Yankton SD – Lincoln NE – Junction City KS – Tulsa OK
We left Ellsworth AFB on September 7th and headed to Yankton SD where we stayed at a COE campground Called Cottonwood. Its part of the Lewis & Clark Recreation area on the Missouri River. Very nice COE park, however, there is only electrical at the sites and the dump station is about 1/2 mile away so using a “honey wagon” to empty your waste tanks is not practical. What this means is that you stay as long as your tanks are not full, once full , time to leave. We stayed three nights but could have stayed five.
On the way to Yankton we stopped at a couple of rest areas and they had more RV’s than trucks. On the highway one out of 10 vehicles was an RV. Popular place during the summer when it is hot in the South. So far the Nebraska Sand Hills and South Dakota areas are our favorite places we have seen.
Some photos of Cottonwood COE RV Park:
 | Filling up water before heading to the campground. |  | Jake, king of the couch. |
 | Fishing on lake Yankton |  | Part of the campground near the lake with benches |
Click here for more photos of the campground and area to include the Missouri river and dam.
Back on September 2nd it was my wife’s birthday. Rene’e does not ask for much, we went to a “Nails” salon and she got a pedicure and a manicure.
We left Yankton SD for Lincoln Nebraska on the 10th. Arrived a the “Camp-A-Way” campground middle of town. A popular place, especially during a weekend Cornhusker football game; lots of red here. Campground is nice, all gravel and full hookups.
Nebraska Cornhuskers played Buffalo on Saturday the 11th and had their second win. I was at the office of the campground and noticed an older gentleman outside with red on. We started a conversation and then I asked him if he and his wife would give me a ride to the game, and they did. Took a uber after the game back to the campground. Rene’e is not much of a football fan so I went. It is amazing that there are 85 thousand people there with 99.99% wearing red. It was hot, over 100 degrees, but it was a great time.
On Sunday we went to Grand Island to see Renee’s folks one last time before we head South. It was good to see them. Will probably be next year when we see them again next. Whet to Olive Garden that eve along with Walmart for some groceries.
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Monday the 13th was a hot day, over 90. We went to the State Capital (click hear for photos), to a camera store (not many of these around anymore), and did laundry then on Tuesday we left for Kansas.
We arrived in Junction City around 2pm on the 14th and got our spot at the Smoky Hill RV Park in Junction City Kansas, just outside of Fort Riley. Nice new new park with about 1/2 full timers, guessing military. At 6-6:30 am it is a mass exodus of folks heading into Riley. Was a stormy day when we arrived.
We only had one day to explore so we had to go to Wamego Kansas… where we were not in Kansas anymore, that according to Dorthy. Some of the most fun we have had is visiting these small towns with these unique attractions in them, in this case it was the “Wizard of OZ” museum. Small but high quality and lots of fun. Neat trivia… the scene when Dorthy walks through the door into Munchkin land and it goes to color from black and white… The filming of Dorthy walking through the door was also in color but her dress, the walls, etc., were made/painted black and white. The stunt double opened the door, stepped back out of the scene and handed the real Dorthy Toto the dog then Dorthy walked through the door. Of course we had to watch the 1939 Wizard of OZ that evening. Brought tears to our eyes.
Click here for photos.
We then left Junction City on 9/16/21 and traveled to Tulsa Oklahoma. We headed to the Keystone State Park on the Keystone Lake. Very nice park, but the campground was a little small for us. However, the State Park is very nice. They had a gift shop, three RV Parks, black top drives, and some areas with full hook ups. I remember living there and visiting Keystone lake down at the damn. Guys would have remote control rafts around 3’x3′ in size and they would tie their fishing line to and send them all the way out to below the spillway then drop the line; it was too far to cast. They would catch big stripped bass.
We once lived in Broken Arrow (suburb). This is the first house Rene’e and I bought… Back then the tree was just a little feller, and the street seemed wider. Looks like they were doing some renovation, it may be a rental now.
Before we bought our house we lived in apartments near the Oral Roberts Universality area. We would walk by what used to be the Oral Roberts Hospital tower. They had nice sidewalks around reflecting pools with the famous prying hands (called “Healing Hands”). They stood 60 feet tall and weighted 30 tons. Here is an older photo.
In 1989 due to bankruptcy the hands were removed. The building(s) now house several businesses to include the Oklahoma Surgical Hospital. This is what it looks like today.
We left Tulsa on Sunday 9/19/21 and headed to Oklahoma City.
