Council Bluffs, Gretna - Lewis and Clark Caravan - Part 3 (STR-2022…
Thursday, 19 May - Day 9
Today was a designated travel day, meaning the caravan relocated from Platte City, MO to Greenwood, NE, about 170 miles to the north. As we have done on other caravans, we arranged to play golf enroute.
We picked Fairview Golf Course in St Joseph, MO, a municipal golf course which was along the designated caravan route. When we made the tee time, they told us they had an event (tournament) from 8:40am to 1pm. We arrived early and they let us go off early. We played at our pace, making the turn before the tournament started. However, the tournament was a shotgun start, and the last group was starting on hole 10, which was our next hole. So they kicked us off the back nine and sent us back to hole 2, in front of the tournament. We got to play 8 of the first nine holes again, something we rarely get to do playing golf while traveling. We would like to say we played holes two through nine better the second time through, but we didn't. All in all, we played 26 holes of golf in under 4 hours.
After golf, we elected to drive the backroads to Greenwood, NE vice the Interstate. Both routes went through rolling farmland - we just did it in a more relaxing way. Most helpful,on a gusty, windy day. Our campground for the next four nights is Pine Grove RV Park in Greenwood, NE, right along I-80. It looks like an ideal place for people needing a campsite along I-80 - near the interstate, next to an exit with a truck stop, pull-through sites so you can pull in/pull out. Downsides were some interstate noise, passing trains a couple of miles away, and noise from the I-80 Speedway next door.
Friday, 20 May - Day 10 - Council Bluffs
We got an extra hour to relax this morning as the Western Historic Trails Center in Council Bluffs was closed. No reason given, but we had a later start.
The bus picked us up at 9am, and we went to Council Bluffs to visit the Squirrel Cage Jail (www.thehistoricalsociety.org/museums/squirrel-cage-jail-1.html).
From their website:
"The Jail was built in 1885 and was in continuous use until 1969. It was acquired by the Council Bluffs Park Board in 1971 for preservation, and was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 by the United States Government. The Historical Society led an effort in 1977 to save the jail, and today owns and operates the facility.
The design and size of the Historic Pottawattamie County Squirrel Cage Jail make it a one-of-a-kind structure. It was one of 18 revolving ("squirrel cage", "human rotary", or "lazy Susan") jails built. It is the only three-story one ever made. Built at a cost of about $30,000, this unique jail has three floors of revolving pie-shaped cells inside a cage. The front part of the building had offices for the jailer, kitchen, trustee cells, and quarters for women.
The design was the invention of William H. Brown and Benjamin F. Haugh, both of Indianapolis, Indiana. A patent issued to them on July 12, 1881, declared, "The object of our invention is to produce a jail in which prisoners can be controlled without the necessity of personal contact between them and the jailer." It was to provide "maximum security with minimum jailer attention." As one deputy put it, "If a jailer could count ... and he had a trusty he could trust ... he could control the jail".
The cell section remains much as it did in 1969 when it was closed by the county. The signatures and dates of many of its' infamous prisoners remain scratched in the cell walls. It remains a well restored snapshot of an interesting era of our society.
Today, only 3 revolving jails remain: a one-story structure in Gallatin, Missouri; a two-story jail in Crawfordsville, Indiana; and the unique three-story jail here. All three are preserved as museums."
The solitary confinement cell was tiny.
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| Docent standing by the door |
Just enough room to stand up. No light, and only a bucket at your feet for a toilet. Can't sit or squat - makes me wonder how big guys used the bucket.
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| Darrell in solitary confinement |
The cells were pie shaped, with the toilet against the far wall. The cells rotated to align cell with the only door on the floor. Adding prisoners to a cell, or taking them out, meant everyone got a ride.
After the Squirrel Cage Jail, we made a brief stop at the Bayliss Park Fountain.
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| Bayliss Park Fountain |
After lunch at Tish's Restaurant, we had a step-on guide join us and we did a bus tour of Council Bluffs, with a stop at the Lewis & Clark Monument located on the bluffs over the city of Council Bluffs.
The bluffs are part of the Loess Hills, a unique feature of wind-blown soils extending up to 15 miles wide and 220 miles long.
"The Loess Hills are hills made almost entirely of windblown soils. Toward the end of the last ice age, winds picked up soils that had been ground as fine as flour and formed dunes along the ancient waterway that became today's Missouri River. The process repeated itself during the thousands of years the ice age took to end, enlarging the dunes. Because the prevailing winds were from the northwest, the dunes on the Iowa side of the river were higher than those west of the Missouri.
Today, the definition of a Loess Hill is a hill made of loess that is more than 60 feet in height; using that definition, about 640,000 acres of land in western Iowa constitute the Loess Hills landform. Although deposits of loess are found across the world, nowhere else but China are those deposits higher than they are in Iowa."
The Lewis and Clark Monument is located within Lewis and Clark Monument Park. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark gathered atop this bluff more than 200 years ago as they set out to explore the newly-purchased Louisiana Territory. Lewis and Clark held noteworthy meetings with Otoe and Missouri Indians here, at the "council-bluff.”
From the overlooks, you could see the Missouri River valley below. The monument was a very nice tribute to Lewis and Clark.
Our final stop of the day was to the Historic General Dodge House.
From the website:
"Perhaps one of Council Bluffs' most famous residents, Gen. Grenville M. Dodge has been called "the greatest railroad builder of all time." A Civil War veteran, Dodge's involvement in political, financial and military affairs made him an associate of many of the most influential Americans of his time and counsel to presidents, including Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant. During his lifetime he engaged in the mercantile business, organized a bank, surveyed the Missouri River Valley to the West for the Transcontinental Railroad, served a term in the U.S. Congress, and served with distinction in the Civil War, attaining the rank of Major General. It is said that he was the youngest General in the US Army until WWII. Although, Grenville Dodge achieved fame, fortune and historic importance by being a renowned railroad builder."
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| Promontory Summit, Utah, May 10, 1869 |
"In 1869, Dodge built his handsome Victorian home at 605 Third Street at the cost of $35,000, a lavish sum for that day. The house was designed by William Boyington, a Chicago architect. The fourteen-room, three-story mansion stands on a high terrace overlooking the Missouri Valley, and displays such architectural features as parquet floors, cherry, walnut and butternut woodwork, and a number of "modern" conveniences quite unusual for the period. General Dodge was deeply involved in the planning and building of his home, making several modifications; such as central heating and hot and cold running water. Despite the home's elegant appointments, it is important to remember that it was built on what was essentially the frontier."
A most interesting house and story. We are glad it was on the caravan itinerary - we might well have not known about it to stop, or just not made the time to visit it.
Saturday, 21 May - Day 11 - Gretna
We woke up to 40 degrees, a marked change from only a few days ago. As Kris was walking around the RV park this morning, she came across one of the Rv neighbors letting his pet hog, named "Flash", out.
Today was a ride-share day - which meant no tour bus. People with toads were expected to drive, and the four rigs without toads carpooled with someone with a toad. We rode with Bob and Debbie from California.
Everyone lined up at 10am in their toads and we made our way all of six miles to the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum in Gretna, NE.
Our group had a guided tour from a former SAC pilot. As our guide was describing the plane and its mission, a former SR-71 pilot came up,and introduced himself. The plane has always been fascinating, and the guide and pilot only elevated that fascination.
The next aircraft that was pointed out was the U-2, the type of plane developed for high altitude reconnaissance, the predecessor to the SR-71. When it was put in operation, they believed it flew high enough and fast enough that it could not be shot down. That is until Gary Powers was shot down in 1960 over Russia by a SAM missile.
The museum has many aircraft (www.sacmuseum.org/what-to-see/aircraft/), and our guide explained the significance of most of them. Some planes were from World War II (i.e. B-17) to more recent (SR-71, B-1, B-2).
An amazing museum made even more interring with a guided tour. Our guide was so enthusiastic that he ran over our allotted time at the museum precluding the opportunity to revisit various displays. Beyond the aircraft aspect, the museum was interesting in shedding light on the Cold War and the various ways we prepared.
Pro tip: If possible, get a guided tour. The guides enrich the visit significantly.
We had a break for lunch. A few braved the SAC snack bar, most went 3 miles down the road to a steakhouse.
After lunch, we assembled at the Lee G. Simmons Conservation Park & Wildlife Safari (www.wildlifesafaripark.com) nearby. Like Bearizona in Arizona, the main feature was a drive through various animal exhibits. First up was the Elk Meadows. Unlike our visit to the Elk and Bison Preserve a couple of weeks ago, we saw a heard of elk right away.
We saw one male and over a dozen females all in a group on one side of the road.
After passing the white-tailed deer section, we stopped and checked out the Bald Eagle aviary where there were five bald eagles. All were rescues and unable to survive in the wild.
Next up was the American Black Bear. The park has two black bears, sisters. One had just been fed so was near the fence.
We walked to Wolf Canyon where they had six gray wolves. We saw at least four of the six.
The last section was Bison Plains and we were treated to seeing the herd right by the road. From the overlook, we could see them crossing the road in the distance. By the time we got to the herd, they were all on one side. And creating a typical bison jam just like in Yellowstone National Park.
Sunday, 22 May - Day 12
Today is our first free day of the caravan. Originally, we planned to check out some bike trails in the area. But with rain forecast for tomorrow (our travel day) we decided to play golf on our free day.
We played Ashland Golf Club located only a few miles from the campground. The earliest tee time we could get was 10:54. We arrived early in the hopes that we could go off earlier. Not to be. Golf on Sunday in Greenwood, NE, was very popular. Maybe because the course was priced lower than others in the area.
This was the first time we have played with a dry course, which meant both of us got a lot more roll out than we have been getting. Darrell managed a 259 yard drive, and Kris had a several drives over 180 yards. The coarse layout was fine, the greens were in poor condition, and the pace was weekend slow. But we got to play and we each made a good number of good shots.
After returning to the campground, Darrell looked at Jack and Jodee's truck camper electrical system to make suggestions on how to better use their robust solar and lithium battery capabilities. Just another “educational opportunity”. 😉
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