Frogley Summer Tour - Day 14

Day 14: Glenwood, IA to Douglas, WY

Today we got up at 5:30am. We actually snoozed our alarms a bit, but we couldn’t wait any longer. Dave got up and went to the bathroom while I started getting things packed up and the kids dressed. Our goal departure time was 7am. We managed to get everything packed and loaded, including the kids, by 6:45am. This was great because we actually had to backtrack 10 minutes to our friends’ home to pick up some shoes Marie left at their home (how do you get to the car without shoes on?).

After picking up the shoes we headed west again. We took some lesser highways until we connected with I-80 just south of Omaha. Just before getting on the interstate we stopped for gas and some windshield wiper fluid, and then at a Walmart for fresh fruit and granola bars for breakfast. The kids are apparently craving healthy food as much as Dave and me.

Thus began the long trek back across Nebraska. Dave mentioned that of all the states we have driven through, Nebraska was actually his favorite. Especially eastern Nebraska. It is definitely beautiful. Lots of green, and fairly flat (nothing like the rolling hills of Ohio and Missouri), so you can see for miles.

In Ogalalla we left I-80, turned north, and made our way to Chimney Rock. We hadn’t realized there was a visitor’s center there, but the Chimney Rock stop ended up a lot longer than we anticipated because the visitor’s center was really fun. Our favorite part was a kid-size wagon that the kids were supposed to load with bags of food and other supplies, but then a warning light turned on when they had overloaded the wagon and we had to make some decisions on what to take and what to leave behind. We managed to get a fully stocked wagon we were happy with and only the “full load” light was on. J

From Chimney Rock we went to Fort Laramie, WY. This was the reason we had to leave as early as possible. Thanks to favorable driving conditions, few potty stops, and a favorable time change, we arrived at Fort Laramie just after 6pm. The visitor’s center closed at 7, so we just made it in time to watch a short video. The grounds and buildings around Fort Laramie were still open until 8pm, so we wandered around a bit and took some pictures. The kids especially loved the wild bunnies hopping around.

We left Fort Laramie around 7:30. I’m sure Dave would have stayed much longer if the kids had been cooperative, but we still hadn’t gotten dinner and we had another hour drive to our cabin. We arrived in Douglas shortly before 9pm and stopped at McDonald’s for food. We then headed straight to the KOA kabins instead of handing out food in the car. We arrived at the KOA right a 9pm and found our two cabins. They were much smaller than we had anticipated, but the kids still insisted on sleeping in the same cabin as me and Dave, so we had two kids on each twin bunk, two kids on the floor (half under the bigger bed), and Ben and Max shared the queen bed with me and Dave.