An Opera House in Red Cloud, NE

Opera and play houses in small town America are found throughout the country, many of them built in the 1800’s - this one from 1885. Not just for staging operas or plays by traveling companies, they were used much like the town halls of today, for the social and cultural life of the town. The one in Red Cloud was restored in 2003 mainly through the vision and fund raising efforts of a doctor’s wife, Mildred Bennett, and other volunteers.

The ground floor (known as the first floor in the U.S., which always bothers me when I’m going down in a lift (elevator) because I’m always looking for a G instead of 1st) This building was once a large hardware store. On the upper level is the opera house, still much in use today. In the restrooms (where we don’t go to rest) are two evacuation signs, one for fire and the other which outlines a plan of how to reach safety in the event of a tornado!

This unique building and several others in the town, belong to the Willa Cather Foundation, an institution set up to commemorate the life and works of the author. The ground floor of the opera house contains a bookstore dedicated to this world famous author, who is also a Pulitzer prize winner. She is regarded as one of America’s best known classical authors. I’d never heard of her until we reached Nebraska, and read a historic roadside marker set amongst the beautiful prairie grasses of the country she frequently wrote about. It was at the same place I heard the unusual bird song of the meadowlark, Nebraska’s state bird.

Howard and I toured several of

the buildings that she was associated with apart from the Opera House; her childhood home and the ornate Garber Bank (photos), with a wonderful tour guide called Dorothy, who was a very young looking 84 year old and a volunteer at the Foundation. Having read one of Cather’s books, she wrote vivid, detailed descriptions of the rooms and people and affairs during the time that she lived there. She must have had a wonderful memory, because she was just nine when her family moved to Red Cloud, which was the setting of many of her books. It was an amazing experience for me to have stood in her attic bedroom with the furnishings exactly as she described it in one of her books, “The Song of the Lark”.

We so enjoy stopping by these small towns and have visited a number of them during the past two years. Many of them still have trolley buses (this town used to have one) such as those in Guthrie in Oklahoma, Jacksonville in Oregon and Eureka Springs in Arkansas. It’s a great way to tour the towns and learn about the history, usually from well-informed tour guides.

All you can eat for only $6.65 each! (About £4.00)

Where’s this possible? Well in historic Red Cloud, Nebraska, less than 20 miles from the Kansas border. At Cutters’ Café next to an old Hotel, we chose from an array of main dishes apart from the soup, bread and desserts and even iced tea or coffee which were included! It was obviously a favorite place for many customers who were well known to the owner.

Red Cloud is another of those lovely old towns with wide, red brick roads, flat roofed buildings lining the main street, and old lamp posts. Although it was named after Chief Red Cloud, the famous Sioux chief, it was thought that he never came through this area.

The train depot was one of it’s most important assets and during its heyday, about 8 trains per day passed through Red Cloud. It once brought settlers to the town and the building now belongs to the NE State Historical Society as do many other structures in the town including the Opera House.

Friendship at the Excel Service Center, KS - 14th June

We feel so lucky to have any problems fixed under warranty, when so many RV manufacturers have gone out of business this past year.

The service center is extraordinary, with two good sized lounges, both with a TV and large, comfy chairs, several tables, a computer with free wi-fi plus card games or puzzles for their customers.  Not only that but they have two very clean bathrooms each with a shower and one with a washer and dryer.  Howard and I feel that it must be one of the best RV centers around the country. 

During the day, our RV was pulled into one of the 8 service bays, at 06:30 (not usually a time we’re awake and certainly not up and about) and if it was pushed out for the night, we were able to stay there.  If for some reason, a 5th wheel has to stay in the shop for extensive work then the customers are put up for one or more nights at the quaintly furnished B and B nearby and Excel pay for it!  Where does one receive service like that nowadays? 

Making friends in unusual places

You’d think that a parking lot is not the ideal place to meet people, but we’ve met some interesting people at the Service Center.  Of course, we all have one thing in common, an Excel 5th wheel.

On a Sunday afternoon, we met several other couples.  Jerry and Judy, from North Carolina were both enthusiastic photographers and took some great photos of the grasslands and countryside and the old wooden cabin where the poem “Home, Home on the Range” was written and which is now the official State Song.  This is one of their photos and if you look closely at the sign, you'll see a buffalo and deer etched on the top.

Jerry and Judy kindly copied all their photos onto our computer, so we have some excellent pics of the cabin and prairie lands. We had such good conversations with them and now correspond via email.

Bill and Myra from Roanoke, Virginia, have two pet cats and needed to find a boarding place for them, so headed out to the country to find the nearest Veterinary office.  

Unfortunately, we’d had a lot of rain some days before and the country roads were covered in white limestone dust and mud and their truck was coated with it, but Bill wouldn’t return to us until he’d had the truck washed.  However, Myra had taken several photos of the evidence before it disappeared. We were all greatly amused by the story, especially when we heard that the vet’s office didn’t take animals for boarding and they then found a cattery a few yards down the road from us.

The following Monday, after spending almost a week in Nebraska, we met a fun English couple, Kate and David Pilgrim, who were touring the States during summer for six months, all that their Visas would allow.  We enjoyed visiting with them immensely - they had both been Police Officers in London and at one time spent 6 years living on a boat and taken it on a trip through France. They don’t write a blog but pen a newsletter from them both for family and friends, which is very amusing and we’re now followers too after requesting one.  Although this was not their first long term trip to the US, it was so interesting for me to get a newer perspective of how the English perceive the American way of life because I’ve been here for a few years and don’t have that fresh viewpoint anymore.

At one time or another, we had breakfast at the “Second Cup Café” with each of the couples we met.  You can just see it on the left side of the photo of the town.  This café is quite a hub in Smith Center.  In the early morning, the older men meet first and after they leave, the women arrive for a various function or other, but it's always busy for breakfast. 

We went there for Sunday lunch and it was packed. The Americans rarely sit with strangers at a table, but it was so busy, we joined another couple, a pastor and his wife and had most of our meal with them.  The pastor held hands with his wife and said grace before they ate - a custom, which seems to be common here when people eat out. Because it’s a small town, most people know each other and another couple joined us after they left. This particular lady had just retired from teaching for over thirty years.  She invited us to “hang out” on their porch even if they weren’t there, as a change from sitting in our RV.  This is typical of many of the strangers we’ve met in the US, inviting us over shortly after we’ve met.  She also had relatives in England and so was interested in talking to us.

Being an agricultural community, auctions of farm and other equipment are held sometimes every two weeks.  It was a shame we missed one; if you’ve ever seen an American auction on the telly, you’ll know that they speak so fast it’s hard to keep up.  They had tractors, old cars, very old tools, saddles and tack, squirrel cages, cob forks and dump rakes!   See what I mean? Another thing that intrigued us was the music we heard on the streets.  It was the local radio station broadcasting music through the loud speakers attached to lamp posts along the main street - it probably warns of tornados too.

Prairie Dogs and Burrowing Owls

That night, 9th June, we stayed near Norton, at the Prairie Dog State Park, an attractive and very well used park especially on weekends when the locals gather for family get-togethers.  The fishing is apparently wonderful on the huge reservoir located there - do they eat the “crappie” and “saugeye” or throw them back?  I think the names would put me off even trying them but then some people like squid. The children have a great time cycling around the paths and walking along the 1.4 mile nature trail too.

We’d never seen burrowing owls before and they were quite small, about 8 ½ - 11 inches in height and often use abandoned holes of the prairie dogs.  They like to sit above their territory to watch for predators or their next meal.  

The prairie dog colony was extremely large and active. They’re cute little critters, only 1-3 lbs in weight and sit up very straight on top of their mounds with their little front paws touching each other just like we would if we clasped our hands together. We watched them rushing from one dirt mound to the other and hi-tailing it back down into their holes if they felt threatened. The French called them “little dogs” because of theirbark to let the others know of any danger.  I could have been in danger too, walking through the mixed grasses, because rattlesnakes and black widow spiders inhabit the prairie lands, but all I saw was the ugliest buzzard eating some remnant of an animal by the side of the road who was too busy to fly off when I got close.

A dog traveling to Alaska -Tuesday, 9th June

Hoping to arrive in Oakley, KS, before the “chance of severe thunderstorms” hit us, we parked late afternoon after a run of 159 miles, at the very pleasant “High Plains Camping” just south of Interstate 70.  The owner Mary, who has a large home above the office, keeps it open from 8 a.m. to 9:30 in the evening - long hours.  It has a well-stocked shop, a large pet exercise area, playground and mini golf course, not forgetting the "Colonial Steakhouse” a few paces from the entrance where many truck drivers stop. 

We noticed another 5th wheel trailer parked near us with Arkansas license plates and had to investigate, as you may remember, Howard was born in Arkansas.  The owner had a lovely dog called Lester, an Australian Shepherd.  Lester and Warren, were traveling by themselves to Alaska for the summer and he expected the journey to take about 10 days.   He’d lived and worked on the famous pipeline there for some years and often went back.  Just outside the pet run were two posts, one a small fire hydrant signed for “city dogs” and the other, a tower of limestone slabs for “country dogs”.  Howard asked Warren which one Lester used and he answered, “well, he uses both - he’s a sophisticated country dog”!

Lester though, was not nearly as handsome as Hamish, Elisia and Kevin’s dog and the most obedient and gentle dog we’ve ever known even though he had a fierce bark, especially when the postman came.  Hamish recently had to be put down and is so sorely missed by all who knew and loved him.  You can see how gentle he is with Tobin, when Tobin was just over a year old.

That night, the heavens opened, thunder cracked, lightning lit the sky and the winds were ferocious.  Suddenly awake, I was really concerned for the little tent camper two sites away which was occupied by a single lady and two children and wondering how on earth they were coping with the wind gusts, which we learned in the morning had reached 65 mph at 5:00 a.m. The tent camper and a few others had already left very early and many remaining had massive puddles by their doors.  The sun later on dried them up pretty quick.  Another couple who had driven up about 50 miles from the south, told us that around 02:00 the night before they’d had a knock at their door by the police and been told to leave immediately due to a tornado watch in their area!