North Platte Canteen

Why would anyone go to North Platte Nebraska?

For us - it is along the way to the Oregon Coast and Northern California.  We are headed to San Jose for Matt and Sierra's wedding in September.

And a few years ago I heard about the North Platte Canteen and how it met troops on trains going to the Pacific Theater during World War II.  Here's a video that tells the story.

It begins 10 days after Pearl Harbor when a small group of people in the small town of North Platte got ready to meet the train for a 10 minute stopover at the Union Pacific Station.  Although troop movements were secret, the heard through the grapevine  'their boys' were going to be on the train.  They got together some baked goods and a few gifts and got ready to meet them.

Instead, the train carried men from Kansas.  The folks decided they were not going to take their cookies and candy and bread and other things back home with them and gave them to the surprised service men.

Rae Wilson, a single 26 year-old was one of those that met the train.  

She was thinking her brother was on the train.  She was struck by how appreciative the men were and wrote the following letter to the editor of the local paper:

The next day the idea caught on and preparations began to meet more trains.  Committees were organized, whole communities (over 125) were mobilized.  The next train pulled in to North Platte on Christmas Day.  What a surprise for the troops on a long trip.  Coffee, conversation and someone who gave them a memory of a lifetime with their generosity and hospitality.

Over the course of the war, over 6 million service men and women were met by those that manned the North Platte Canteen!  

This is astounding!  For people to meet the trains, they traveled a long way.  This was during a time when gasoline and other things were rationed.  

Sadly, the train station was demolished in the 1970's.  But many artifacts and memorabilia have been moved over to the Lincoln County Museum in North Platte.

Including the original doors to the Canteen.

The museum had a good display of pictures from the Canteen

I am really glad we got to stop in North Platte.  The story of the Canteen and the thousands of volunteers that made it work and the profound appreciation of all that took part in the hospitality was a great one to learn more about.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Sculpturewalk and Other Things

On Friday, we made it downtown to Sioux Falls to catch the Noon Concert.  I wasn't too sure what that was about but we were up for it.

Steve and Therressa suggested we go to the concert, then to Minerva's for lunch.  What a great time!
Apparently the City puts on noon time concerts during the summer at the Old Courthouse Museum.  

We got there after it had already started and didn't find a shady spot right away.  After cooking in the sun for a while, we decided to look for another place and ended up right behind the band in the shade.

Turned out to be a great spot.

We had the pleasure of hearing "Mogen's Heroes".  They seemed to be a mix of "easy listening/Jimmy Buffet" type of songs.  Very entertaining.  They were very good and a lot of fun.

Next, we took a quick tour of the museum.  We didn't stay long but did catch the historic chair display.

And saw a piece of heavy duty angle iron that was driven through a tree during a tornado

And a patriotic/historical flag display

And then we walked through town to Minvera's Restaurant

Then we wandered around and took some photos of some the Sculpturewalk Sculptures on Phillips Avenue.

There were lots more sculptures but we only saw a few of them.

The sculptures on SculptureWalkSiouxFalls are owned by the artist on loan to the City of Sioux Falls for one year.  During May-Sept,  the public can vote for their favorites.  Then the city purchases the annual "People's Choice Award".  And the sculptures are for sale to the public.

Interesting time in downtown Sioux Falls ~ one of our favorite places!

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles.  As always - we love those comments!

The Falls at Sioux Falls

Sioux Falls has a great downtown area.  The Falls of the Big Sioux River is at one end of town.  In the evenings our friends Steve and Therressa drive through the parking lot checking license plates.

I didn't ask where they got their checklist, but they pulled out it out and checked off a few more.   It is a perfect excuse to go to a beautiful park.  I don't know how long it has been a beautiful park but Hazel O'Conner made her contribution.

And we get to enjoy the lovely walk ways and trails. 

The Falls Park isn't very big, but it is scenic, really gorgeous.

At one end is the Observation Tower.

And more walkways, including this bridge to the other side.

It was a beautiful day.

It is not unusual to see Special Events taking place.  One evening we drove through the park and they were doing an "Romeo and Juliet" in the Outdoor Theater.

And a wedding party was taking some photos.

We really love seeing it every time we are here.

It is something you may want to see.  A beautiful park in a beautiful town.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles.  Please check back for the next edition ~ "Sculpturewalk in Sioux Falls".

On the Sioux Falls Bike Trail

It has been a long time since I have been out on a good long bike ride.  I miss that.  I am hesitant to go out on a route that is not well marked and/or does not have a separate trail.  Especially in a new place.  So I was especially glad to get back to Sioux Falls and on my bike again.

Sioux Falls has an excellent set of trails and routes around and through the city.

I had to air up my tires and check things out and install a Father's Day present:  A holder for my iPhone.

I also installed a locking bike cable just in case I found somewhere I wanted to securely tie up.

Then I picked up the trail near marker 12 and put in some miles.  Interesting shelter near the start

on the bike path with lots of picnic tables, a restroom and my first ever on a bike trail:

electronic sign with temperature and time!

The trail follows along the city canal.

It crosses the canal a few times on these type of bridges.

 I was out by the end of the airport and the Air National Guard.

 Fun to see some F-16's do some 'touch and goes'.

Over near the State Penitentiary

the canal merges with some other ones and flows at a pretty sharp decline over the spillway.

The trail crosses a bridge and has a pretty sharp decline down to the other bridge.

I rode to the bottom on some switchbacks to get some aerobic work in on the otherwise pretty flat course.  Going back up, the trail follows the split rail fence.

The complete circuit around to my starting location is about 24 miles.  At this point, I began to notice how long this ride was getting to be and turned back and retraced my path.

 It was a fairly windy day so it was a challenge at times.  I really enjoyed getting out there though and would love to come back and do a complete loop.  I will have to train for that one though.  It took my just under 2:30 do go a little over 18.5 miles.  I use the app:  M aymyride+ and it logged the course and details for me.

It was a nice day for it - thanks for joining me on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

USA Cycling National Championships - Madison

Now and then it is fun when you are at the right place at the right time.  We went to see the Wisconsin State Capitol and happened upon the U.S. Cycling National Championships!  We've never been close to an event like this so it was quite interesting.

Before every race they have a warm up period and I believe we saw three races.

The course is 1km and the races were around the 1 square block course of the State Capitol building.

It was fascinating to see these guys go for it!

They lined up and took off after last minute instructions.

 We got a different vantage point and some them zoom by!

 I have never seen a cycling race except the Tour de France.  This was pretty exciting though!

 One thing you hear as they round the corners in a pack is the noise of the gears and the sprocket action.

Now and then you can tell there are a few on a team and they jockey for position helping each other.  But mostly it seems like the strategy is hanging near the front and being able to sprint to the finish.

And then the inevitable - a crash

Four or five riders rounded the corner and hit the ground.  They got some help and got back on their bikes (except for one guy whose bike was messed up) and finished the race.

I am not sure about the different categories of races, but we saw one that was a C3 para-cycling race.  Some guys have obvious situations that put them in the category:

It looked like there were some ladies competing with the men in the para-cycling race?  Like I said, I really don't know too much about it so I had a lot of questions.

During the warmups, the booth announcer had time to interview some officials in the National Cycling organization.

As we were watching the warm up, I chatted with this guy who was a competitor.  He is from Indiana and 16 years old.  His sister had just won the national championship for her age group.  His race was later in the day.  Talk about pressure!

He said his bike and gear cost in the $5000 range.

Years ago our son was into cycling and worked as a bike mechanic at a couple of bike shops in Washington D.C.  He got to where he could assemble and tune those bikes in no time.  Actually it took him in about 20 minutes from box/crate to road ready.

I have had a road bike but nothing that high tech or expensive.  15 years ago I think my whole setup with gear and the bike was in the $500 range.  I enjoyed recreational non-competitive rides in Virginia. They have some great trails.  For me 20-30 miles was a long ride.  I was looking for an alternative to long distance running.  I ran lots of fun runs, 1/2 marathons and finished four marathons before my body broke down and I had to find something else.  Biking/cycling seems to work for me now.

Though we hadn't planned on seeing the bike race (and certainly not a National Championship) it was great fun to get a glimpse of these special athletes in competition!

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!