So which is it? Well, if you're talking about the city, it's Scottsbluff. And if you're talking about the rock formations, it's Scotts Bluff. Scotts Bluff was an important landmark on the Oregon Trail, visible from miles away, and when travelers saw it, they knew they were 1/3 of the way along the trail.
We camped for a week at a very nice city-run full-service campground, with a beautiful view of Scott's Bluff.
This was an exciting stop for us, as there was a large box waiting for us at the post office, filled with school books for Damien. We decided to spend a few days getting up to date in his studies before sight-seeing. We had managed to do quite a bit with the online resources that were available to us through the Calvert School, but there were some gaps we had to address.
Mistake. We planned our visit to the Monument for Oct 1, and were greeted with this sign.
The campground had television, and we'd been watching the news. It had just not occurred to us that this was what they were talking about.
So, we viewed it from afar, and Damien wasn't able to get his NPS passport stamped.
After a week in Scottsbluff, we headed for Sidney, Nebraska. I snapped this picture of Chimney Rock on the way, knowing that, due to the "shutdown," there was no use stopping.
After spending the night at the Cabela's RV park at the company's store and headquarters complex, we literally fled east in the morning, the oncoming storm on our heels and giving us a nice tail wind. We had completely changed our plans, canceling our visit to relatives in the Denver area. Between road and bridge closures (floods), park closures (the shutdown), and the unfavorable weather forecasts, we decided it would be smart to head east and south instead.
As we left the storm behind, we learned from the radio that Scottsbluff was hammered by a storm and snow, and we couldn't help wondering how our tenting neighbor we'd left behind there was faring.
We traveled almost 150 miles, stopping at Gothenburg, Nebraska, where the city has a nice campground on the shores of the (currently drained) Lake Helen. We extended our stay there to two nights, as there was a high wind advisory and the next day was forecast to be not quite so windy. I was checking the weather forecasts almost hourly on the Smartphone. It has become so indispensible.
Most of the attractions were closed for the season, but we were able to visit the Pony Express station in town, where it had been relocated to serve as a museum, with a nice little gift shop where I spent a few minutes pondering my Christmas list.
The Pony Express story is such a part of our national lore; it is hard to realize that it lasted only two years! We learned that most riders were under 18, with the youngest being 11, although the oldest was 42. The main reason for this is that the company was looking for small, lightweight riders.
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