After Chicago, Jen and I continued west for another four hundred and sixty-five miles to the Platte River State Park. The drive took us out of Illinois, through the breadth of Iowa and into Nebraska. It’s a part of the country that is sometimes described as a bit dull, but I quite enjoyed the endless views of cornfields, punctuated by the odd grain silo or windmill.
The highlight was seeing a coyote trotting through one of the fields. I don’t recall seeing one in the wild before although I suspect that most Iowans have them rooting through their bins these days.
Something that I hadn’t expected about this part of the country was the high temperature. When we arrived at the state park the temperature was 102F. Out of habit I bought firewood, but who on earth would light a fire when it’s over a hundred degrees? I left it in the car to burn somewhere more suitable.
We went for a walk along the woodland trails that bordered the river. I was hoping, as ever, for bears and snakes. The best we saw though were birds and butterflies, including the one in the photo. If it had orientated itself differently could very well have served as a route marker.
Wildlife was easier to spot from the chairs outside the cabin in the evening. On the first night a wild turkey walked past. There were also squirrels that looked to be a mix between the reds and greys that we have in the UK, a rabbit and a few birds that had markings that I’d not seen before.
As dusk approached on the second evening, we were visited by a deer. It was only about ten yards away from our chairs as it emerged from the undergrowth and continued along a trail that we’d walked upon earlier in the day.
Not long after it had left us a tornado passed by that had trees crashing down and left the power off until mid-afternoon the next day. It did have the benefit of dropping the temperature quite significantly though.
On the third night of our stay, we drove into Lincoln for a baseball game. It was at Haymarket Park and in the same independent minor American Association league that included the Kane County Cougars that we’d watched in Chicago.
Lincoln Saltdogs were hosting Lake County Dockhounds. I’ve no idea what a Saltdog or a Dockhound is, but I don’t suppose that matters. The Saltdogs are mid-table in the Western Division, whilst the Dockhounds are towards the bottom of the Eastern Division. This was the second game of a three match series between the teams with the Saltdogs having taken the win in the opener the previous night.
Tickets were sixteen dollars a pop for lower tier box seats. We’d asked for something in the shade, but just about every seat bar those on the grass would have worked in that respect.
Most of these lower league games have some sort of promotional activity and this evening it was two dollar hot dogs and bring your dog to the game. We don’t have a dog so couldn’t take part in that one, but there were around twenty dogs dotted around the stadium. Most of them were on the grass, others took turns in a paddling pool.
I didn’t bother with the two dollar hot dog either as there were better things to eat. The offer seemed popular though with people taking handfuls of them back to their seats, presumably for large groups. Or maybe not.
Highlight of the between innings entertainment was a three-legged race for kids. It looked as if nobody had explained that striding in unison was the way to go and we saw a variety of alternate methods such as jumping and shuffling that invariably broke the coupling apart. I think a pair of dogs might have made a better effort.
The game was low scoring early on but by the time we had reached the seventh innings the scores were tied at five each. The visitors then rattled off seven runs in the eighth to eventually run out twelve-nine winners and level the series at one game each.
Trail of the Lion King 