As we left North Platte, the weather was getting colder and foggy and cloudy and we were not sure whether we should keep north or whether we should start heading a little further south. We decided to stay north on I-80 and see what the weather decided to do. We were glad we did.
The first thing we happened across was the Heartland Museum of Military Vehicles.
It was located out in the middle of nowhere right next to the freeway.
We paid the admission fee for Suzie and I got in free because of my prior military service.
They had an amazing assortment of military equipment that was beautifully displayed. The man at the ticket counter told us that except for the helicopters, all of the vehicles in all of the buildings were in working order and were operated regularly.
The heated building made the visit quite comfortable and for most of our visit, we were the only visitors.
There was a very large assortment of Jeeps. Who knew there were this many different models.
They also had lots of different combat tractors. Everything was clean and there was very little oil dripping onto the floor. They really have done amazing restoration work.
WW II Volkswagen ambulance.
WW II Volkswagen amphibious car.
When used on water, the propeller assembly would swing into the position that it is in on this picture.
The engine looked perfect.
Suzie really got into it!!!
They had a very nice display outside too. This is an M-60 tank like I was trained on in 1971 at Fort Knox, Kentucky.
We were at the museum for a couple of hours and then headed eastbound.
Out of the mist, we saw a large overpass looming ahead of us and Roadside America said it was The I-80 Archway which was a history museum covering the "Great Platte River Road" which was one of the trails that the settlers followed as they moved westward.
They had a very interesting statue in front of the museum. It depicted 2 boys riding a horse at full gallop. Closer examination showed that not only did the boys have arrows sticking out of them, they had at least one arrow that went through one boy and then into the other boy, sticking them together.
Once inside the archway, we bought our tickets (senior discounts!!!) and were issued headphones and digital recorders that would take us on a guided tour.
Then we went up the escalator and back in time to covered wagons crossing the prairie.
There were life sized dioramas that you were guided through where you could almost feel the terrible hardships these early pioneers experienced. We realized we have things much better now in OUR home on wheels.
The displays were interactive and as we were listening to the description of what these people went through on their trek to Oregon, the sky darkened and a loud, intense thunderstorm was projected on the ceiling with bright lightning flashes.
In one room, you got to experience a Buffalo Stampede.
As we walked through the museum, the years rolled by and the displays took us all the way to the present. Along the way, there were different phases of camping with your vehicle.
This type of motor-homing is still a little too primitive for us.
After leaving the Arch, while walking back to the motorhome, we saw a large maze that Suzie had to try out.
I went up to the observation deck to watch her maneuver through it. After a while, it became apparent that she couldn't find her way out and she started to get a little panicked!!!
She came over and asked me for help but I wasn't much help because I was laughing pretty hard at her distress and from my observation point, I couldn't tell how she should go to find the exit.
She eventually found her way out and here is proof that she made it.
There was a lot to see in these two museums and we had a full day.
I will end this now because we thought we were all museum'd out, but I was wrong. We almost didn't make it through the next museum we went to and that will be coming up in the next chapter.
Get out there!!!
Tom & Suzie
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