time.
with locations in Nebraska, Iowa, Colorado and Kansas.
You can add toppings like cheese, we both did, or eat it plain.
and yes that's crossing #103 of 107 if you're counting like I am.
An hour and a half later we had arrived at our campgound for the next 2-nights. Crow Valley Recreation Area is part of the Pawnee National Grassland, a separate division of the United States Forest Service. Seeing as how it's a federally operated park we get 50% off the camping rate, making it only $8.50 a night.
Sure, there's no water or electric hookups like we had at our FREE site last night, but it's still way below our 7-year average fee of just over $19.00 a night.
As you can see in the following photos we have no nearby neighbors.
Seeing as how we are not too far from a decent sized city we have excellent cell phone service here in the campground.
How about our State by State Bucket Lists or Visited Campgrounds List?
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