July 6, 2006 – the day we were going to head home to Utah. We had missed some of our vacation because of car problems, so we decided to go back to the places we were going to visit before we went to Colorado. This time we took one other granddaughter with us.

Our destination for the day was Nebraska, and it wasn’t far. I was anxious to stop at Courthouse and Jail Rocks in the North Platt Valley. They are supposed to be two of the most famous landmarks of westward migration.

Next, we drove to Chimney Rock. I‘m fascinated by this famous rock and did mention it in my book, Martha’s Freedom Train. This was my first time to see it, except in pictures. I wanted to get closer, but the barbwire fence kept me away. The other direction, across the dirt trail from where we parked, was an old graveyard that begged me to wander around, looking for familiar names. I didn’t see anything that drew my interest. Then we went to the visitor’s center. I’m glad my husband waited until all us had settled in the car before telling us a snake had crossed our path after we had all gone into the cemetery. I wasn’t surprised because this is desolate territory.

We headed back towards Colorado through Wyoming because I wanted to go to the Fort Laramie. Frontier Trading Post, but I’m not sure why, because as everyone told me, there isn’t much there now. It was disappointing to find it closed, but I still took pictures.


I’m glad we decided to explore a little. We drove out to the river and found an old Platt River Bridge. The girls loved it, and I was glad for a good look at the river that had been a trial for all the saints to cross on their westward trek.

That was the last of our adventures for this trip. We arrived back in Colorado a little late for dinner, but in time to see everyone before bed. The next morning we headed home. We didn’t really do anything along the way. I think we were tired and ready to be home.

Oh, No!

On all vacations there always has to be a day when everything goes wrong. Ours was no exception. Early the next morning we headed towards South Dakota. We made it as far as Spearfish. After eating lunch, the car started to make an awful noise. Thinking back, I think I heard that sound a little earlier in the trip, but it didn’t last so I thought nothing of it. By the time we reached Rapid City, the noise was extremely loud. We stopped at a service station with a garage and they informed us that the noise was the clutch on the air conditioner.

Great – miles from home and we had a broken car. The last thing I wanted to do was stay in a motel while someone fixed the car. I knew it would take forever. That wasn’t going to happen if I could do anything about it. I called our son in Colorado and told him about our predicament. He said we should drive straight there and he’d call the Honda dealer and schedule an appointment for the next day. It wasn’t exactly what we had planned for that day, but I knew it was a good thing because the 4th of July weekend was fast approaching.

We stopped at Mount Rushmore long enough for everyone to snap some quick pictures and then we were on our way. We saw Crazy Horse in the distance and with windows slightly rolled, we headed out for Windsor, Colorado. It was a long drive, and we only stopped for gas and food.
After leaving Cheyenne, it started to rain. By the time we were near Fort Collins, we could hardly see the road. Finally, about 10:30 pm we arrived at our destination.










We didn’t get our car back for a couple of days, but with their two vehicles, we were able to have a good visit. One day we went to the mountains and had a delicious picnic on a beautiful green lawn, and a long hike up a hot mountain, but the wildflowers were gorgeous. We spent time at the lake near our son’s home watching a movie one evening, and wading in the lake part of a day. This was certainly much better than being stuck in a motel room far from anything fun to do. The evening of the 4th of July, we watched fireworks from a park just down the street. I enjoyed our visit with his family a whole lot more than staying in a motel room for days.