Oregon Trail

Stepping back to share more travel pictures.  After leaving the booksigning in South Dakota we needed to return to Salt Lake City in order to return the rental car and fly home. We could have cut straight across Wyoming to get there, but, I have never been to Nebraska. Honestly, I used to tease "do people really live in Nebraska?" lol. 

Anyhow, I didn't really care what I saw, I just wanted to set foot in the state. Well, thankfully another author mentioned Scotts Bluff was worth visiting. I had no idea what Scotts Bluff was, but once I looked it up I realized it's a national park and the start of the Oregon Trail. I truly enjoy history and was thrilled to detour to visit. 

Of course we first stopped at a fast food joint called Runza.  It was very interesting. Instead of burgers or sandwiches they are sort of hot pocket type food and worth the stop! 

​From there we reached the start of the Oregon Trail. So very interesting! 

Honestly, the more we see about what the pioneers endured in search of a better life, it boggles my mind how they did it. The determination, will, and strength needed is almost overwhelming - Looking inside that little wagon - wow. The thought of mom and dad and children living in that thing for months and months puts all of our modern world into perspective. I hope to get the chance someday to use all this historical information I've gathered into my books. 

After Nebraska we had to cut across Colorado. Now I've been there many times when my son played travel ice hockey as a little boy.  My daughter learned to ice skate at Evergreen lake near Denver. We saw Goldi Hawn at our hotel when my son played in Colorado Springs, but this time we cut through Vail.  I got to see three of the more popular mountain resorts: Sun Valley in Idaho, Jackson in Wyoming, and Vail in Colorado. My favorite was Vail. Probably not a cheap place to spend a lot of time, but the views were great, and the village was adorable. I would have liked to have more time to window shop, but I'm sure there will be another chance some day. 

okay - I'm done for today - helping my daughter's friend map out a kitchen remodel and enjoying time with my 2 year old granddaughter while she visits and working on the new series that I have yet to find a good name for! 

​catch y'all next week!