Lewellen, Nebraska

Doug and I had been planning to take a trip to some of our western states in August. It was to be a combination of a celebration of our 29th anniversary and an opportunity to see our friends, John and Betty, in chariot races in Dubois, Wyoming on August 13th.

When it became apparent that the health of our friend, Dave, was quickly deteriorating, we cancelled our planned trip, wanting to be home to lend what support we could to Kay and to attend Dave's funeral. 

Dave died the day after we cancelled our reservations, and his funeral was scheduled for August 10, the day that we had originally planned to leave. We talked it over and and decided that, if we left right after the funeral and burial, and drove hard for two and a half days, we could make it to Dubois in time for the chariot races.

The first day's travel took us through Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa. We stopped for the night on the eastern edge of Nebraska. The next day, we crossed Nebraska, then took U. S. Highway 26 toward Scottsbluff. It's a route that we followed in 2013, so some of these photos may look familiar.

We both remembered the beauty of Lake McConaughy and looked forward to stopping at that overlook again.

Lake McConaughy

Dusk was falling and a storm was approaching as we left Lake McConaughy and continued on toward Lewellen, Nebraska, where we had a lodging reservation for that night.

It was getting too dark for good photos by the time we saw this old sod house and a historical marker for Windlass Hill Pioneer Homestead. It was part of Ash Hollow State Historical Park. If we ever get back that way, I'd like to plan some time to explore that area. It was part of the Oregon Trail route followed by westward-bound pioneers, and it's said that there are still visible wagon ruts on Windlass Hill.

Sod House at Ash Hollow State Historical Park

Lewellen, Nebraska is a very small town. We stayed the night at the Gander Inn, pictured in the next two photos.

Gander Inn, Lewellen, Nebraska

Our room was in the back, the brown door to the right of the path.

Following are a few pictures of the main street of the town of Lewellen. The Gander Inn didn't provide breakfast for its guests, but the hostess informed me that breakfast was available at the art gallery starting at nine in the morning.

A sign on the side of the art gallery says "Gallery, Bistro, WiFi"

A sign on this corner building points people to the cafe at the art gallery.

That's the art gallery/cafe on the left.

We didn't have breakfast at the art gallery because we wanted to get on the road earlier than when they began serving. A man who saw us taking pictures encouraged us to at least go over and have a look around. We said we understood they didn't open until nine. He said, "She'll be in there cooking now and would be glad to let you in to look around." But we declined. We should have stayed and had breakfast there, though, because we wound up driving an hour or more before we found a place to eat.

More from our Trip West 2016 to come in future posts.