On to Iowa, visiting friends

On Sunday, after joining our church in Texas for morning service, 

we continued east into Iowa...

After a few hours of driving and enjoying the Iowa countryside,

We saw the turnoff for the town where our friends live, Curlew, Iowa.

Coming into Curlew -- it isn't a very big town anymore, as many of the farms have consolidated and fewer people live here.

Liz made us California Tacos -- Jerry was demonstrating the technique for combining the ingredients to make the ideal taco! Delicious!

Jerry showed us his outbuildings...

... including where he stores his motorhome in the summer.

Jerry and Liz live on the lot two doors down from our RV lot in the winter in Venture Out -- so they are Venture Out friends. They invited us to come visit their place in Curlew, Iowa -- don't invite us if you don't mean it, cuz we might just show up!

They took us over to West Bend, Iowa (to see The Shrine of the Grotto of the Redemption -- more on that in another post). Liz took a picture of us in a telephone booth (we didn't make any phone calls!).

A picture of Liz and me within the grotto

We realized that we had not gotten a picture of the four of us, so Carl set the camera up to get a picture just before we headed out on Tuesday... the camera was set on a low table, so it looks as if we might be floating up near the ceiling, but... we're not!

It was so great to get to visit with Liz and Jerry, to see Curlew and areas around it, and to get to know them better! Just 3.5 months before we all plan to be back at Venture Out!

Continuing east in Nebraska

From Kearney, we continued east to York, Nebraska, stopping at Diamond B Overnight Horse Motel (https://www.diamond-b.com/overnight_stabling.htm, also a Harvest Host).

They had an area set up for socializing outside (but it was pretty warm so we didn't take advantage of it).

Motel room building (you can see one of the doors and a window, I think there were two motel rooms that could be rented). You can barely see the front of Gracie around the corner of the red barn.

We were tucked in next to one of the barns with a 50A hookup. Diane had told us that 6 horse trailer customers would also be coming. They did not arrive until nearly dark, and left very early in the morning...

I didn't get pictures while they were all parked, but, suffice it to say, the whole area was full! 

The farm house

Their sign at the road

We found out about the horse motel through Harvest Hosts, but obviously, their primary clientele are horse folks. Diane told me that a person with goats had been staying with them and they were milking the goats and dumping the milk in an unused field beyond the barn. I wonder how folks who have need of this kind of accommodation (housing them or their trailer + their animals) find them. Is there a "AAA Tourbook - Horse Motel Edition"?

Turns out that there is a website... here's the page for Nebraska and Diamond B is down at the bottom: https://www.horsemotel.com/Nebraska.html and there are comments too: https://www.horsemotel.com/ZZNebraskaComments.html#diamondb

As we were continuing our drive east on Saturday morning, we saw a very large covered wagon (said to be world's largest: https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/14964)

After we got to Omaha, we disconnected the Jeep and headed out to do some shopping...

There are now 100" and 98" TVs at Costco! Carl likes the smaller on (to the right) better as the picture quality is sharper!

Our Harvest Host for Saturday night was a microbrewery -- a bit different accommodation from the horse motel!

They were celebrating their 8th anniversary, so had lots of stuff set up out in the parking area...

... live music, there were also a couple of food trucks...

... our host for the night.

It was handy to be right near Omaha and to be able to get some shopping done.

Visiting the American Automobile Experience in Kearney

On Friday, we had only a short drive to our next Harvest Host, and Kari had given us tickets to visit the American Automobile Experience, so, in the morning, we headed over there (it is in the same building as Cabela's, so we just had to walk around the building). Warning: there are a LOT of pictures!!!

A Flxible bus up on supports in the parking lot

On the front of the bus

Entry to The America Automobile Experience

A "Before" picture outside...

Sign directing us inside for the "After"!

Entering the museum...

Information about the 1978 Corvette Indy 500 Pace Car...

1978 Corvette Indy 500 Pace Car...

Info about 1963 Chevrolet Corvette

1963 Chevrolet Corvette

1963 Chevrolet Corvette

1954 Kaiser Darrin

Info about 1954 Kaiser Darrin

Mechanic's price list

Display of spark plugs

Looking down one line of cars on display

A quote from a Kearney newspaper, 1894

1946 Buick Super Series 50 Sedan

Info about 1946 Buick Super Series 50 Sedan

Info about 1940 Ford Miniature Fire Truck

1940 Ford Miniature Fire Truck

Looking back up the line of displayed cars

I thought I recognized that white car (more on it in a few pictures).

Info about 1956 Ford Crown Victoria "Before and After"

1956 Ford Crown Victoria "Before and After"

1974 Pontiac Trans Am 455 Super Duty

Info about 1974 Pontiac Trans Am 455 Super Duty

The white car was a Chevy II -- it wasn't in its normal spot as it had been taken out for Cruise Week.

I recognized this from the back

The owner, Earl, of the Chevy II was there -- he was moving it back into place. 

Info about 1964 Chevrolet Corvair 95 Rampside Pickup Model 1254

1964 Chevrolet Corvair 95 Rampside Pickup Model 1254

Ramp of 1964 Chevrolet Corvair 95 Rampside Pickup Model 1254

1969 International Harvester Pickup 

Info about 1969 International Harvester Pickup 

1931 Ford AA School Bus

Info about 1931 Ford AA School Bus

1931 Ford AA School Bus

Around the corner were cars lined up to see a drive-in movie...

1951 Chevrolet Deluxe -- lined up to view the screen at the "drive in"

1951 Chevrolet Deluxe

1951 Chevrolet Deluxe

1951 Chevrolet Deluxe

1951 Chevrolet Deluxe

1951 Chevrolet Deluxe

Info about 1951 Chevrolet Deluxe

1951 Chevrolet Deluxe

Drive-in speakers in the museum

1972 Pontiac LeMans Convertible

Info about 1972 Pontiac LeMans Convertible

1972 Pontiac LeMans Convertible

Next line of cars to see

1969 1/2 Dodge Coronet

Info about 1969 1/2 Dodge Coronet

There were a number of cars on display from The James Hetfield Collection.

The silver colored one was sanded down to the metal and just has clear coat on it.

https://www.hotrod.com/features/hrdp-1210-james-hetfield-1936-ford-custom-iron-first

Another car from The James Hetfield Collection

1968 Pontiac GTO Ram Air II Convertible

Info about 1968 Pontiac GTO Ram Air II Convertible

1968 Pontiac GTO Ram Air II Convertible

Info about 2005 Pontiac GTO (Australian)

2005 Pontiac GTO (Australian)

Info about 1971 Pontiac GTO Judge "Pilot Car"

1971 Pontiac GTO Judge "Pilot Car"

1934 Chrysler Custom Imperial CX Airflow 4-door Sedan

Info about 1934 Chrysler Custom Imperial CX Airflow 4-door Sedan

There was only one vehicle that we were allowed (in fact, encouraged) to touch... 

Carl got in so I could get his picture! I forgot to take a picture of the information about this car!

More information about the museum can be found here: https://americanautoexperience.com/about-us/